Shooters from four different states came out to compete in this year's Illinois Service Rifle Championship. The Illinois State Rifle Association conducts the tournament, but it's the fine facilities of the Milan Rifle Club that leave a lasting impression on the participants.
While weather for an outdoor event such as this can be finicky in the midwest, the skies were clear and blue with warm temperatures and a great day to shoot.
Things started off at the 200 yard line with the slow-fire standing match of 20 record shots. Former Illinois, but now Wisconsin, resident Liam McKenna won here with a score of 197. Hot on his heels were the 196's of Mark Aussieker and Jim Appleby.
We remained at the 200 yard line but now fired two rapid-fire strings of 10 shots each from the sitting position. Six shooters fired perfect scores of 200 so it would come down to tie-breaking X's to determine the winner. McKenna's solid 17X was helped by a 10X clean on his second string to lead here. Just behind was Tim Klauer's 12X and Konrad Powers with an 11X.
McKenna was obviously in the overall lead at this point by winning the first two stages. But Appleby was only a single point behind and Aussieker trailed by three.
For the third stage the distance to the target increases to 300 yards and rapid-fire prone. Joel Falk dominated here with a 200 and 13X. Second was John Lowe with another 200 but 11X. Klauer let a nine creep in and was third with a 199.
McKenna now widened his lead by five points over Aussieker and six points over Falk. Could he keep up this blistering pace? The answer would come at the fourth and final stage of the day.
Things wrapped up at the 600 yard line and slow-fire from the prone position. Here, Klauer put on a show firing the only clean, a 200 with 11 X's. Trailing were the 197's of Powers, Falk, and McKenna.
McKenna kept up the pressure all day to earn the highest score. But his Wisconsin residency denied his access to the state championship. That honor went to Klauer and the fifth Sherwood Cool trophy of his career.
The ISRA would like to thank the Milan Rifle Club for providing the facilities for this state championship, as well as Jon Casillas, Mike James, Tim Klauer, Ken Mahl, and Jim Vaughn for handling communications.
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Individual Championship August 31, 2024 |
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| Class | Competitor | 200SF | 200RF | 300RF | 600SF | Aggregate |
| HM | Liam McKenna | 197-8 | 200-17 | 198-6 | 197-5 | 792-36 |
| IL Service Rifle Champion | Tim Klauer | 188-3 | 200-12 | 199-9 | 200-11 | 787-35 |
| HM | Mark Aussieker | 196-7 | 198-3 | 196-4 | 194-7 | 784-21 |
| HM | John J. Lowe | 187-3 | 200-10 | 200-11 | 196-7 | 783-31 |
| HM | Konrad Powers | 191-2 | 200-11 | 194-7 | 197-12 | 782-32 |
| HM | James Vaughn | 192-4 | 197-7 | 198-7 | 192-9 | 779-27 |
| HM | James Appleby | 196-3 | 200-9 | 191-3 | 191-8 | 778-23 |
| HM | John Roth | 187-5 | 195-7 | 195-7 | 196-10 | 773-29 |
| HM | Bill Besgrove | 190-2 | 194-4 | 196-1 | 193-7 | 773-14 |
| HM | Benjamin Pickel | 189-4 | 191-4 | 190-3 | 191-8 | 761-19 |
| HM | Michael A. James | 171-1 | 195-5 | 199-7 | 195-6 | 760-19 |
| HM | Derek M. Dattner | 174-2 | 195-5 | 195-9 | 190-4 | 754-20 |
| HM | Jon B. Casillas | 182-1 | 195-5 | 189-2 | 186-4 | 752-12 |
| MA | Joel Falk | 190-3 | 199-7 | 200-13 | 197-9 | 786-32 |
| MA | Charley Appleby | 185-3 | 195-8 | 196-4 | 188-7 | 764-22 |
| MA | Ken Mahl | 180-2 | 198-5 | 195-1 | 190-4 | 763-12 |
| MA | Scott M. Dzekute | 183-2 | 199-3 | 194-3 | 184-4 | 760-12 |
| MA | Lawrence Ingram | 183-1 | 189-4 | 197-9 | 184-3 | 753-17 |
| MA | Jim Hopkins | 177-1 | 186-2 | 196-4 | 193-2 | 752-9 |
| MA | Craig A. Zuidema | 186-1 | 192-5 | 188-2 | 186-3 | 752-11 |
| MA | Maia Pickel | 173-2 | 188-2 | 187-4 | 186-2 | 734-10 |
| EX | Thomas Anderson | 161-0 | 187-5 | 194-4 | 172-1 | 714-10 |
| EX | Harry Brenneman | 182-3 | 200-4 | 118-1 | 177-4 | 677-12 |
| EX | Dave Kleinschrodt | 135-0 | 98-2 | 172-1 | 172-4 | 577-7 |
| MK | Coty Greer | 157-0 | 180-1 | 186-1 | 178-3 | 701-5 |
| MK | Jacob Pickel | 137-0 | 177-0 | 191-3 | 187-2 | 692-5 |
| MK | Michael Milen | 134-0 | 162-0 | 152-0 | 168-2 | 616-2 |
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Governor's Ten August 31, 2024 |
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| Competitor | Aggregate | |
| 1 | Tim Klauer | 787-35 |
| 2 | Joel Falk | 786-32 |
| 3 | Mark Aussieker | 784-21 |
| 4 | John J. Lowe | 783-31 |
| 5 | Konrad Powers | 782-32 |
| 6 | James Vaughn | 779-27 |
| 7 | James Appleby | 778-23 |
| 8 | John Roth | 773-29 |
| 9 | Charley Appleby | 764-22 |
| 10 | Ken Mahl | 763-12 |
| Team Match September 1, 2024 |
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| Class | 200SF | 200RF | 300RF | 600SF | Aggregate | ||
| HM | Wandering Zeros | ||||||
| Tim Klauer | 191-4 | 199-10 | 197-10 | 198-5 | 785-29 | ||
| John J. Lowe | 190-6 | 199-8 | 195-4 | 196-13 | 780-31 | ||
| Joel Falk | 188-2 | 198-7 | 200-11 | 193-7 | 779-27 | ||
| Jim Hopkins | 178-0 | 189-4 | 197-5 | 193-7 | 757-16 | ||
| 747-12 | 785-29 | 789-30 | 780-32 | 3101-103 | |||
| HM | Milan Gold | ||||||
| Michael A. James | 184-4 | 194-7 | 196-6 | 196-6 | 770-23 | ||
| John Roth | 185-4 | 195-3 | 196-8 | 196-10 | 772-25 | ||
| James Appleby | 193-5 | 199-9 | 196-5 | 190-7 | 778-26 | ||
| Charley Appleby | 179-3 | 199-11 | 186-3 | 187-3 | 751-20 | ||
| 741-16 | 787-30 | 774-22 | 769-26 | 3071-94 | |||
| MA | MAGA Plus | ||||||
| Lawrence Ingram | 184-6 | 192-6 | 199-10 | 193-5 | 768-27 | ||
| Jon B. Casillas | 164-0 | 193-4 | 195-8 | 185-2 | 737-14 | ||
| Ken Mahl | 173-1 | 197-5 | 199-11 | 195-5 | 764-22 | ||
| Craig A. Zuidema | 161-2 | 197-8 | 196-6 | 189-7 | 743-23 | ||
| 682-9 | 779-23 | 789-35 | 762-19 | 3012-86 | |||