Perfect Trap Scores by Hol, Zihlman Lead Statesmen to Crown in Huge Field

Grand Island, Neb.--The William Penn shotgun sports team returned to the winner's circle as it claimed the title at the Hastings Invitational Saturday and Sunday.

WPU was first out of 17 squads with a score of 1,817-for-2,000, while Midland (Neb.) was a distant second at 1,786-for-2,000.  It is the navy and gold's fourth gold of the fall (five events).

Shooters competed in the disciplines of Skeet, Trap, Sporting Clays, and Super Sporting with the Statesmen taking titles in Trap, Sporting Clays, and Super Sporting, while tying for first in Skeet (lost in a shoot-off).

Trenton Hol (Fr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Industrial Technology) and Izaac Zihlman (Fr., Mount Pleasant, Iowa, Business Management) both celebrated perfection in Trap at 100-for-100.  William Penn took the team title at 490-for-500.

Colton Heintz-Kuderer (Jr., Mabel, Minn., Biology) was next for his team at 98-for-100, while the quartet of Hayden Lund (So., Beaverdam, Wis., Sports Management), Addison McGehearty (So., Mount Pleasant, Iowa, Secondary Education), Trenton Giese (So., Muskego, Wis., Mechanical Engineering), and Ian Darragh (Fr., Eagle, Idaho, Business Management) all tied at 96-for-100.

A score of 430-for-500 was good enough for the win in Sporting Clays. 

Mason Ward (Grad., Twin Falls, Idaho, Master's of Organizational Leadership) paced the group at 90-for-100, while Emily Sjoberg (So., Citrus Heights, Calif., Business Management) was right behind him at 89-for-100.

Giese (85) and Wyatt Kresser (Jr., Independence, Iowa, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management) (84) also put up scoring marks, while Adison Sholes (Jr., Indianola, Iowa, Public Accounting), Brandon Nord (Sr., Hidden Valley Lake, Calif., New Media), and Cade Bowie (Sr., Benton, Ark., Business Management) tied at 82-for-100.

Giese's 87-for-100 was WPU's best score in Super Sporting; the Statesmen won the discipline at 408-for-500.  Kresser was runner-up at 82-for-100, while Sjoberg (81), Henning (80), and Lund (78) got on the board as well.

William Penn tied Midland in Skeet at 489-for-500, but fell 8-7 in the shoot-off.  Kresser missed just once out of his 100 targets, while Giese and Sholes each only came up empty twice.  Hol and Zihlman also scored at 97-for-100.

WPU swept the High Overall Athlete awards as Giese was first among all competitors at 366-for-400, while Sjoberg topped the Female standings at 355-for-400.

Kresser placed second overall (359-for-400), while Ward tied for fourth at 353-for-400.   Nikolle Kussatz (Jr., Leighton, Iowa, Biology) also tied for the fourth-highest female score at 331-for-400.

"The weather conditions were not optimal with wind gusts of 40 miles per hour, but the team battled through," Head Coach Colten Uitermarkt said.  "They fought well during Super Sporting, which set us apart early in the weekend.  What impressed me the most was the passion and drive that everyone had to get back to practice and work on the areas they identified as weak points.  Everyone is using their analytical minds to address areas of weakness and are working to turn those into their strengths.

Next Up: William Penn takes a couple weeks off before traveling to Fairfield on October 24-26 to host the William Penn Line Game Invitational at Southeast Iowa Trap and Skeet Club.