Hi everyone. The ATA Central Zone Shoot took place from July 25 - July 27. Illinois shooters did well in the classes, yardage groups and categories. Check out Trap and Field Magazine for all the results. We also had 2 big wins. Mason Bartlow won the Singles Championship with a 200 straight and Wyatt Williams won the Doubles Championship with a 100 straight. Congratulations to both of you.

I just got back from the Grand and, as always, it was grand. The numbers of shooters were down a bit, but the scores were out of sight. No big wins for Illinois shooters but we presented ourselves well in the classes, yardage groups and categories. I want to talk about an Illinois shooter who accomplished something notable at the shoot. Adelynn Wottowa, a Sub-Junior shooter, broke her first 100 straight at the Grand. Adelynn is a quiet, unassuming young lady who lets her shooting do her talking. She is also a great young person who is a joy to be around. Congratulations, Adelynn, I am sure this is just the first of many 100's to come.

When you have over 500 Illinois shooters banging away at the Grand for 10 days, you are going to have a lot of milestones being reached. Boy, do we have a boat load of them. So, without further ado, here they are for this month. At the 25,000 plateau, Greg Hogue reached it in Singles, Robert Randell, Thomas McCue, Andrew Verdeyen and Greg Aitken reached it in Handicap and Kevin Morrison and Doug Porter reached it in Doubles. At the 50,000 plateau, Steve Brokow, Alan Maly, Tony Fortino and David Coles reached it in Handicap. At the 75,000 plateau, Denise Dressler reached it in Singles and Lauren Dunn and Brian Cox reached it in Handicap. Finally, at the 100,000 plateau, Brian Bomkamp reached it in Singles, Roland Roesslein reached it in Handicap and Harvey Schultz reached it in combined targets. Way to go guys. Very, very impressive.

Shoot well and support your local club.

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate

Hi everyone. I want to start with some milestones Illinois shooters have reached. William Reardon and Brent Ausbrook have shot 50,0000 Singles and Jeremiah Schultz has shot 25,000 Handicap targets. Good job guys.

Be sure to check Trap and Field magazine for results of the various state shoots across the Midwest. Illinois shooters have been tearing it up at these shoots. I want to highlight some notable wins we have accomplished. Mason Bartlow won the out-of-state Singles Championship at Kentucky. Ian Lawrence won the out-of-state Doubles Championship at Iowa. He also won the out-of-state Junior Gold HAA and HOA. Finally, Chase Horton was the Runner-Up in the out-of-state Doubles Championship at Wisconsin. 

I sadly must talk about the loss of two longtime trap shooters in Illinois. Norman Ward and Gary Gress have both passed away over the past month. Both of them were good men, good shots and good friends. I always looked forward to seeing them at shoots that I went to. I know I sound like a broken record, but it saddens me no end to not have people like these guys at our shoots anymore. Rest well guys.

I want to take a moment to say how sorry I am that Bill Martin has passed. Bill was legendary in his generosity towards trapshooting. The ATA, state organizations and individuals have all benefited from him. God does not make men like Bill very often and we were honored to have him in our lives.

Shoot well and support your local club.

