TURN ON THE JETS – Fairmont’s trap shooters and coaches who went to the Minnesota State High School Clay Target League’s State Tournament runner-up team was comprised of assistant coach Rich Wolf, Dane Breitbarth, Reece Buntjer, Caden Padgett, Myles Aherns, Cole Nawrocki and head coach Scott Fuhram. Not pictured is Adam Wohlhuter. (Photo courtesy of Scott Fuhram)

PRIOR LAKE — The Fairmont trap shooting team was all business when it arrived at the Minneaplolis Gun Club Friday, June 23, for the Minnesota State Championships in Prior Lake.

Fairmont finished second to United South Central. It was Fairmont’s highest-ever finish.

USC finished with a score of 484, while Fairmont had 482. Forty teams competed in the final round.

“We had a great day and didn’t expect to finish so high,” said Fairmont head coach Scott Fuhram. “We earned a team trophy and now have something to put in the school trophy case. Our kids were amazing and very calm.”

Four hundred teams competed from around the state on the first day, but to make the Minnesote State High School Clay Target League’s State Tournament, only a handful of teams advanced.

Fairmont finished 29th to advance. The team’s five competitors, plus an alternate, shot 472 out of 500 targets to make the final round. The five shooters and one alternate were Dane Breitbarth, Reece Buntjer, Caiden Padgett, Myles Ahrens, Cole Nawrocki and Adam Wohlhuter.

Fairmont improved its score with the pressure on, scoring 482 out of 500 (96.4 percent) in the state finals the following day. Padgett hit all 100 in the two 50-target rounds, to lead the team. His perfect score was one of four posted on the final day. Albert Lea’s Cody Laskowske, Bemidji’s Taylor Kehoe, and USC’s Zale Bushlack joined Padgett with a perfect score.

It was the first time Padgett had a run of hitting all 100 clay targets.

Fairmont’s other competitors hit 97, 96, 95 and 94 out of 100, respectivelty. Nawrocki had 97, followed by Ahrens with 96, Breitbarth with 95, and Buntjer with 94.

Fairmont tied Roseau for second with 482, but won on the tiebreaker – the longest reverse run score among the two teams — as Padgett’s run was 100, while Roseau’s leader (Guilford Finney) was at 83.

In the individual shooting event that took place after the team competition, Breitbarth finished T13 with a score of 98. He hit 49 out of 50 targets in each round.

East Ridge’s Alex Krska, Spring Lake Park’s Mason Meyer, and USC’s Zale Bushlack had a perfect score of 100 in the individual section.

“We had an excellent day of shooting,” Fuhram said. “Our kids were calm and beat some of the bigger schools. It was a lot of fun to watch our kids shoot so well and shoot with confidence.”

Breitbarth finished among the top 20 out of 10,000 high school state-wide trap shooters during the regular season, earning him special recognition.

“The kids were pretty cool,” Fuhrman said. “They are underclassmen and didn’t seem to feel any pressure that maybe a senior might knowing this is his last chance.”

Each target travels at 43 miles per hour.

After taking the rest of the summer off, the trap shooting team is back for its fall practice season.

They have the winter off and then it’s time to shoot for the 2024 spring high school trap shooting season with everyone else.

“We’ll have everyone back; so who knows what to expect,” Fuhrman said. “Everyone will work hard to improve their skills, and we’ll work with the younger kids to get them ready.”