Bulldogs place second in conference; Hambly wins individual HOA title

By Jacob Knabel on Sep. 27, 2021 in Shooting Sports

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. – Concordia University Shooting Sports emerged from the 2021 Prairie Circuit Conference Championships with a large haul of awards. As a team, the Bulldogs (2020 conference champions) placed second high overall while cracking just three fewer targets than champion Fort Hays State University (Kan.). Individually, Wyatt Hambly won the high overall title with a score of 375 while Nicole Breese was the female runner up. The event was held at Lincoln County Wildlife Gun Club in North Platte, Neb., this past Thursday through Saturday (Sept. 24-26).

Head Coach Scott Moniot’s squad came away from the shoot with team championships in trap (485), trap doubles (473) and skeet doubles (246). In addition, five Bulldogs were honored as all-conference performers: Sam Blevins, Breese, Hambly, Russell Malterud and Emily Rasmussen. Below is a summary of the team and individual awards that were earned.

Due to the growth of the conference in terms of number of participants, each shooter was limited to 400 targets (down from 500 last season).

“To be only three targets off from Fort Hays State shows we’ve come a long way,” Moniot said. “It was pretty exciting to see what we did. We definitely set the bar pretty high. It’s a little disappointing when you do the math and realize you were three targets short of winning a conference championship. But to have the individual champion two years in a row is pretty special. As a team, we won three of the five events and we almost won skeet (one target shy). The seniors led really well and helped the freshmen settle in. It took the whole team to do what we did.”

Concordia awards earned at 2021 Prairie Circuit Conference Championships

TEAM

·        Second HOA (1,861)

·        Trap Champions (485)

·        Trap Doubles Champions (473)

·        Skeet Doubles Champions (246)

HOA top three teams: 1. Fort Hays State – 1,864 | 2. Concordia – 1,861 | 3. Midland – 1,814.

Individual

·        Sam Blevins – All-Conference

·        Nicole Breese – HOA female runner up (348); All-Conference; Women’s Sporting Clays Conference Champion

·        Wyatt Hambly – HOA Champion (375); All-Conference; Men’s Trap Doubles Champion

·        Russell Malterud – All-Conference; Men’s Skeet Doubles Champion

·        Emily Rasmussen – All-Conference; Women’s Skeet Conference Champion

·        Sarah Schwacher – Women’s Skeet Doubles Champion

·        Colten Uitermarkt – Men’s Skeet Conference Champion

·        Emily Uitermarkt – Freshman All-Conference

Concordia can boast of having the HOA individual conference champion for the second year in a row. Erin Lokke rose above all other competitors last year in a championship performance. This time around, Hambly (Paso Robles, Calif.) outshot Fort Hays State’s Riley Ross by two targets, 375-373, for the title. The same margin (350-348) separated Brees from female champion Emily Miller of Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture.

In winning specific disciplines, Breese shot 76 in sporting clays, Hambly shot 97 in trap doubles, Malterud shot a perfect 50 in skeet doubles, Rasmussen shot a perfect 50 in skeet, Schwacher shot 48 in skeet doubles and Colten Uitermarkt shot a perfect 50 in skeet. In terms of top HOA scores, Hambly was followed by Blevins (363), Malterud (361), Colten Uitermarkt (360) and Jack Nelson (356).

Concordia’s top shooters in the disciplines it placed first in as a team were as follows:

Trap (485)

·        Damien Stewart – 98

·        Jack Nelson – 97

·        Brennen Stones – 97

·        Drew Schmidt – 97

·        Madeleine Taylor – 96

Trap Doubles (473)

·        Wyatt Hambly – 97

·        Jack Nelson – 97

·        Ames Andelt – 94

·        Breyer Meeks – 93

·        Wyatt Eriksen – 92

Skeet Doubles (246)

·        Wyatt Hambly – 50

·        Russell Malterud – 50

·        Colten Uitermarkt – 49

·        Damien Stewart – 49

·        Sarah Schwacher – 48

The field of competitors at the Prairie Circuit Conference Championships included shooters from Colorado State University, Connors State College, Hastings College, University of Jamestown, Midland University, Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, Northwest Kansas Technical College, Oklahoma Panhandle State University, Pratt Community College, Wayne State College and the University of Wyoming. The Prairie Circuit features teams from a seven-state region.

Next up is the sixth annual Concordia Bulldog Sporting Invitational. The Bulldogs will host the event Saturday and Sunday at their home range, Oak Creek Sporting Club in Brainard, Neb. Last year’s event featured nearly 100 collegiate shooters from seven different institutions. Concordia placed second behind rival Midland.