San Antonio, TX
The Inaugural Season of Reiver Shotgun Sports ended on a high note in the Lone Star State at the 2019 ACUI Clay Target National Championships.
The Reivers shot their way to a 3rd place finish in Division IV. The event consisted of American Trap, Wobble Trap, American Skeet, International Skeet, Sporting Clays and Super Sporting Clays. The team blasted 2,159 targets over the course of six days at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio.
Weston Zolck, shooting in the Open Division, paced the Reivers with a score of 519 out of 600 targets.
Head Coach Derek Pollock said, "Weston was the squad's leader all season, not only working on his own abilities, but helping to improve his teammates as well. He started the week off a little slower than normal, but after refocusing he finished strong and helped us to the team mark".
Bailey Schmitz becomes the Reivers first ever National Champion in American Trap and Wobble Trap. The Freshman from Harlan, IA, also participated on the inaugural IWCC Bowling Squad that finished in the Top 10 at the NJCAA Nationals. Schmitz found a different gear over the Tournament's final days, breaking 94 out of 100 to win the Championship in Wobble Trap and an astounding 97 out of 100 in American Trap. As impressive as that mark was, it was tied by Mitchell Clark of Emmanuel College, meaning that a shoot off was required to determine the champion. Schmitz then went on to hit 14 of 15 targets, earning the Class 'B' National Championship for American Trap.
"He set a high standard, the bar is high for everyone that follows," Pollock said about Schmitz, "He showed great determination all week and what it means to be a leader."
The Reivers future is bright as nine out of ten competitors are eligible to return, only Sophomore Shelby Alff graduates from the inaugural squad.
"The finish surpassed my expectations 100%. I'm not sure if we shot again at the event, that we'd finish as high as we did", Pollock said, "everyone performed their absolute best over the course of the tournament and we're proud to bring home 2 National Championships in our first season and I couldn't be prouder of everyone involved".
The Reivers have two tournaments remaining before the school year is out, a head-to-head battle with Ellsworth and the Iowa State Trap Championships, both later this month.
Follow @ReiverTrapShoot on Twitter & @IowaWesternReiverShotgunSports on Facebook for the latest information from the team.
