15 members of Concordia’s Shotgun Team had a huge showing at this year’s FFA State Shotgun Tournament. The 16th Annual Ag Clays State Tournament was held on June 4-6, 2023 at the National Shooting Complex in San Antonio, TX.
The State competition included shooters from 28 different FFA programs across Texas. Concordia was the only private school to compete in both of the shooting disciplines (Sporting Clays and Trap) and had a team entry for each of the six events as well as several individual entries.
Concordia’s Shotgun team had an impressive two days having claimed a banner (a top 5 finish) in four of the six events! The Crusaders finished in the top three of the 28 schools with the most banners at State (four) and was only behind Columbia-Brazoria FFA with six and Calallen FFA with five.
Sporting Clays
- Concordia’s Female Sporting Clays Team (Blythe Brooks ’24, Jayden Schoppe ’24, and Emily Smith ’24) claimed 4th out of 7 teams and brought home a banner with a score of 227. Schoppe’s score of 85 earned her 5th overall and Brooks’ 80 also was top 10 with a tied for 9th out of the 47 female sporting clays shooters.
- The Crusader’s Mixed Sporting Clays Team (Brooks, Tyler Jeansonne ’24, Gage Pattavina ’24, and Carson Seymour ’23) also claimed 4th out of 18 teams and brought home a banner with a score of 258. Pattavina tied for 7th overall Male Sporting Clays with his score of 90 and Seymour tied for 18th overall in Male Sporting Clays with his score of 88.
- Concordia’s Male Sporting Clays Team (Noah Calub ’25, Colby Culver ’23, Ayden Dominy ’23, and Carson Miller ’25) ended up 11th out of 24 teams with a score of 250. Dominy tied for 17th overall in Male Sporting Clays with his score of 88. There were 156 male participants in the Sporting Clays event and Concordia represented well.
- Individuals that also shot Sporting Clays included Nicolas Baquero ‘23, Michael Bruns ’24 (tied for 7th overall in Male Sporting Clays with a score of 90), Max Gales ‘23, Kyle Martin ’25, and Wyatt Martinez ’23.
Trap
- The Crusader’s Male Trap Team (Bruns, Calub, Miller, and Pattavina) made school history by finishing as State Champion in Trap besting the other 27 teams from all over Texas with a score of 275! The team brought back another banner for the school and each shooter earned a belt buckle trophy. Pattavina was the top male finisher for Concordia in Trap as he tied for 6th out of 164 male shooters with his score of 94. Calub tied for 10th with his score of 92 giving the Crusaders a very formidable duo. Miller wasn’t too far behind shooting a 89 to finish out the scoring.
- Concordia’s Female Trap Team (Brooks, Schoppe, and Smith) finished 5th out of 9 teams earning a second banner with a score of 227 in this discipline, matching their 227 score from Sporting Clays. Brooks was the top female finisher for the Crusaders in Trap as she came in 12th overall out of 54 female trap shooters with her score of 85. Schoppe and Smith both tied for 28th by shooting 71.
- Concordia’s Mixed Trap Team (Baquero, Brooks, Jeansonne, and Seymour) finished 9th out of 21 teams with a score of 258.
- Individuals that also shot Trap were Culver, Dominy, Gales, Martin, and Martinez.
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Over the course of the two-day event, Pattavina had a wonderful individual showing with a total of 184/200 between the two events. He tied for 4th HOA Male by shooting 94 in Trap and 90 in Sporting and was only 4 points behind the HOA Male score of 188. Seymour placed in the top 20 HOA Male as well, finishing in 16th with his 87 in Trap and 88 in Sporting Clays.
On the female side of the event, Brooks finished as 10th HOA Female by shooting 85 in Trap and 80 in Sporting. Schoppe also placed in the top 20 HOA Female, finishing in 15th with her 71 in Trap and 85 in Sporting Clays.
Concordia’s Shotgun Coach and FFA Advisor, Ms. Raylea Underwood had this to say following the state competitions: “I am so proud of these individuals! They have worked so hard to get where they are at this point of the shooting season. Being a year-round event, it has taken a lot of hard work and dedication to get to where they are at that given time and on that given field. This year was an amazing one for the shotgun team, but I believe it is only up from here!”
The Shotgun Team graduates several seniors who have made major impact on this program and the younger students on the team. Class of 2023: Baquero, Culver, Dominy, Gales, Allison Kleypas, Martinez, Oscar Meeks, and Seymour you all will be missed!
To learn more about Concordia’s Agriculture programs and extra-curricular opportunities, visit: www.SaderNationTX.com/agriculture
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2023 State FFA Shotgun Official Results: https://nsc.nssa-nsca.org/shooting-events-2/ag-clays-381/