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| The USMC Scarlet Team won the 2005 National Trophy Pistol Team Match. Team members (l. to r.) are Sgt Luke Awtrey, coach, Sgt Matthew Prykryl, GySgt Brian Zins, GySgt Richard Gray and CWO2 Billy Williamson. |
The Gold Cup Trophy, which is awarded to the winning team in the National Trophy Team Match, is arguably the most prestigious team trophy in any U. S. pistol competition. In the National Trophy Team Match, each member of a four-person team fires a 9mm or .45 cal. service pistol over the 30-shot National Match Course. Team members fire in pairs, with two team members firing on the first relay and two on the second. Each four-person team must have one “new shooter” who has never fired in the National Trophy Team Match before.
The National Trophy Matches are a featured part of the National Matches that take place each year at Camp Perry, Ohio. The 2005 National Trophy Pistol Matches took place on 17 July. The trophy matches included the President’s Pistol Match, the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match and the National Trophy Pistol Team Match. Nearly 600 shooters participated in this year’s National Trophy Pistol Matches.
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| Staff Sergeant James Henderson fired the high score in the National Trophy Team Match to win the Military Police Corps Trophy and set a new National Match record in winning the President’s Pistol Trophy. |
This year a strong U. S. Army team was one of three favored teams in the Gold Cup team competition. They had an experienced new shooter, SPC Sean Watson, who had done well in the National Trophy individual matches, and three other experienced shooters, including Sergeant Robert Park, who won the President’s Pistol Match two years ago. The U. S. Army Reserve Pistol Team, led by Staff Sergeant James Henderson was a second serious contender.
The Marine Corps team included Gunnery Sergeant Brian Zins, who won an unprecedented seventh NRA National Pistol Championship earlier in the week. The Marines experienced two bitter disappointments in the last two Gold Cup Matches. In 2003, the Army beat them by one point 1115 to 1114. Last year it was even closer. The USMC Scarlet team tied with the U. S. Army Reserve team at 1102, only to lose the tie breaker. A second Marine team, USMC Gold, was just two points back at 1100.
The 2005 National Trophy Pistol Team Match turned out the be a victory year for the Marine Corps team. Their new shooter, CWO2 Billy Williamson, shot a solid 273 and the other team members, Gunnery Sergeant Brian Zins, Gunnery Sergeant Richard Gray and Sergeant Mathew Prykryl shot 282, 281 and 278 respectively, all good scores, to total 1114 and finish ahead of the U. S. Army’s 1111. Staff Sergeant Henderson had the top individual score of 293-9X to lead the USAR Black team to a third place 1105 score.
The National Trophy individual competitions featured two truly outstanding individual performances. In the President’s Pistol Match, Henderson fired an new National Matches record to win the match, a presentation M1 gunsmithed by Eric Pierce at the National Match Armory and the traditional congratulatory letter from the President of the United States. Henderson’s 389-10X score broke the former record of 387-16X set by Staff Sergeant Sumter Nelson, Army National Guard, in 1985 and equaled by Sergeant Shane Clevenger, USMC, in 1993. Henderson also won the President’s Pistol Match in 2002 and 1997.
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| Steve Reiter, Tucson, Arizona, won the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match for the second year in a row. Reiter’s 293-9X score also won the Silver Bowl Trophy as the high Civilian and the Senior Pistol Trophy as the high Senior. |
In the National Trophy Individual Pistol Match, Steve Reiter of Tucson, Arizona won for the second year in a row. Reiter is a retired Army Reservist and veteran member of the USAR Pistol Team. He earned his Distinguished Pistol Badge in 1972 and his Distinguished International Shooters Badge in 1973, but now at age 63, he is shooting as well as he ever did. Reiter won the Pistol NTI Match with a 294-11X in 2004. This year, he fired a 293-9X to win by two points over the Army’s Sergeant Robert Park, who had 291-5X. For his victorious effort, Reiter also received a presentation grade M1 Garand that was gunsmithed by Eric Pierce.
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| Heather Deppe, 14, from San Antonio, Texas, poses with the National Junior Pistol Trophy that she won during the National Trophy Pistol Matches. Deppe also was the high Junior in the President’s Pistol Match and was a member of the team that won the National Junior Pistol Team Trophy. |
The National Trophy Pistol Matches also feature three junior pistol events that were dominated by 14-year-old Heather Deppe of San Antonio, Texas. Juniors in the National Trophy Pistol Matches fire .22 cal. pistols during the President’s, National Trophy Individual and National Trophy Team Matches. Junior teams are two, rather than four, person teams. Deppe had the high junior score in the President’s Match with a 366-4X and topped the junior rankings in the National Trophy Individual Match with a 278-5X. She joined with Nathan Clay on the Texas State Rifle Association Junior Gold Team to win National Junior Team Trophy with a 541-8X score that topped the New Jersey Juniors Blue team, which was just two points behind at 539-11X.
Complete National Trophy Pistol Matches results can be viewed on the CMP web site at http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=804. Photos taken during the National Trophy Pistol Matches are posted at http://www.odcmp.com/Photos/05/PistolNT/index.htm. |
