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Cold weather fires back at trapshooters

Press photos by John Burbridge Nashua-Plainfield senior Chaska Hunt gets ready to shoot during a brutally cold Mason City Trapshooting Invitational, Monday at Ventura Gun Club.
Press photos by John Burbridge
Nashua-Plainfield senior Chaska Hunt gets ready to shoot during a brutally cold Mason City Trapshooting Invitational, Monday at Ventura Gun Club.

NP’s Bucknell, Fuerstenberg place 2nd at 30-team Mason City Invitational

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

VENTURA — The only easy day was yesterday.

A military motto that has seeped into civilian life.

But for many of the trapshooters who participated in Monday’s 30-team Mason City Invitational at the Ventura Gun Club, the easy day was two days ago at Saturday’s Central Springs Invitational at the Mitchell County Trap Range.

The conditions then were bitter.

The conditions in Ventura were brutal.

Nashua-Plainfield senior Nick Bucknell, who says he shoots better in cold weather, won a three-way shoot off for second place.
Nashua-Plainfield senior Nick Bucknell, who says he shoots better in cold weather, won a three-way shoot off for second place.

And midway through the event, the weather started shooting back with face-stinging ice pellets.

One shooter managed to withstand the assault … and then some.

“I don’t know what it is,” Nashua-Plainfield senior Nick Bucknell said after winning a three-way shoot off for second place in the boys division, “I just shoot better in cold weather. Maybe luck is involved.”

With winter-like conditions spilling into May, Bucknell seems to be one lucky shooter so far this season, which was started a month ago to the day with the Nashua Invitation.

Bucknell, incidentally, won individual honors in a shoot off back then.

Going up against Osage’s Jayden Fangmeier and Garner-Hayfield/Ventura’s Keagan Clark — who like Bucknell hit 46 of 50 birds — Bucknell was the first to miss from the 22-yard line. Clark later missed, but by the time Fangmeier missed his first shot, Bucknell had missed twice.

“You’vw just got to know that anything can happen in shoot offs,” said Bucknell, who hit 20 of 25 clays.

Fangmeier hit 19 clays for third place; Clark hit 18 for fourth.

“Usually, hitting 20 in a shoot off doesn’t win it,” Bucknell said.

Osage claimed both the boys and girls individual top honors with Zach Adams and Shelby Prochaska both shooting 47s.

Marissa Fuerstenberg, also shooting for Nashua-Plainfield, placed second among the girls after hitting 43 clays.

Adams led the Osage No. 3 squad to a first-place team score of 219, three birds ahead of runner-up Waverly-Shell Rock.

Bucknell, Fuerstenberg, Chaska Hunt, Ashton Lamborn and Tyler Lantz placed in the Top 10 with a combined 190 score.

Charles City senior Luke Hillegas shot 43 clays to lead all Comet shooters.

Trapshooting

Mason City Invitational

1st. OSAGE NO. 3 (219)

Zach Adams 47, J. Popp 45, J. Morische 45, N. Huftalin 43, N. Chambers 39.

2nd. WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK (216)

A. Ruess 45, D. Rinnels 44, J. Kaisand 44, B. Dunakey 43, N. Sinram 40.

Local Shooters

NASHUA-PLAINFIELD (190)

Nick Bucknell 46, Marissa Fuerstenberg 43, Chaska Hunt 40, Ashton Lamborn 33, Tyler Lantz 28.

CHARLES CITY NO. 2 (183)

Dan Swartzrock 37, Colby Gavitt 42, Bailee Bortz 30, Brenden Kvernevig 32, Dylan Bilharz 42.

CHARLES CITY NO. 1 (175)

Luke Hillegas 43, Bryce Hamm 37, Carter West 33, Jacob Greenzweig 32, Bryce Hamm 37.

CHARLES CITY NO. 3 (159)

Kaleb Osier 25, Evan Schmidtke 34, Rebecca Tierney 35, Jace Landt 31, Devon Alton 34.

CHARLES CITY IND.

Noah Orthel 38, Levi Robbins 30, Ciana Sonberg 26.

N/P IND.

Dominique Griffen 38.

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