United South Central wins state clay target championship
PRIOR LAKE, Minn. -- Some might have thought Minnesota was done with spring season state tournaments. But there was one more.
The Clay Target state championships took place on Friday at the Minneapolis Gun Club. The club is in Prior Lake and is the site of the last Minnesota State High School League state tournament of the school year.
"I'm still shaking a lot," said United South Central senior Hunter Bruckhoff. "I was shaking the whole round. But I feel amazing."
The 40 best trap shooting teams in Minnesota qualified for the tournament, after advancing out of the championships in Alexandria - which is the largest shooting event in the world.
"It is extremely hard," said Bruckhoff.
Only one team could be crowned the best in the state.
"You can't let one target affect the next when you're in a competition like this," said USC senior Zale Bushlack. "Every target matters. And luckily we came out on top."
United South Central took the trophy with a 484 score. Just two points better than second place Fairmont. Roseau placed third.
"It was a relief," said Bushlack. "We were watching Fairmont and they were right behind us the whole time and they almost ran a perfect round at the end but they missed and we were all pretty excited and relieve that we got the good news that we won."
For one team, a trying season ends perfectly.
"I spent two of the first three weeks in ice fishing gear," said United South Central head coach Darin Magnuson. "Shooting in the rain and snow. It was terrible to start with. But when it ends like this, you can't complain."
Capping the school years state tournament schedule.
