Jake Mueller for the boys and Deandra Doerr for the girls were the 2025 Clipper trap team shooting stars.
Mueller (fourth from right), an eighth grader who also was the top gun last year, shot down 216 out of a possible 250 targets. Doerr (second from left), a junior, never won any of the five weekly competitions but, with consistent scores and attendance, led the five girls on the team with a 156.
They also both finished among the top 25 boys, girls in the conference.
The pair and others were honored at an awards ceremony, which was held at the Caribou Gun Club on Wednesday, May 28.
Top guns for week one were sophomore Colton Tousley (second from right) for the boys with a 48 and senior Kendra Zimmerman (third from left) for the girls with a 38
With a 47, it was Mueller in week two for the boys while Zimmerman led the girls again, this time with a 33.
Mueller fronted the boys again in week three with a 48, and junior Olivia Reinhardt (left) was the top shooting girl with a 34.
Seventh grader Chase Roemhildt (third from right) paced the boys in week four with a 43, and Reinhardt again shot down 34 targets to lead the girls.
With a 47, eighth grader Blake Stocker (center) had the highest boys score for week five while Zimmerman climbed back on top among the girls with a 36.
Most improved shooters, as determined by the difference between their week one and week five scores, were freshman Ben Traxler (right) for the boys, who upped his score by 17, and sixth grader Jacquelyn Heldberg for the girls, who bettered her score by 19 clays to lead the girls.
Other top scorers to note: Sophomore Chase Bock totaled 210. Tousley totaled 208. Stocker totaled 203. Eighth grader Tony Hollerich totaled 199. Sophomore Marshall Heldberg and eighth grader John Ritchie each totaled 193. Eighth grader Gauge Bock totaled 192.
After the awards ceremony, the trap team headed south of the standard trap range and shot “sporting clays.” In the dozen tree lined stations, the discs, launched—often simultaneously—from two different positions, took unconventional and creative routes, like rolling across the grass, ascending hidden behind a tree and then plunging to the ground, crisscrossing and coming toward the shoot’s box as well as away from it.
Post season
Ten of the Clippers will compete at the state trap shoot in Alexandria, which is open to anyone, regardless of regular season score. Determined by the athlete’s average score during the conference season, teams are divided into varsity, JV and novice. Each team requires at least five shooters. They shoot two sessions of two consecutive 25-target rounds for 100 total targets.
The Clippers are scheduled to shoot on June 12.
This Championship is the qualifying team competition for the Minnesota State High School League’s State Tournament on June 20 at the Minneapolis Gun Club in Prior Lake.
Sponsors
The trap team is supported by many sponsors, including A1 Towing, Ag Partners, Le Center American Legion Post 108, Cleveland American Legion Post 107, Le Center Sons of the American Legion, Le Center Sportsmens Club, Le Center VFW Post 1803, Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse, Michel’s Trailer Sales, O’Keefe Meats, O’Malley Construction, One Little Shirt Shop, Selly Excavating, Silver Lakers Sportsman Club, Stoefer’s Auto Sales, The Concrete Cutter, Cleveland Fire Relief, Denny Hoffman Faily, First State Bank Le Center, German Jefferson Sportsman Club, Heide Baker State Farm Insurance, Hometown Bank, Hometown Insurance, Lake Boys Sales & Service, Tweetens Once Stop Cleveland, Tweetens One Stop Le Center, Onward Energy, Wayne’s Auto Body, Wondra Automotive and Younger Gunworks.
