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2024 Louisiana High Power Rifle State Championship
The long-anticipated weekend of High Power Rifle shooting has come and gone, and what a weekend! The weather was perfect, blue skies, cool temperatures, and just enough switching wind to keep things interesting. The range was in beautiful shape, the berm work the club performed earlier this year is perfect. Target carriers worked great as did the E-Target system.
We had participants from as far away as Michigan and Virginia and all five Gulf Coast states were represented. The Air Force had three service members representing their rifle team, a team member from the Army Guard participated, and the Buckners from one of our sponsors, HIC-Tec, joined us, as did shooters from Palo Alto Rifle and Pistol Club, South Louisiana High Power Rifle Club, Panola County Gun Club (Carthage, TX), Golden Triangle Gun Club (Beaumont), Bayou Rifles (Houston), and Magnolia Rifle and Pistol Club (Jackson MS).
The first match began Friday morning, a two-man team match in the Hearst Double format. Team Cavin/Matzelle jumped out to an early lead and held on, taking first place with a 577-17X, followed by team Edwards/Carozza 567-11X, and then Team Iliff/White with 565-9X. The eighteen competitors in this match were greeted with some of the infamous Palo Alto winds. It is a recurring theme, as will be the name Cavin.
Next up on Friday was the GSMM Garand Match with fourteen shooters vying for first place. Chance Cavin won the overall match shooting an as-issued Garand with a 287-6X, earning a gold achievement pin. Gregg Foster was second, shooting an as-issued Garand with a 283-4X, also earning a gold achievement pin. Captain Seth Carozza was third, firing an as-issued Garand, shooting a 272-4X and earning a silver achievement pin. See below for complete scores and awards.
Saturday morning witnessed 30 shooters competing for the state championship. Match One (Offhand) was taken by Chance Cavin with a 195-4X, followed by 1st Lt. Eli Edwards with a 192-3X. Match Two (RF Sitting) soon followed with Major White winning with a 200-8X, Chance Cavin taking second place with 200-7X, and 1st Lt. Edwards firing a 198-13X for third. Coming off the 200-yard line Cavin and Edwards were the overall leaders. Justin Burns was first high master, Sgt. Jon Wood was first in Master Class and TX Junior Sam Matek was first in Expert Class. By now the wind was blowing, quartering, and switching, time to start shooting prone. At 300, Mr. Cavin was first overall (199-9X), Kyle Matzelle second (198-8X), and 1st Lt Edwards third (197-9X). Gregg Foster was first HM (192-3X) SGT. Jon Wood was first master (197-6X) and Ms. Sarah Morton was first expert (196-10X). Chance was extending his overall lead little by little. Championships are won standing and lost at 600 yards, especially on windy days. Chance Cavin shot a 198-7X for the OA win at 600. Sgt. Jon Wood was second overall firing a 197-11X and 1st Lt Edwards was third with 197-9X. HM winner was Justin Burns (193-9X), Master was won by Kyle Matzelle (195-9X), and Merrilly Buckner was first Expert.
Our State Champion is Chance Cavin with a 792-27X, Second Overall 1st Lt. Eli Edwards, and third Overall Sgt. Jon Wood. First High Master is Justin Burns, First Master is Kyle Matzelle, second master is Sam Beane, first expert is Merrilly Buckner, and second expert is James Davis.
A big shout out to the juniors that participated, Sam Matek from the Golden Triangle Texas junior program is the 2024 junior winner, congratulations. Thank you Kristen Morton for bringing your team members, as well as Bobby Simpson, James Radford, and Steven Clements for bringing their junior shooters.
Also, if my calculations are correct the top three finishers (Cavin, Edwards, Wood) will receive step points for the NRA Distinguished Program.
See below for the link to all results including special categories and class winners along with the Governor’s 10.
After the match we enjoyed a fine meal of jambalaya cooked by chefs Tony, Karl, and Kyle. It was an excellent meal.
We also held a drawing for door prizes. Our sponsors included the following vendors:
- · HIC-Tec--$250.00 gift certificate
- · Wisconsin Trigger—MKII Trigger
- · Redding—Two 50% off certificates
- · Palo Alto Rifle and Pistol Club—200 Pieces of .223 Starline Brass
- · Starline Brass— Two $50.00 Gift Cards
- · South LA High Power Rifle Club--Browning Precision Data Book and T Shirt
- · Satern—Eight Powder Funnels
We appreciate the support of these companies.
Now for my favorite match, the Excellence in Competition (EIC) match. It was another beautiful day on the range. The competition was tough, everybody wanted the leg points. When it was over Ms. Sarah Morton took the eight-point leg with a 479-9X and Sam Beane earned the six-point leg with a 476-12X. Congratulations to both competitors. And yes, Chance Cavin won the overall match with 491-16X and 1st Lt. Edwards was second with a 490-17X.
I would like to thank the board at Palo Alto, as they have always been very supportive of the High Power Rifle Program.
Louisiana Shooting Association also held a drawing for an M1 Garand. The proceeds are used to support the junior programs in all disciplines. Thank you to LSA for their support of the High Power program in the state.
There are so many individuals to thank, please forgive me if I miss anybody. First, match director Jay Meynier for all his work, plus he called the line on Saturday, Lee Shall for calling the EIC match, Kyle Matzelle came all the way from Michigan so we could put him to work, Tony Geeck for cooking and helping the juniors, also he and Kyle are great on the Shotmarker system, Adrian Moore our statistician, Karl Schoeder for general support everywhere.
And the biggest thanks go to all competitors. The weekend was a success because of you!
