Match Report for the FSSA 2015 State Championship Matches

Saturday November 21: The day was overcast, ridiculously humid and hot. On the other hand, there was no wind. None.  Which is not at all normal for a Florida November.  After the squadding and safety briefing, Richard Dixon started off the colors ceremony with a salute charge from his model cannon.

From there we got the ball rolling at the 300 yard line almost on time.  Competition started on the deceptively tough MR63 targets.  In the any/any rifle category, it was a horse race between the five High Masters.  Tom Ziel came out on top with a phenomenal 200-17x, but only one point separated the HMs.

The scores were close between the any/metallic sight rifles as well, once again between the HMs.  Ken Orris came out on top with the only clean at 300.

In the Service Rifle category, Duke Boele and Mario Fajardo were neck and neck until it happened: Duke cross fired an X.  That left Mario a full ten points ahead after 300 yards.

500 yards on the MR65 target was next.  The 500 yard line seems to vex most shooters for some reason, but not Ziel.  He shot the only clean at 500, with a double digit X count to boot. The point spread was a bit larger for the any/any’s on this yard line as well, but still close enough that the outcome was still in the wind.

Carl Weston took the 500 line from Orris in the Metallic Sight gategory, but only by Xs.

For SR, three competitors started clawing their way back towards Fajardo, but he maintained an eight point lead.

Other than the unrelenting humidity, one could not ask for a better opportunity to shoot a clean at 600 yards.  There was so little wind and so much humidity that the competitor’s glasses were fogging.  Tom Ziel took full advantage, and steered his 6BR chambered rifle to a 10X clean, thereby shooting the only perfect score of the day for an aggregate score of 600-41. He was unflappable throughout the day, even at the end when he took his time executing those perfect shots while the other competitors were chatting and removing gear from the line around him.

Brian McElhaney shot the high score on the 600 yard line with his metallic sight 220 Thunderbolt space gun, a 200-12.  But even so, it wasn’t enough to catch Carl Weston’s 596-33.

Fajardo’s commanding lead at 300 carried him through to the end, where he sealed his win with a comfortable five point margin.  

Tom Ziel   Any/Any State Mid Range State Champion 600-41

Jorge Caceres Any/Any Match 2nd Place and High Police 596-34

Timothy Trager  Any/Any Match 3rd Place 595-28

Carl Weston   Any/Metallic Sight Mid Range State Champion 596-33

Mario Fajardo   Service Rifle Mid Range State Champion 578-16

Jorge Corbato   Service Rifle Match 2nd Place 573-14

Sunday November 22:  The match was postponed until December 19th due to the rain.  There was already a Leg Match scheduled for Sunday December 20th, so that works out nicely for the Service Rifle shooters who are still in the hunt for the Distinguished Rifleman medal.

Many thanks to Jeff Stuart for organizing these matches and doing the stats, and to Bob Faustino, who gave up shooting to run the pits for us. The FSSA would also like to thank Port Malabar Rifle and Pistol Club and Rifle Director Francois LeBreton for hosting us again.  An extra special thanks goes to Richard Dixon and Nick Mocca, who gave up chances to practice and get zeros to repair and reface the targets just for this match.