BY TINA L. SCOTT
EDITOR
The Merrill Trap Team began their season competing amid snow and snowstorms in late March 2023 and wrapped up their competitive shooting season the end of May after which a number of Merrill shooters went on to compete at the Conference level.
During their nine-week season, the 2023 Trap Team, which is open to students in grades 6-12, included 56 registered athletes competing in one of four shooting divisions: Entry Level (Intermediate Entry), Intermediate (Intermediate Advanced), Junior Varsity (JV), and Varsity. Five new coaches joined the lineup this year, for a total of 16 coaches who volunteered their time, knowledge, supervision, and training to the Merrill Trap Team in 2023.
This year’s Merrill Varsity Trap Team was made up of 14 athletes competing at the highest level: Cooper Apprill, Lydia Ashbrenner, Louis Blum, Christian Candler, Ian Dreikosen, Kati Drury, Lacey Frisch, Landon Hipke, Bobby Hoff, Nicholas Kriegel, Aidan Malzahn, Ben Schneider, Matthew Steffen, and Jake Walsh.
Shooting on Tuesday evenings from 4-7 p.m. on their “home field” at the Lincoln Gun Club, Merrill’s results and scores were entered, and athletes then waited to learn how their competitors would score when they shot at their locations, since opposing teams frequently shoot on different days of the week. All scoring was done virtually and entered online.
During the season, the Merrill Trap Team competed against teams from Mosinee, Lakeland, Wausau, Tomahawk, SPASH, Northland, Rhinelander, Medford, and Antigo.
In overall season results, the Merrill Varsity Trap Team finished 7-2. JV and Intermediate Advanced also each finished 7-2, and Intermediate Entry shooters finished their season 5-4.
Four Merrill athletes finished in the top five for the entire Conference, including Varsity shooters Bobby Hoff (second place, missing first place by one bird) and Landon Hipke (fifth place) and JV shooters Christopher Holz (first place) and Jameson Wyland (fifth place)
Three female shooters from Merrill also ranked in the top five female shooters in the Conference, including Varsity shooters Lacey Frisch (second place) and Lydia Ashbrenner (fifth place) and Intermediate Advanced shooter Maria Ashbrenner (second place).
Week-by-week Varsity results for the 2023 Trap Shooting season:
Week 1: Merrill Bluejays won against Rhinelander High School with a team score of 110-104.
Week 2: Merrill Bluejays lost to Mosinee Trap Team with a score of 113-117.
Week 3: Merrill Bluejays won against Lakeland Union High School with a score of 120-112.
Week 4: Merrill Bluejays won against Tomahawk Claybusters with a score of 118-111.
Week 5: Merrill Bluejays won against Antigo Red Robins with a score of 122-112.
Week 6: Merrill Bluejays lost to SPASH Shooting Club with a score of 113-118.
Week 7: Merrill Bluejays won against Northland Pines Eagles with a score of 123-113.
Week 8: Merrill Bluejays won against Medford Area Trap Club with a score of 116-111.
Week 9: Merrill Bluejays won against Wausau Skeet and Trap with a score of 120-111.