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Mabel-Canton in Class 4A, Rushford-Peterson in Class 3A and LeRoy-Ostrander in Class 2A, each won a state team championship at the Minnesota State High School Clay Target League’s annual state trap extravaganza at Alexandria. They were the first state clay target titles for a Journal-area team since Spring Grove captured three straight in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Going forward, the top three teams in each class, this year including Class 4A third-place Spring Grove, all qualified, along with 13 at-large squads, for the 40-team, all-classes state championship shoot-off at Prior Lake on June 26, conducted by the Minnesota State High School League (see accompanying article).
The state clay target tournaments at Alexandria consume nine days, one day for each of nine classes, 1A through 9A. Overall, there were 7,324 individual shooters representing 340 teams, including all 11 Journal-area squads. All teams statewide may enter with as many of their registered individuals who chose to compete. The team team score is derived from its best five individual scores. Each individual takes aim at 100 airborne clay targets (two rounds of 25 in the morning and two rounds of 25 in the afternoon).
With such outstanding team success, it was not surprising that there were some extraordinary individual achievements. A dozen Journal-area sharpshooters hit 95 targets or more out of a possible 100. Thirty-four area individuals connected with 90 or more.
In Class 4A, All-State Tyler Turner led Spring Grove while going a perfect 100 for 100. However, the Lion sophomore came home with the second-place medal after August Reichmann (also 100/100) of Minnewaska Area won the 10-target shoot-off.
One bird back (99 out of 100), Ike Tweten of Mabel-Canton earned the third-place medal. Cougar teammate Hunter Kelly tied with the seventh best score (96/100) but after the tiebreaker, ranked 11th among the 370 varsity boys in Class 4A. Also involved in a tiebreaker, Cougars Mason Swenson and Milton Hutchinson ranked 12th and 19th respectively along with Spring Grove’s Christian Bjerke 13th, each separating 95 of 100 airborne clay birds.
Combatting both some rain and wind on day three, Rushford-Peterson All-State sophomore Colton Ronnenberg hit 99 of 100 clay birds to bring home the third-place medal among 316 varsity boys in Class 3A. One boy hit a perfect 100, and Ronnenberg lost the tiebreaker for second place. One bird back (98 of 100) was Trojan teammate All-State Maxwell Finley who placed fifth after tiebreakers broke a six-shooter tie.
On day two, two teammates from LeRoy-Ostrander were the top two girls in Class 2A. Leading the Cardinals to the team title, Tessa Lewison and Kimberly Volkart both blasted 96 of 100 clays out of the sky. Lewison won the tiebreaker for the first place medal. It was a reversal of rankings from the regular season when Volkart had captured the girls conference championship, just ahead runner-up Lewison.
Each hitting 95 of 100 soaring clays, Talan Lewison of L-O placed seventh (top 2%) among 327 varsity boys in Class 2A, and Brody Whalen of Chatfield ranked 45th (top 12%) among 365 boys in Class 7A.
Class 4A State
Mabel-Canton (478/500) was the best among 38 teams, one bird better than runner-up Hibbing (477) and six clays ahead of third-place Spring Grove. It was a true team experience as all 32 registered Cougars (28 boys, 4 girls) made the trip to Alexandria, six of whom connecting with 90 or more clays. Contributing to the state title team count were: Ike Tweten 99, Hunter Kelly 96, Mason Swenson 95, Milton Hutchinson 95 and All-State Shawn Swenson 93. Also excelling was Lane Koch at 91. This was a second consecutive team crown of the season for the Cougars, who had previously won their six-team conference championship.
Spring Grove (472) hoisted the third place trophy, five clays behind runner-up Hibbing (477) and three birds ahead of fourth place Minnewaska Area (469). Twenty-four Lions (15 boys, 9 girls) made the trip with the team score coming from the following five: All-State Tyler Turner 100, Christian Bjerke 95, Carter Van Minsel 94, Kaleb Hoscheit 92 and Izaak Morken 91. One bird back at 90 was Karson Betcher. During the regular season, the Lions had also finished third in the conference race behind champion Mabel-Canton.
Including their aforementioned three state titles, the Lions have now finished among the top five in all 10 years of the program’s participation. COVID canceled the state tournament in 2020
Class 3A State
Rushford-Peterson (479), the lone Journal-area squad in Class 3A, was the best among 41 teams while capturing the state crown, four birds better than closest competitors, Champlin Park and Detroit Lakes. Ten Trojan boys made the trip to Alexandria, eight of whom blasting 90 or more clay birds out of the sky. The five counting scores came from: All-State Colton Ronnenberg 99, All-State Maxwell Finley 98, Avery Kammerer 94, All-State Tanner Thesing 94 and All-State Chace Drazkowski 94. Other high achievers were: Levi Kammerer 92, Wyatt Rislove 92 and Christian Zibrowski 90.
Class 2A State
In addition to state champion LeRoy-Ostrander, four other Journal-area teams also competed in the 2A championships at Alexandria. Lanesboro, hitting 446 of 500 targets, finished 12th among 53 teams. Kingsland placed 18th, Fillmore Central 51st and Grand Meadow 52nd.
LeRoy-Ostrander (469/500) took the team title with 15 shooters competing (11 boys, 4 girls). Contributing to the team score were: Tessa Lewison 96, Kimberly Volkart 96, Talan Lewison 95, Logan Drees 91 and Allison Siskow-Hoefs 91. One bird back at 90 was Vivien Main.
Lanesboro (446) brought 17 competitors (14 boys, 3 girls) to the shoot-off. The five counting scorers were: Trayton McCabe 93 of 100 birds, Beau Lacey 90, Jacob Ziegler 88, Jarek Schultz 88 and Jaden Dahl 87.
Kingsland (438) was represented by a dozen athletes (10 boys, 2 girls) with these five Knights contributing to the team score: Eli Fussy 92, Daniel Lund 90, Bryce Oeltjen 87, Kellan Slifka 85 and Jim Mettler 84.
Fillmore Central (385) featured 17 shooters (14 boys, 3 girls.) The top-scoring Falcons were: Turner Springer 83, Ashton Kiehne 80, Taylor Hovey 75 and Beau Poppe 75. Dreigh Cremer and Micah Steffens both came in with the fifth-best score of 72.
Grand Meadow (377) had 10 shooters (8 boys, 2 girls) compete with these counting scorers: Megan Owens 79, Parker Armagost 76, Sadie Bustad 75 and Blake Owens 74. Logan Marx and Dustin Fretty shared the fifth-best score of 73.
Class 7A State
Chatfield (448), represented by nine athletes (7 boys, 2 girls) at state, placed 20th among 25 teams. The team score came from: Brody Whalen 95, Thomas Meek 91, Tucker Batzel 89, Isaac Amundson 87 and Elliott Olivier 86.
Class 1A State
Houston (431) ranked in the top third of a large field, 23rd among 79 teams. With six Hurricanes competing (5 boys, 1 girl), the five contributing to the team score were: Elliot Frauenkron 92, Ryan Riederer 90, Elijah Stinson 88, Justin Riederer 84 and Sedriclee Stinson 77.
Caledonia (389) had seven shooters at 1A state (6 boys, 1 girl), finishing 58th. The team total came from these five Warriors: Devon Schulte 81, Walker Kohlmeyer 81, Jack Fetketter 81, Henry Diersen 75 and Blake Peterson 71.
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