Waseca hosts all-state archery shoot

Waseca Archery Club played host to the Minnesota Archers Association (MAA) for two major archery events during the weekend of January 27 to 29. Saturday, Jan. 28 was the 2023 All-State Vegas Shoot, a qualifying competition for archers to participate in the Vegas Shoot which is known as the largest and most prestigious indoor archery tournament in the world, attracting more than 4,000 competitors globally. The second event, which archers could choose to participate in on Friday, Jan. 27 or Sunday, Jan. 29 was the MAA and National Field Archery Association's State Indoor Championship. The two events were also the first and second legs, respectively, of the 2023 Archer of the Year selection through the MAA. Both competitions were managed by Rob Knutson, vice-president of the MAA. Knutson said he was pleased with registration numbers, as well as the quality of archery seen throughout the weekend.

At Saturday's All-State Vegas Shoot, archers shot what's known as a “Vegas 330”: Each competitor shot a 30-arrow round, divided into ten “ends” of three arrows, in which striking the X in the center of the bullseye counts as eleven points, for a possible maximum of 330. Archers are classified by age, equipment type, and gender. On this occasion categories were cubs (under 12), youth (12-14), young adult (15-17), adult (18-49), and senior (50 and over).

Among the cubs there were four archers, all in the freestyle category shot with a compound bow. In the youth category eleven archers competed, ten in freestyle and one in the recurve bow division. From the Waseca Archery Club, Zeb Sell shot in Cub Male Freestyle, Zoie Thompson and Ellie Braaten shot in Young Adult Female Freestyle, and Gabriel Kietzer shot in Youth Adult Male Freestyle. Sell took home a gold medal with a score of 245 points, Thompson received silver in her category with 312 points, Braaten scored 275 points and Kietzer scored 276.

LeeAnna Burley, 16, from the Duluth area, won the Young Adult Female Freestyle division and was also named the highest-scoring shooter among the under-eighteen classes. She had already qualified to attend the Vegas Shoot during her morning round, referred to as a warmup by most archers present, and excelled further during the afternoon. Burley has been to the Vegas Shoot before, but is excited to go again as it's “always something different.” Thompson, who is 15, is also going to Vegas again this year. Thompson was not available for comment, but her mother Stacy Thompson said the family is looking forward to the occasion. After receiving his medal, Sell said he was feeling good and looking forward to participating in the State Indoor the following day.

In the over-eighteen divisions, a total of $1,500 was on the line in addition to medals. Because it was a “money shoot,” the categories were divided only by age and equipment; not by gender. Eleven archers shot in the adult categories, eight in freestyle, three in bowhunter freestyle, and one in the recurve category. Representing the Waseca area, Matt Mader earned 294 points and a bronze medal in Adult Freestyle. Waseca's Rick Rugroden was also present for the shoot, but spent the day coaching and didn't take part in scored rounds.

Two tied scores occurred during the over-eighteen round. Tim Wilson, president of the MAA, and Timmy Huttell tied for second place in Senior Freestyle with 311 points and agreed to split the prize money, receiving $74 each. Timothy Lopez and Dayna Adams tied for third in Adult Freestyle with 309 points and elected to have a “shootoff,” in which both archers simultaneously fire a single arrow and the higher score wins. Lopez won the shootoff, as well as the bronze medal and prize money.

At the 2023 State Indoor Championship, archers shot a sixty-arrow round split into twelve ends of five arrows with a maximum score of 300. “Inside X” and “outside X” tens, determined by whether the arrow is touching the lines, were tracked and used for tiebreakers. Because the split-day structure meant many of the archers would not be present at the end of rounds, no awards were announced. Instead, medals were held to be distributed after scores were officially posted. The under-eighteen categories were the same as at the State Vegas Shoot on Saturday, while the over-eighteen categories were further divided. Because no money was on the line, the men and women were scored separately. In addition, the senior categories became Senior (50-59), Silver Senior (60-69), and Master Senior (70 and over). A straightforward tournament, one parent told a nervous child as they prepared to shoot, “You know what the hardest part about today is? It's pulling the arrow out of the target.”

Thirteen archers shot in Cub categories; three in female freestyle, one in male freestyle, five in male bowhunter freestyle, three in female bowhunter freestyle (which has stricter requirements for the bow's sights), and one in female barebow (where most sights and stabilizers are not allowed). In the Youth categories, there were also thirteen archers shooting. Three shot in youth male freestyle, four in youth female freestyle, three in youth female bowhunter freestyle, and three in youth male bowhunter freestyle. In Young Adult, there were fourteen archers competing. Seven shot in young adult female freestyle, five in young adult male freestyle, and two in young adult female bowhunter freestyle. From the Waseca Archery Club, Zoie Thompson took gold in the Young Adult Female Freestyle division with 300 points and 58 inside Xs; Ellie Braaten shot in the same division and earned 282 points. Gabriel Kietzer shot in Young Adult Male Freestyle and earned 280 points; Aiden Walker won silver in Youth Male Freestyle with 277 points.  Bridget Pestorious earned 244 points for a bronze medal in Youth Female Bowhunter Freestyle.  Zeb Sell shot in Cub Male Freestyle with 297 points.  Liah Adams won Cub Female Bowhunter Freestyle with 300 points; Emily Harguth received a silver medal in the same category for her score of 254 points. The entire Cub Male Bowhunter Freestyle category was comprised of Waseca Archery Club members, with Ian Reese winning first place with 282 points, Ryan Harguth taking the silver medal with 265 points, and Carter Walker receiving bronze for his score of 257, followed by Brycan Danberry with 236 points and Silas Reese with 230 points.

Among the adults, eight competitors shot in the Adult Male Freestyle division, three in Adult Female Freestyle, five in Adult Male Bowhunter Freestyle, one in Adult Female Bowhunter Freestyle, and one in Adult Female Freestyle Limited Recurve for a total of eighteen archers. None were identified as Waseca-area archers.