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Paralympic shooter in waiting

Coronavirus postpones national trials for Glenburn teen

Wyatt Rollman, 13, Granville, takes careful aim during a practice session at the Minot Rifle and Pistol Club indoor range. Rollman’s prowess with a precision air rifle earned him an invitation to the Paralympic Athlete Olympic Trials in Colorado Springs, Colo., but that event has been postponed due to coronavirus concerns. Submitted Photo

He surprised his coaches and his parents. Maybe even himself.

Wyatt Rollman, 13, Glenburn, recently qualified for the paralympics trials at Colorado Springs, Colo. His sport? Precision air rifle. Quite remarkably, it’s a sport he took up only a few short months ago.

“I guess it’s just fun to do,” said Rollman. “It gets me off of just playing video games and I’m very competitive at it.”

He sure is. His skills with a .177 pellet gun have improved to the point where he captured the attention of a nationally recognized coach who made a weekend appearance at the MRPC indoor range during a regular Saturday morning session for young shooters.

“It really, truly was an honest surprise that we found out Wyatt was invited to go to the trials,” said Karen Rollman, Wyatt’s mother. “He had only been shooting for about four months. He’s a good shot.”

Submitted Photo Prairie Grit and Outdoors Adventures both provided Wyatt Rollman with an opportunity to harvest a deer. Here he waits in a blind during the deer gun season.

Even more remarkable is that the young Rollman has muscular dystrophy and does his shooting from a wheelchair. The affliction was diagnosed at age five. About a year ago, losing strength to stand on his own, Rollman began using a wheelchair.

“The doctor said he’d be in a chair by the time he was eight,” said Karen Rollman. “He managed to stay out of it until he was 12. MD is a muscle weakening disease.”

Wyatt Rollman was invited to try precision air rifle shooting while taking a Hunter Education class at MRPC. He was taking the class as a pre-requisite to hunting opportunities offer by Prairie Grit and Outdoor Adventures.

“He went on Saturday morning and fell in love with it,” said Karen Rollman. “He had great support and a great group of people at the club.”

Wyatt Rollman learned quickly. He readily accepted coaching and paid close attention to what his instructors were telling him.

“They are all real nice to me but also hard on me to get better and better at it,” said Wyatt Rollman. “Really, it is pretty easy to take instructions.”

A big part of his improvement, he says, was learning how to concentrate “really hard and focus on shooting, not other things.” He also had to overcome some tendencies that are common among those newly introduced to the sport – rushing the whole process and being a little too physical.

“Now I just take my time and have the best grip on everything. I was always squeezing everything too hard,” said Wyatt Rollman.

The attention to detail paid off with the paralympics trials invite. Then came coronavirus and the inevitable postponement.

“I was really excited to be going,” said Wyatt Rollman. “Then it got postponed and I’m waiting for it to be rescheduled.”

“We were heading to Colorado Springs and the USA Olympic Training Center this month,” said Karen Rollman. “We’re really saddened it was postponed but we totally understand. We just have to wait it out to see if it’s rescheduled. It’s kind of an uncertain time right now.”

As is the case with many other activities and events, there is no firm date as to when the trials might be held. For now Wyatt Rollman continues his schooling, taking on-line classes offered by the Granville School District. He has also been a student of his mother’s own home schooling.

“I’m learning how amazing teachers are because it takes a lot of patience,” said Karen Rollman.

Wyatt Rollman knows what his mother is talking about. He has learned a lesson about patience too, while looking through the sights of a .117 pellet gun.

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