William Penn Sweeps Hardware at Grand View Invitational
Waukee--The Statesmen shotgun sports team kept the winning streak going as it took down the field at the Grand View Invitational last Saturday and Sunday.
WPU finished first out of seven teams with a score of 1,426-for-1,500. Wartburg was second with 1,364 targets. William Penn has now won all four of its tournaments this year and dating back to last year, the Statesmen has won six in a row.
The event included the disciplines of Trap, Skeet, and Sporting Clays and the navy and gold walked off with all three crowns.
With a score of 494-for-500, the Statesmen earned the Trap gold. The quartet of Russell Malterud (Grad., North Branch, Minn., Master's of Organizational Leadership), Hunter Block (Sr., Eldridge, Iowa, Business Management), Colton Heintz-Kuderer (Fr., Mabel, Minn., Biology), and Dryden DeKoning (Jr., Newton, Iowa, Business Management) all finished at 99-for-100. Malterud took first in a shoot-off and Block won runner-up honors.
Five others were at 98-for-100, including Bryon Baca (Grad., Colorado Springs, Colo., Master's of Organizational Leadership), KayLynn Sieber (Jr., Marshall, Minn., Biology), Lane Arrowood (Jr., Newton, Iowa, Biology), Mathew Brindley (Jr., Earlham, Iowa, Industrial Technology), and Tanner Muff (So., Lincoln, Neb., General Accounting).
Brindley's 99-for-100 helped WPU to the Skeet championship as the team went 485-for-500 overall. Brindley finished in the top spot, while Block was at 97-for-100 to place third in the standings. The crew of DeKoning, Malterud, Noah DeBoef (Jr., Leighton, Iowa, Industrial Technology), Colten Uitermarkt (Grad., Otley, Iowa, Master's of Organizational Leadership), Carver Van Zee (So., Pella, Iowa, Industrial Technology), and Cade Bowie (So., Benton, Ark., Business Management) all tallied scores of 96-for-100 as well.
The Sporting Clays title came via a team score of 457-for-500. A 95-for-100 from Uitermarkt was good enough for the individual win, while Malterud (93) and Brindley (90) helped the Statesmen collect the top three positions.
Bowie matched Brindley at 90-for-100, while DeKoning wrapped up the team scoring at 89-for-100.
Malterud posted a total tournament score of 288-for-300 to win the High Overall Athlete award, while Sieber was the Female HOA champion at 279-for-300.
"This was definitely not our best showing and definitely not what we are capable of, but we did succeed as a team and pulled it together enough for the win at the last minute," Head Coach Steve Heaton said.
Next Up: William Penn returns home Friday and Saturday as it hosts the William Penn Invitational at Black Oak Clays Range in Pella.
