Mount Pulaski Hilltoppers Shotgun
Sports teams win two State Championships over the weekend
[June 03, 2025]
It was an incredible weekend for the young shooters of the
Mount Pulaski Hilltoppers Shotgun Sports teams as they won both the
2025 Skeet State Championship and the 2025 Trap State Championship.
This is the first time in school history that the teams have won
both state championships in the same year.
There is still one more state tournament left, the Sporting Clays
State Tournament on June 14th at NILO Farms in Brighton.
On Friday afternoon in Decatur the Hilltoppers won the 2025 Skeet
State Championship by a wide margin over the second place team from
Effingham. The top five individual scores are compiled from each
team to determine the state champions. Mount Pulaski’s top shooters
were Hawken Clampet, Clay Leonard, Hayden Hartman, Brett Hayes and
Isaac Pulliam.
On Sunday afternoon in Bunker Hill the Hilltoppers waited patiently
to learn they were the 2025 Trap State Champions. Mount Pulaski beat
Highland High School by three birds to claim their second state
championship of the weekend. The top five individuals shooting trap
for Mount Pulaski were Beau Tschantz, Hawken Clampet, Reed Martin,
Colton Romines and Hayden Hartman.
Beau Tschantz and Hawken Clampet had the best shooting performances
over the weekend. They each shot 98/100 on Sunday. Clampet, in fact,
shot the first 75 in a row without a single miss. Tschantz was also
outstanding, shooting 50/50 in the first round.
How did these guys get so good?
“A lot of practice,” said Tschantz. “It takes a lot of time to get
it right. It took a lot of time to get to where we are now and I’m
just proud of how we all did.”
“I just practice a lot and listen a lot to my coaches,” said Clampet.
“They’re all really good coaches. And I listen to my teammates. They
really helped us get through this.”
So what technique do these guys possess to be such sharp shooters?
“It’s really all about how you learned and you gotta stick with what
you have learned,” said Tschantz. “You could change some things but
just keep rolling at the pace that you’re at. You’ll eventually get
better if you just keep listening to the coaches. And you gotta stay
calm. That’s number one. Always stay calm and don’t think about what
you’re doing. I mean, think about what you’re doing but don’t think
about missing or anything. You always want to keep calm and think
about what you’re going to do. Keep swinging your gun, keep your
head on your gun and watch the bird to get the right lead on it.”
A shooter’s mindset plays into the equation, too.
After the state championship on Friday, Tschantz certainly had his
sights set on another state championship on Sunday.
“We wanted to try to win because the last time we won trap was in
2018,” said Tschantz. “And we had never won state in skeet and trap
in the same year.”
Clampet was obviously locked in, not just on Friday when he led the
team to a skeet championship by shooting 96/100 but also on Sunday
when he shot 98/100. His mindset Sunday morning was simple.
“Don’t mess up,” said Clampet. “You just gotta keep looking forward.
Even if you mess up, you have to just keep looking ahead. If you
miss, you can’t change it.”
It’s worth mentioning how phenomenal both Clampet and Tschantz were
on Sunday, especially under a tremendous amount of pressure. There
were two other kids that shot 100 straight and another who shot a
99/100. Sunday was the first time Clampet ever shot 75 straight,
according to his dad, Curtis. So Clampet and Tschantz ended up in
the top five out of 270 kids. Very impressive. And these two will be
around next year.
Tschantz will be a senior at MPHS in the fall and Clampet will be a
junior. That’s great news for the Hilltoppers Shotgun Sports team.
It means more time for these guys to be with the team, influencing
and encouraging the younger shooters.
These kids would not be successful without a great team of coaches.
Corey Leonard, just one of many coaches, spoke about the team’s
success on Sunday evening as the shooters and their families were
celebrated with a trip around the Mount Pulaski town square and
pizza from Pizza Man of Mount Pulaski.
“We won the skeet tournament by 27 targets on Friday and that was a
big margin,” said Leonard. “Today we won the trap tournament by
three. The team that we beat, Highland, beat us last year by one by
one target. So we did better this year. We actually bettered our
team score from last year by five, which we needed obviously because
if we would’ve matched our score from last year, they would beat us
again. So it was that little improvement in the 29 kids that we had
at the trap tournament.”
Leonard’s son, Clay, and his daughter, Eva, are both on the team.
Clay was the second top shooter for Mount Pulaski on Friday in the
skeet tournament. He shot 95/100, finishing second to Clampet.
“Clay finished third overall in the tournament on Friday,” said
Leonard. “Clay was second last year in the tournament overall for
individuals. He got third this year so he is one of our best
shooters.”
That has to make dad proud.
“Oh it’s great,” said Leonard. “It’s awesome. You know, as a parent
and a coach there are obviously different emotions that mix in
there. And then I’ve got Eva, who shoots trap and skeet.”
In fact, on Sunday Clay shot 92/100 in trap and Eva, who just
finished her freshman year, shot 91/100 in trap. Eva also
accomplished hitting her first 25 straight on Sunday.
How nervous is the dad when his kids are shooting?
“I’m less nervous if I’m on the field,” said Leonard. “So when we’re
in the tournaments, you can’t coach. You can’t like direct them or
tell them what they’re doing wrong or try to help them. So being on
the field when my kids shoot, calms my nerves because I’m out there
not as your dad, but as the coach. I feel better being out there
than I do sitting back and watching. It’s really the same with the
whole team. I was out there as much as I could on Friday and today
because I just feel like I’m less nervous if I’m involved. My brain
has something to think about."
