2011 Illinois Service Rifle Championship

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2011 Illinois Service Rifle Individual Champion Tim Klauer

2011 Illinois Service Rifle Team Champion Two Old Farts Ted Mazurski, Paul Mazurski, Lindsey Mazurski, Joe Julian

Saturday's individual championship started with warm and humid weather that suggested the rain that was coming by the afternoon.

Wisconsin resident Elliot Farro jumped out to an early lead with his 195 in offhand. Following close were the three 194's of Tim Klauer, Konrad Powers, and Lee Wells. Not only did each of these shooters fire the same score. They each had 7 X's as well.

The sitting match illustrated the level of competition at this year's championship as 8 out of 44 shooters (that's 18%) fired 200's. John Holliger's 11X won the match but Leslie Lewis, Cliff Adams, Mike James, and Jim Appleby all had 9X. Tim Klauer and John Lowe had 8X while Marksman David Ramm was doing his best to be reclassified with 6X.

Klauer was now leading Farro by a single point with Powers and Wells two points down on the leader.

The winner of the 300 yard rapid prone match came from the ranks of the juniors. Nash Neubauer fired a 199-9x to take this stage. The other 199's were Joe Julian, Dave Germain, and Powers' 1X.

While weak on X's, Powers' 199 pushed him to the the top of the overall leader board by a single point over Klauer. Wells and Farro were still in the hunt trailing by three. As everyone moved back to 600 yards the skies darkened and thunder was heard in the distance.

After one relay had fired slow prone there was a pit change. The next relay was greeted by rain drops on their mats. Despite the overcast skies the shooters prevailed with the rain coming down harder as the final relay prepared to take their positions. The targets were taken out of the carriages to keep them dry as everyone huddled under shelter to wait out the heavy stuff. With the rain a little lighter but no sign of improvement, the match director called the final relay to the line to finish the day.

The final tally at 600 showed John Holliger's skills in slow prone. His 199-13x won that match with Klauer's 198 trailing by one point. Farro, Lowe, Eddie Newman, and Neil Harber were right there as well each with 197's. Despite the double-digit X-count, Powers' 196-10x was not enough to repeat as state champion.

For 2011 a new name will be added to the Sherwood "Woody" Coul trophy. Tim Klauer's 788 earned him top spot and his first Illinois Service Rifle Championship.

The ISRA would like to thank Bob Levine who ran the pits on both Saturday and Sunday, Mike James who ran the line on Sunday, as well as Ken Mahl and Zac Sopher.