Teen aims for second national trapshooting title

By Zach Spicer
First Posted: August 02, 2012 - 9:42 pm
Last Updated: August 02, 2012 - 10:01 pm

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Tribune photo by Zach Spicer / Jacob Wieneke, 14, of Seymour will represent Indiana at the National Trapshooting Champion of Champions event on Aug. 16 at Sparta, Ill.

Submitted photo / At age 7, Jacob Wieneke, right, was shooting sporting clays with his grandfather, Steve Wieneke, at Quail Ridge Sportsman Club.

Close to perfect wasn’t good enough for a local teen trapshooter.

Jacob Wieneke shot 96 out of 100 targets before nailing 100 straight in the singles championship event at the 118th Indiana State Trapshooting competition at the Indiana Gun Club in Fortville.

“I shot a 96 the first 100, and I was like, ‘I’m done,’” the 14-year-old from Seymour said. “Once I set my mind to it, I can do it, and I was like, ‘I have to shoot 100,’ and then I shot 100.”

The weather, however, wasn’t ideal.

“It was raining, and it was windy, and it was cloudy, which makes it harder to see (the targets),” he said. “... The rain gets on your glasses, and it’s hard to see; and then the wind pushes the targets everywhere. You could shoot, and then it moves right before you shoot it.

“Nobody really shot good the last 100, and I shot 100,” he added. “It was good. I felt happy, and I was excited.”

He ended in a tie in the Sub-Junior category and went to a shootoff, which consisted of two rounds of 25. He won the second round for his second straight state title.

The shootoff was at night, and it was Wieneke’s first time shooting in that environment.

“You see every piece of the target, you see every little speck and everything, because they have huge lights turned on them, like football stadium lights,” he said. “I shoot with two eyes open, and it’s harder to tell where you’re going to put your gun, and that’s why I missed some.”

The next day, Wieneke competed in the doubles championship event and tied for the high overall score with 98 out of 100, but he lost to an older competitor in the first round of the shootoff.

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