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Young trap shooters see success

FAIRMONT- A team of 35 athletes from the Fairmont High School Trap team is heading to state in Alexandria this weekend. Previously the team, coached by Scott Fuhrman, scored fourth out of eight schools at the regional conference, although Fairmont’s team included many younger athletes compared to some of their competitors.

The team going to state is comprised of 35 of the team’s 50 athletes organized into seven squads of five. Whichever five students score highest at the state conference can then compete at the state tournament next week.

The top scoring squad consists of Cass Davis, Colby Leiding, Ethan Madson, Adam Wohlhuter, and Dane Breitbarth. Breitbarth, a student entering the 8th grade, was the top varsity shooter this year and one of the youngest team members to make it to state since the team was created. After making varsity in the 6th grade he lettered in it during both 6th and 7th grade.

“He wants to shoot well for himself but he also wants to shoot well for his teammates. … He always puts a lot of pressure on himself to do well in everything, whether that’s academics or anything. Anything he seems to take up he puts his whole heart into,” said Jared Breitbarth, Dane’s father.

Dane practices trap shooting up to three days a week with his teammates and his family. On Wednesdays he shoots league in Truman and attends practice. On Thursdays he shoots with his father and his grandfather, Rich Wolf.

“He works at it, and it’s like any other sport. The more you work at it, the better you’re gonna get,” said Wolf.

“It’s exciting but I also like the challenge. I’m shooting against a lot of better kids and … I like to compare myself with the other kids to see where I’m at and how I’m doing,” says Dane when asked about competing at state.

Some of Dane’s favorite things about shooting trap are being able to do the activity as a family, and having the option to shoot trap later in high school and as an adult. Once he gets to high school Dane hopes to make the top one hundred in the state and continue improving. This past season he narrowly missed that goal; the threshold for making the top hundred as 23.5 targets out of 25 while Dane shot 23.2.

At a tournament last Thursday in Owatonna Dane hit a new personal record hitting 232 out of 250 targets, and got first in his sub junior class and first in Class D.

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