CAMP PERRY, OHIO – To the applause and shouts of “Oo-Rah” from fellow Marines at the National Trophy Pistol Match Awards ceremony at Hough Auditorium on 15 July, Sgt Luis Esparza charged up the stairs to the stage and was recognized for winning the 2012 President’s Pistol Trophy, among a field of 544 competitors.
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U.S. Marine Corps Sgt Luis Esparza, 23, emerged victorious in the President’s Pistol Trophy Match at Camp Perry on Sunday, 15 July from a field of 544 competitors.
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Esparza, 23, fired a 386-12X aggregate of a possible 400, in a highly-competitive match among many of the nation’s top service pistol shooters. Esparza held off three U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit competitors, SFC James Henderson, 45, SFC Thomas Rose, 36, and SPC Greg Markowski, 38, all of whom were tied for second at 384, separated by X-ring tiebreakers.
Henderson (384-12X) posed the closest challenge to Esparza, matching the Marine’s 100 in timed fire, but Esparza’s strong 190 in slow fire proved to be the difference. Rose fired a 194 in slow fire and a 99 in timed fire, but he dropped nine points in rapid fire.
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Steve Turner, 45, of Elmhurst, IL, enjoyed his ninth year at Camp Perry, participating in all pistol matches throughout the NRA program and CMP National Trophy matches. “I’m really happy to be out here – spending a week with people who don’t think I’m crazy for coming out here!” he said.
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Robert McIlhaney, 63, of Allentown, PA, was the high M1911 shooter in the match (366-12X); Judy Tant, 62, of E. Lansing, MI, was high woman (357-5X) and Philip Hemphill, 60, of Clinton, MS, was the high senior in the match (379-12X). The top 100 shooters, known as the President’s Hundred, were also recognized at the awards ceremony and this year’s cut-off was 345-8X, fired by Alan Toler, 51, of Richmond, VA.
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U.S. Army SSG Patrick Franks Jr., 34, won the 2012 National Trophy Individual Pistol Match with an aggregate score of 291-11X out of a possible 300. Franks’ name will be added to the General Custer Trophy, signifying the highest overall score in the match.
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U.S. Army SSG Patrick Franks Jr., 34, won the 2012 National Trophy Individual Pistol Match with an aggregate score of 291-11X out of a possible 300. Franks’ name will be added to the General Custer Trophy, signifying the highest overall score in the match. Highlighted by a pair of 99’s in timed fire and rapid fire, Franks opened his performance with a 93 in slow fire.
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Under the oversight of the Ohio National Guard beach tower at Camp Perry, hundreds of shooters from across the nation assembled during the National Matches to discover, learn and compete.
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The AMU’s SFC Thomas Rose won a tiebreaker for second place over U.S. Marine Cpl Carl Clegg, 26. Each shooter fired 287-8X, but Rose’s rapid fire score of 96 to Clegg’s 93 was the difference (ties are first broken by X-count and then by last stage fired followed by previous stages until broken).
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The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit Blue team won the Gold Cup Trophy, awarded to the highest overall scoring team in four-person National Trophy Team Match (NTT). Firing members from left are SGT Lawrence Cleveland, SFC Thomas Rose, SSG Patrick Franks Jr., and SFC James Henderson. USAMU Blue has won the Gold Cup Trophy for the past six years.
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In addition to the overall winner, additional NTI trophies are awarded by the following categories:
• National Woman’s Trophy – Kathy Chatterton (276-8X)
• Ancient Archer Trophy (Law Enforcement) – Keith Hanzel (283-10X)
• General Curtis LeMay Trophy (USAF) – Lt Col Thomas Reardon (278-8X)
• National Guard Assn. Trophy – SSG Timothy Barber, ARNG (282-11X)
• U.S. Army Reserve Memorial Trophy – MSG Robert Mango (283-10X)
• Citizen’s Military Pistol Trophy (Civilian) – John Zurek (284-6X)
• Senior Pistol Trophy – Steve Reiter (283-7X)
• Non-Distinguished Ranking – Cpl Carl Clegg, USMC (287-8X)
In team pistol competition, the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit Blue team won the Gold Cup Trophy with an aggregate score of 1141-43X. The trophy was awarded to the highest overall scoring team in four-person National Trophy Team Match (NTT). The USAMU Blue team members are SGT Lawrence Cleveland, SSG Patrick Franks Jr., SFC James Henderson and SFC Thomas Rose.
USMC Scarlet placed second with a team aggregate score of 1121-27X. Team members are Sgt Luis Esparza, Cpl Carl Clegg, Sgt Peyton Hebert and Sgt Patrick Saleh. All Guard Pistol Team Powell placed third in the NTT Gold Cup competition with a combined score of 1083-22X. The All Guard Powell team is comprised of SSG Timothy Barber, SSG Eric Lawrence, MSG Mitchell Henson and SFC Ralph Young.
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For the second year in a row, the Arizona State Rifle & Pistol Association’s name will be engraved on the Oglethorpe Trophy. Team ASRPA was the High Civilian Team firing in the National Trophy Team Match on Sunday firing a 1066-21X. Team members were Timothy Copley, Robert Throne Jr., Steve Reiter and John Zurek. Team Captain was Mario Stajner and Team Coach was Michael McShea (not pictured).
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In addition to the overall winner, additional NTT trophies are awarded by the following categories:
• Oglethorpe Trophy (Civilian) – Arizona State R&P Assn (1066-21X)
• U.S. Coast Guard Memorial Trophy – All Guard Pistol Team Powell
For complete results of the 2012 CMP National Trophy Pistol Matches, log onto
http://clubs.odcmp.com/cgi-bin/report_matchResult.cgi?matchID=7966. To view and download photos from the 2012 National Matches and CMP Games, log onto
http://cmp1.zenfolio.com/. NEXT ARTICLE
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