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate

   Hi everyone. Shooting has really ramped up in the Midwest. As I write this, the Great Lakes Grand, The Missouri State Shoot, the Kansas State Shoot and the U.S. Open have taken place. Illinois shooters have been winning classes, yardage groups and categories all over the place. It would take me forever to list them all out. Please read the shoot reports of all these shoots to see the dominance of our shooters. I am going to mention two young men who are on a tear. Ian Lawrence, at the Missouri State shoot, won the Doubles, HAA and the HOA. At the U.S. Open, he won the Doubles and HOA. Wyatt Williams won the Handicap and the HAA. Great shooting guys.
    Now to the Illinois State Shoot. The rain gods decided to make up for several months of dry weather by dumping several inches of rain on us in a two-week timeframe. There was mud but the club held up remarkably well and we had good targets, great scores and lots of smiles by the end of the shoot. I'll talk about the AIM shoot first. It is now a comp factor 4 shoot and several of our young men and women received All-American points. The winners were, in Women's competition, Pre-Sub - Madison Lewis, Sub-Junior - Erin Federle, Junior - Madison Franklin and Junior Gold - Chloe Anderson. In Men's competition, the winners were, Pre-Sub - Elliott Turpin, Sub-Junior - Ryland Douglass, Junior - Mason Doran and Junior Gold - Haydon Sanson. 
    In the adult state shoot, we were a solid comp 5 factor again. We had fierce competition all week long. After the smoke cleared, we had several worthy winners. In state, the winners were, Singles - Jaxson Wilson, Doubles - Ian Lawrence, Handicap - Brenden Mowen and Ian Lawrence won both the HAA and HOA. The Out-of-State winners were, Singles - Ricky Marshall, Doubles - Jason Kruse, Handicap - Ricky Marshall, HAA - Jason Kruse and Ricky Marshall won HOA.
    I have a monster of a list of milestones that Illinois shooters have reached. It's just another indication that the shooting season is in full swing. At the 25,000 plateau, David Firkins, Payton Wottowa, Andrew Verdeyen and Steve Margherio have reached it in Singles. David Firkins and Ignacio Villagomez have reached it in Handicap. Micheal Ruebhausen, Thomas Clark and Tad Horton reached it in Doubles. At the 50,000 plateau, David Gillmore, Richard Drennen and Kent Temple have reached it in Singles. Kenneth Mitchell, Michael Ruebhausen and William Huhn reached it in Handicap. Alan Maly and Jim Olin reached it in Doubles. At the 75,000 plateau, Steven Johnson and John Kravanek reached it in Singles. At the 100,000 plateau, Darrell Osterstag reached it in combined targets and Paul Rogers reached it in Hhandicap. Finally, Fred Moffatt reached the 200,000 Singles plateau. Add this all up and this is a lot of targets shot. 
    Finally, on a personal note, Brad Mayberry ran against me to be the delegate of Illinois. I can't begin to tell you how grateful, happy and humbled I am by your support. I promise I will do the best possible job in representing all the shooters of the State.
    Shoot well and support your local club.
                                                                    
Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate

     Hi everyone. The weather is slowly breaking in Illinois, and the shoots are coming hot and heavy. The Illinois Southern Zone Shoot was held on May 3 and 4 at Brittany shooting park. The weather was horrible but the Southern Zone shooters still showed up and competed. Thanks to all of you that persevered that weekend. The winners were: In-Zone Singles was Austin Carlin; Out-of-Zone Singles was Myles Arrowsmith. In-Zone Doubles was Carson Sievers and Out-of-Zone Doubles was Coltyn Schutte. In-Zone Handicap was Trey Rohlfing and Out-of-Zone Handicap was Myles Arrowsmith. Steve Margherio won In-Zone HAA and Myles Arrowsmith won Out of Zone HAA. Congratulations to all the winners. We also have a new Director. Jesse Tedrick defeated Dennis Baker in an election and will be assuming his new duties. Many thanks go out to Dennis for all the hard work he has done through the years for the ISTA.
    The following weekend the Illinois Central Zone shoot took place at the Peoria Skeet and Trap Club. As bad as the weather was the previous week, it was that good at Peoria. The shooters showed up and we had a great time. The winners were: In-Zone Singles was Mike Dennis and Out-of-Zone Singles was Rodney Johnson. In-Zone Doubles was Anthony Fortino and Out-of-Zone Doubles was Stephan Terzo. In-Zone Handicap was Mason Duran and Out-of-Zone Handicap was Mack Webb. Finally, Mike Westjohn won In-Zone HAA and Matt Nicol won Out of Zone HAA.
    I have received word that Illinois has lost two shooters this past month. Rollie Segar and Frank Degrazia have both passed. Both of them were good shooters, good friends, and most importantly, good men. As I said last month about Ron Cox Sr., these men have been the bedrock of trapshooting in our state for years. It is so sad to me that people like them are no longer here with us. Rest well men. You have earned it.
    The AIM program has the ALL-STAR team which is the equivalent of the All-American team with adults. There are 4 categories with 20 kids in each category, for a grand total of 80 kids. Illinois has 21 of those 80 kids, or in other words, Illinois had one quarter of all the ALL-STARS. There are a couple of groups of people I need to give a shout out to for creating this amazing stat. The Mohr family at Brittany Shooting Park do a wonder job of organizing AIM so that we have more kids shooting all the time. I also want to congratulate the coaches around the state who develop all this young talent. I am in awe of the jobs you all are doing.
    Finally, Jason Hassler has reached the 25,000 milestone in Handicap. Great shooting, Jason.
    Shoot well and support your local clubs.

Bill Duncan, ATA Delegate