JV and Intermediate Entry Teams also take first, Intermediate Advanced takes third
BY TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
After the regular season for the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) in the Wisconsin Great Northern Trap Conference concluded, with both the Merrill Bluejay Varsity and JV Trap Teams finishing in first place – the Varsity Team undefeated all season – the Merrill Bluejay Trap Teams attended the Great Northern Trap Conference Shootout at Wausau Skeet & Trap May 30-31, 2024, where the Bluejays did it again. This time Merrill took the first place win in three divisions of the Target Singles Trap event: Varsity, JV, and Intermediate Entry. All three teams came in first place, while Merrill’s Intermediate Advanced Team took third place.
The Bluejays were competing against the same nine teams as in their regular Conference season – from Antigo, Lakeland, Medford, Mosinee, Northland Pines, Rhinelander, SPASH, Tomahawk, and Wausau.
The top three shooters overall at each level were recognized, with Merrill’s Robert Hoff taking second place for Varsity, Mathew Maas taking second for JV (tying for first with a 95 but slipping to second based on RR), and Dane Kufahl and Jaxson Ames taking second and third places, respectively, in Intermediate Entry. For Female Shooters, Merrill’s JV shooters Lily Kufahl took first place overall and Maria Ashbrenner took second place overall.
Merrill’s top three shooters at the event, by division, in four rounds of shooting (individual round scores in parenthesis), were:
Varsity
- Robert Hoff – 94 (22, 24, 24, 24)
- Christopher Holz – 91 (24, 23, 24, 20)
- Nicholas Kriegel – 90 (23, 24, 21, 22)
Junior Varsity
- Mathew Maas – 95 (23, 24, 25, 23)
- Mason Meyer – 87 (24, 21, 20, 22)
- Lily Kufahl – 85 (20, 22, 22, 21)
Intermediate Advanced
- Bradley Schmidt – 80 (19, 20, 21, 20)
- Max Westover – 77 (19, 22, 20, 16)
- Tavin Heidemann – 73 (23, 17, 19, 14)
Intermediate Entry
- Dane Kufahl – 80 (20, 20, 17, 23)
- Jaxson Ames – 78 (23, 20, 19, 16)
- Robert Giese – 76 (18, 18, 20, 20)
The SCTP is the largest and fastest growing youth clay target program in the U.S., providing students from elementary through high school and college the chance to compete in sports such as trap, skeet, and sporting clays.
The final event for the Merrill Bluejay Trap Team will be the Wisconsin SCTP 2024 State Championship Tournament for Stage Singles Trap, to be held at the Wisconsin Trapshooting Association (WTA) Homegrounds/Shooting Complex in Rome, Wis., on June 21.