KARI GIBB/MDN The top shooters from the Best of the West meet, from left to right; Connor Johnson (1st), Owen Irman (2nd), Ethan Able (5th), Matthew Able (6th), Samual Abal (7th), Gretchen Deaver (8th overall, 1st female), Jake Ceynar (9th) and Sam Babinchak (10th).

The Minot Gun Club hosted 271 shooting athletes in the Best of the West shooting challenge with 23 teams as they prepared for the state meet in Horace later this month.

“We typically will have around 275-280 shooters each season,” said event organizer and South Prairie shooting coach Wayne Stanley. “We [South Prairie] compete at the AAA level with over 40 shooters. This is the last prep contest before the state event and the nationals in July.”

The event was run with individual team members shooting, their scores were entered and the top five scores combined for the team total. Shooting 100 shots and counted from ‘0’ to the 100th shot with the initial miss recorded on the countdown number for tie breaking purposes.

Two shooters would hold perfect scores after the initial rounds of competition and need a tie breaker round for the individual finishes to be decided.

South Prairie would take first place with a team total of 495 for the event. Connor Johnson shot a perfect 100 in the team division with no misses. Ethn Abel shot a 99 with his only at the 33rd shot in the countdown. Teammate Samual Abel had the exact same score down to the same countdown mark. Samuel Abel was the third teammate with the same 99 score but his miss on the countdown was at the 20th shot. The fifth teammate score for the team total was Brianna Helsene who shot 97 with her countdown at the 5th shot.

Berthold came in second with a team score of 485 as a five person total. Owen Inman was also a perfect 100 in the initial round. Gretchen Deaver hit 98 with a countdown mark of 7 while Sam Babinchak shot 97 with the countdown mark at 8 for the event. Brennan Asmundson shot 95 and 21 while Daylon Yanish hit 95 at 14 for the countdown.

Minot placed third with a team score of 471 for the meet. Luke Gathman scored 96 with a miss at his first shot, or ‘0’ on the count. Hayden Schuler scored 96 and 9 while Jersey Abrahamson was at 94 and 6 for the event. Jacob Ryan shot 93 at 6 while Dylan Kaylor scored 93 at 2 for the team score.

“We were lucky to get the majority of the shooters done and in before the breeze picked back up,” said Stanley. “The students practiced the best they could Thursday and Friday but the wind was heavy and the scores reflected that in the practice rounds.”

Williston scored 470 and Nedrose recorded a 468 to round out the top five teams. Johnson from South Prairie and Inman from Berthold each shot a perfect 100 in the scoring round and shot head-to-head to determine the top spot. After each was perfect in the initial shoot off round, the pair steped back five yards into a sudden death section of tie breaker. Johnson would remain perfect while Inman missed once to set the top order of placement.

With Johnson at first and Inman at second, Watford City shooter Elden Transtrom would place third with a 99, 41 while Wyatt Holter from Des Lacs-Burlington would finish fourth with a 99, 35 at the event. The Abel crew would be at fifth, sixth and seventh at the event. Deaver would be eighth over all and the top female shooter. Williston’s Jake Ceyner would finish ninth at 97, 35 while Babinchak from Berthold would take the tenth spot in the top ten.

“Any team score over 490 has a shot at winning the nationals,” said Stanley. “The 494 would have won the event in several years.”

The state meet is at the 2024 North Dakota State High School Clay Target League (NDSHSCTL) State Tournament that will be held Friday, June 14, through Sunday, June 16, at The Shooting Park in Horace while the national event will be Wednesday, July 10, through Sunday, July 14, 2024, at the MTA home grounds in Mason, Michigan.

Best of the West – Clay Target League

Team Scores

1. South Prairie, 494

2. Berthold, 485

3. Minot, 471

4. Williston, 470

5. Nedrose, 468

6. Mission RIver Clay Target League, 463

7. Des Lacs-Burlington, 461

8. Mohan-Lansford-Sherwood, 445

9. Killdeer, 436

10. Heart River, 425

11. Bishop Ryan, 424

12. Stanley, 422

13. Watford City, 420

14. Lisbon, 419

15. Kidder County, 402

16. Rugby, 402

17. Tioga, 396

18. Drake/Anamoose, 385

19. Garrison, 328

20. Wilton, 314

21. Velva, 249

22. Central McLean, 180

23. Sawyer, 157