[to top of second column] |
Top 5 Trap shooters were Hayden Hartman, Hawker Clampet, Beau
Tschantz, Reed Martin and Colton Romines. Photo by Sallie Tschantz
"I have a job to do when I’m out there because we’re keeping track
of scoring or the order and during skeet we pull the target. You
have to actually use the buttons to pull the targets when I say so.
You do that for your own team. When I have a job to do, I’m a lot
less nervous about how the kids are doing because I’m also
concentrating on what I am doing.”
Leonard gives the kids a lot of credit for their dedication to the
program. A program that began in 2018 and that achieved a tremendous
amount of success from the beginning not just for the Mount Pulaski
kids but kids who have joined the team from surrounding communities.
Together with the coaches, the kids have built a successful program
and have developed a disciplined work ethic, aimed at getting
better. Pun intended.
“A lot of credit goes to the work that the kids put in because a lot
of our top shooters, it’s not just this season that they shoot, they
shoot in many leagues,” said Leonard. “Many of our top skeet
shooters shoot in the winter league that is from January through
March and it leads right into our season. They shoot a lot of extra
targets and they put in a lot of extra work. Kids can also start
this program in sixth grade so by the time you are in high school or
even later in high school, you could have a lot of experience if you
started when you’re in sixth grade. But really the kids that excel
the most probably are the ones that do more work. It’s just like any
other sport, you have your season and you have your practices during
your season, but the kids who are doing more in the off-season are
the ones who are probably gonna excel when it comes time.”
A huge coaching staff has also been instrumental in the Hilltoppers
success.
“There are a lot of other people involved besides me,” said Leonard.
“Other parents and other coaches and the helpers. There’s a lot of
work from a lot of people. It’s not possible to do it without a
whole team.”
On a final note, Leonard wanted to give credit to the school for
their support.
“The school was able to provide a lot of support, as far as with the
uniforms and with some of the expenses and things like that, so that
helped to make it easier on the families to participate,” said
Leonard.
“This program got off the ground in 2018,” added Leonard. “I believe
it started with trap only and then skeet was added, I think, in
2019. Now we actually have three events we participate in. We shoot
skeet, trap and sporting clays. The sporting clay state tournament
will be on June 14th in Brighton. “So we still have one more
tournament to go and then we will have some kids participate at
Nationals for trap. The national tournament is in Mason, Michigan
and that will be the second weekend in July.”
Mount Pulaski won the sporting clays state tournament last year so
you can bet the Hilltoppers have their eye on the trifecta this
year.
As for the national tournament, the Hilltoppers finished second in
the nation last year in Michigan at the 2024 USA High School Clay
Target League National Championship. Even though there was a
three-way tie for first, a team from Oregon had a better reverse run
and a kid who scored 100/100 to knock Mount Pulaski into second
place.
Again, we all know what the Mount Pulaski Hilltoppers will be
thinking when July rolls around. Like Hawken Clampet says, “You just
gotta keep moving forward.”
2025 Skeet State Champions: Top 5 individuals overall
Hawken Clampet 96/100
Clay Leonard 95/100
Hayden Hartman 93/100
Brett Hayes 91/100
Isaac Pulliam 89/100
Team scores:
1) Mount Pulaski 464
2) Effingham 437
3) Staunton 428
2025 2A Trap State Champions: Top 5 individuals overall
Beau Tschantz 98/100
Hawken Clampet 98/100
Reed Martin 97/100
Colton Romines 97/100
Hayden Hartman 96/100
Team scores:
1) Mount Pulaski 486
2) Highland High School 483
3) Franklin-Waverly High School 478
2025 Skeet roster
Rohan Allspach, Hawken Clampet, Hayden Hartman, Brett Hayes,
Grant Hayes, Annalyse Helm, Gage Hickey, Ethan Kern, Clay Leonard,
Eva Leonard,
Danielle Luka, Preston Maestas, Kyle Marten, Reed Martin, Brady
McLaughlin, Audrey Meister, Owen Pharis, Zackary Potts, Isaac
Pulliam,
Owen Pulliam, Carter Robinson,
Colton Romines, Everett Short, Sawyer Smith, Reagan Titus, Beau
Tschantz, Morgan Usherwood, Trace Usherwood,
Izzak Winebrinner, Reece Winebrinner
2025 Trap roster
Peyton Abner, Rohan Allspach,
Reid Beckers, Hawken Clampet, Deitrick Hamblen, Hayden Hartman,
Brett Hayes,
Grant Hayes, Annalyse Helm, Gage Hickey, Hunter Lamb, Clay Leonard,
Eva Leonard, Preston Maestas, Kyle Marten, Dean Martin, Reed Martin,
Brady McLaughlin, Carter Mortimer, Zackary Potts, Isaac Pulliam,
Owen Pulliam, Carter Robinson, Colton Romines, Everett Short,
Soriana Springer, Beau Tschantz, Izzak Winebrinner, Reece
Winebrinner
Coaches
Corey Leonard, Curtis Clampet, Griffin Tschantz, Todd Malcolm, Tim
Marten,
David Hartman, Chris Usherwood,
Aaron Winebrinner, Greg Maus.
[Teena Lowery] |
