2014 USA Shooting Wisconsin Junior Olympic Championship Results

June 8, 2014. Town of Rome, Adams County, Wisconsin – Wisconsin’s first USA Shooting Junior Olympic Championships came to a close on Sunday afternoon. The tournament marked the beginning of a new chapter in Wisconsin shooting sports. Thirty young athletes aged 20 and under—23 males and 7 females—traveled from four states, including one all the way from New Mexico, to be part of the inaugural event.

On Saturday afternoon, there was a grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting for the new Olympic bunker including WTA, NRA, SCTP and DNR representatives. Nearly 400 people were in attendance for the grand opening, which was filmed by Dan Small and his crew from Outdoor Wisconsin for a future TV show.

The young athletes shot a series of five qualifying rounds totaling 125 targets over two days in the same format that is used every four years in the Olympics. The weather conditions were less than ideal. Most of the weekend saw high winds, rain and eventually lightning that stopped the event for an hour on Saturday afternoon. Strong winds rendered Sunday morning’s rounds very challenging. These conditions made the course even more difficult for the Olympic hopefuls.

After the qualifications were complete, the top six male and female shooters continued to the finals, where they shot additional targets to determine the final medal winners.

Myles Walker of Elkhorn took home the men’s gold medal after the two-day event. Other finalists included Jordan Hintz and Christian Jensen of Burlington, Jack Schuppie and Josh Nelson of Richfield and Aaren Weinke of Baraboo. Hintz took second place silver, and Jensen won the bronze over Schuppie in a shoot-off to end the event.

For the ladies, Meredith Berneau of Waterford won the gold ahead of Abby Rosenau of Ripon and her sister, Madelynn. Other finalists were Mariah Kerr from Burlington and Alexandria Zigelbauer of Iron Ridge.

Nonresident medals, gold through bronze, went to Oscar Southbloom of Minnesota, Anna Pfaff of Illinois and Kes Luchini of New Mexico, respectively.

All 30 athletes who competed in this event now have the opportunity to compete at the USA Shooting Junior Olympic Championships set for July 8th to 13th in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they will contend for positions on the USAS Junior team and the opportunity to potentially represent the United States in international competition.

The event was run concurrent with Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) Wisconsin State International Championships. In addition, on Saturday there were 250 athletes from throughout the Midwest who competed in the 100-target SCTP Midwest High School Regional tournament on the American trap fields. Results of the SCTP awards for both tournaments can be found on the SCTP website at: sssfonline.org.

The weekend started off with a coach, parent and adult fundraising event Friday afternoon on the Olympic bunker. The “50 for $50.00” fundraiser was won by Bruce Nelson of the Daniel Boone Conservation League, and the proceeds will sponsor a Wisconsin SCTP Athlete to attend an SCTP Junior Olympic Development Camp in Colorado Springs in August. Thank you to Kolar Arms, Gunbroker.com, Tom Wondrash, Bob Palmer and the SCTP for their donations.

The world-class International-Style Olympic Bunker featuring 15 trap machines in one 60-foot long trench controlled by an automated computer system was made possible with generous grants from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Pittman-Robertson Fund and the National Rifle Association (NRA). This bunker is the first of its kind in the state.

The 280-acre WTA Shooting and Learning Complex located at 1312 Akron Drive, Nekoosa, Wisconsin, includes American Trap and Olympic-style trapshooting as well as a premier campground. The new Homegrounds RV Park should be open by mid-June and features 104 pull-through sites with full hook-up.

Ladies shoot-off for the medals

Ladies medal winners: Bronze-Madilynn Bernau, Gold- Meredith Bernau, Silver-Abby Rosenau

Photo courtesy of Christian Jensen