Huskies and Tigers compete at state trap
Owatonna’s clay target team poses for a photo at the state meet. Front row left to right: Huskies athletes Zavier Trager, Aiden Thurber, Jackson Davis, Mason Ihrke, Tori Koziolek, Hunter Theobald and Chloe Gfrerer are all smiles after competing in the two-round event. Staff photo by Roy Koenig
Owatonna and Medford clay target teams helped wrap up the high school league’s 2025-26 activities year at Friday’s state meet. The Huskies shot 471 (out of 500) for 17th place in the 40-team field. The Tigers dusted 437 clays.
OHS senior Aiden Thurber says it takes a strong mental approach. “You have to be in the zone. You have to keep your body loose so you’re not so tense when you’re up on the line.” He was pleased with his 94/100 at Minneapolis Gun Club in Prior Lake.
Senior Tori Koziolek likes how teammates supported each other all season. “I think we did pretty good. There were good vibes today.” She matched her score of 94 from the qualifying tournament at Alexandria on June 23.
Coach Mike Kingland believes the team performed well. “Got to be proud just to get here. There’s 300-some schools that are sitting home and we’re here shooting. So, it’s a good day.”
Hunter Theobald, a senior, says it’s tough for the season to end. “It’s a little bittersweet. I’m still planning on shooting outside of high school. Looking forward to next stages of life. It’s pretty sad to finally be done with high school sports.”
Senior Mason Ihrke enjoyed his experience. “We got to keep coming here. We have a pretty good team overall. And I think we have it for next year too (for the returners). We’re one of the bigger (teams) in the state.”
Ihrke scored 97 in the individual tournament (36th place). Junior Jackson Davis, shooting individually for the second straight year, shot 96 for 38th.
Davis was happy to see the team return to state for the second time in four years. “I’ve got a lot of friends that are seniors. So, I’m glad that most of them got to come up here and shoot in their last year.”
“I’m super proud of the kids,” stated Kingland. “We have 23 seniors. It’ll be a big deal to replace them moving forward.” A small group of incoming seniors is followed by a large soon-to-be junior class and other younger sharp shooters. “We got stuff in the pipeline coming up. Now they just need to make that jump to be consistent.”
Owatonna team scores: Davis 96, Ihrke 96, Koziolek 94, Thurber 94, Theobald 91. Alternates were Chloe Gfrerer and Zavier Trager.
Tigers back at state
Medford’s Reid Wildgrube loved seeing how the squad came together with fellow senior Jose Flores. “As all small school sports, you have really good groups. They mentor in the next guys. The three others on the squad are very young. We’ve got a junior (Blake Cammock), a sophomore (Mason Witter), and a freshman (Elliot Jones).”
They shot better in their second round. “Getting a lot of the nerves out in the first round. Taking that hour-long break, watching everyone else shoot and say, hey, we got this.” Wildgrube shot 97 in team and individual competition, finishing 26th after tiebreakers. Witter (94) and Cammock (90) also shot during the solo tournament.
Tigers coach Tim Larson says consistency is what led them back to state for the first time in 10 years. “These guys this year really pushed through, and all kept working and challenging each other. That was the other side.”
Larson said their focus was performing well at the qualifying meet. “They wanted to top out or be toward the top in the Alexandria division because we’re shooting against like-numbered kids and teams.”
Medford shot as a Class A team during the season. On Friday all nine classes competed for one state championship, which was won by Bemidji with 487. Trap teams are grouped together based on their roster, not school enrollment. OHS is Class AAAAAAAAA.
Alternates were Brenden Mueller and Kai Quast. The Tigers won their regular season conference title in trap and skeet and finished third in Alexandria in trap.