Ottawa Sportsmen's Club News July 12th, 2003 Ron Granroth, OSC instructor & Coach

OSC Junior Pistol Team Wins
National Jr Championship 2003
Camp Perry National Matches

July 12, 2003 "GOOD MORNING TO YOU, GOOD MORNING TO YOU, WE'RE ALL IN OUR PLACES WITH BRIGHT SHINY FACES, GOOD MORNING, GOOD MORNING, GOOD MORNING TO YOU!" That's the way the boys will be getting up in the morning for the next 10 days (they hate it .... apparently my voice is not Perry Como quality at 6:00 AM). We leave for Camp Perry in about a half hour. Will spend the night at my son Davin's home in Lansing and finally arrive about noon tomorrow at Camp Perry. Check in follows, IE: getting our huts (WWII Italian POW huts ... very primitive, 14'X14', 4 Army beds, 4 shelves, 2 OLD outlets, 1 light, complete with bugs.), getting registered for the NRA Championship matches, The military (CMP) matches and the Small Arms Firing School which is conducted by the US Army Marksmanship Unit and coached by shooters from all of the services Pistol Teams. From there it's straight to the huts to "bug bomb" them. After the bombs are set off, we kill a couple of hours having lunch and checking out Commercial Row (shooters paradise...especially if you have a high limit credit card handy). Then it's hut cleaning time and setting up housekeeping for the next 8 nights. Finally it's off to Port Clinton for dinner and grocery shopping and early to bed. Monday, 8:00 AM, Small Arms Firing School (SAFS) morning lectures, after lunch Shooting. Tuesday AM; SAFS match. PM; practice session on the Range. This is the time for last minute adjustments on the guns and getting them "zeroed in". Wednesday AM -PM: National "Preliminary Championship Match" . Each day, because there will be about 1000 of the top shooters in the country and only 400 "firing points" the shooters are divided into 3 groups by classification: Marksman/Sharpshooters Sharpshooter/Experts Expert/Masters. The groups are called "relays" and the schedule is: first relay: 7:30AM; second relay: 9:30AM and the third relay at 1:00PM. Each day the relay times rotate so that everyone will shoot at each relay time. After the individual matches end (about 2:30PM each day) the teams shoot their matches. Thursday we shoot the .22 caliber championship matches. Friday the Centerfire matches. Saturday the .45 caliber matches. The National Matches (pistol) is held on Saturday evening and hopefully we'll be there to collect. On Sunday we shoot the CMP Matches using "service pistols", either the .45 pistol or the 9 MM Beretta pistols. These are usually referred to as "hardball" matches. We'll probably leave right after the hardball matches and overnight at Ann Arbor and get home Monday evening. This year's OSC Junior Pistol Team consists of: Ben Granroth, Team Captain, from Chassell. Parents are Ron and Donna Granroth and Ben will start College this fall Ben Seppala from Chassell, son of Hal and Kay Seppala. Ben starts at U of M this fall Sam Gardner of Pelkie, son of Bob and Mary Gardner. Sam will be a "home schooled" Senior this fall Mark Saari, son of Gary and Carol Saari of Chassell. Mark will be a Senior this year Kurt Szyszkoski, son of Steve and Judy Szyszkoski will be a Senior at Chassell this fall Jeff Tuomi of Chassell. Jeff is the son of Bob and Suzy Tuomi and will also be a Senior this fall. We also have 2 new members of the team: Peter Granroth of Chassell and Patrick Miller of Atlantic Mine. Pat is the son of Chris and Cindy Miller. Both boys will be Freshmen this school year and will serve as Volunteers at the Matches along with being the team's Co-Managers. Finally there is Bob Gardner, team Advisor and Ron Granroth their Coach. Additionally, Joel Prusi an MTU senior from Republic will help out the team as a volunteer. More to follow... July 18, 2003 Donna Granroth reports that on Thursday the OSC Jr Pistol Team won the 22 cal Rimfire Junior Division Event and also were first in the Marksman Class. On Friday they also won the Junior Center Fire Event as well as first place in the Marksman Class. Tomorrow is the 45 cal event and the team has a slim 37 point margin in the Grand Aggregate of 22 cal, Center Fire, and 45 cal scores. Stay tuned... July 19, 2003 OSC Jr Team wins the United States National Junior Championship! Three of the team members have scores in the top ten shooters of the whole USA. This places them on the US National Team. Congratulations to: Jeff Tuomi Kurt Szyszkoski Sam Gardner and the whole OSC Jr Team. We're proud as can be of you! A full report when the team gets back to the Copper Country... July 20, 2003 They did it! I mean they really did it! The OSC Junior Pistol Team did a "Clean Sweep"! Competing against all ages, they are the Marksman Class Champion Team, and competing with 5 other Junior teams: Michigan, New Jersey State Assoc., Texas State Association and 2 Teams sponsored by the Massachusetts Association. On Thursday they finished first in the .22 Caliber Championship, on Friday they took the Centerfire Championship and on Saturday finished well ahead with the .45 Caliber team Championship. Individually I've been very proud of the team all week and I'm not alone. At the awards ceremony last night we had a hard time leaving because of all the people wanting to talk about the team and what the OSC is doing to present such a fabulous batch of representatives. I believe, after talking to ever so many people that the Ottawa Sportsmen's Club has the PREMIER JUNIOR SHOOTING program in the ENTIRE NATION!!!!! We are the envy of the whole country! The club should be very proud of its involvement. We also had some outstanding results on an individual basis. Jeff Tuomi finished 2nd in the entire marksman class and 1st place Junior Marksman; Kurt Szyszkoski finished 5th Marksman and Sam Gardner finished 9th. All three of these guys earned the Red Jacket and Cap of the NRA/USA National Civilian Pistol Team. I was especially proud of Mark Saari who shot his personal best in all phases of the matches .... an almost unheard of feat at the National Championships. Pete Granroth and Pat Miller, our 2 newest members were able to shoot in the Army's Small Arms Firing school and were valuable helpers as Team Managers. Right now, coaches Ron and Bob are tired. We'll be home Monday evening about 9PM. Ron Granroth, Coach, OSC Shooting Team

Top of the Shots:
OSC pistol team sweeps national meet

The Ottawa Sportsman's Club Junior Pistol Team celebrated a clean sweep last week, becoming the 2003 National Champion Junior Pistol Team following competition at Camp Perry, Ohio.

Defeating five other junior teams entered in the National Pistol Matches, the OSC team claimed High Junior honors in the .22, Centerfire and .45 caliber matches to be-come the new national champions.

It's the first such title ever brought home to the Upper Peninsula.

Coach Ron Granroth said that the team performed exceptionally in the centennial anniversary competition on the shores of Lake Erie.

"Everyone did a great job", he said. "It was a real team effort."

In addition to High Junior honors, the team also took first place in the Marksman class, beating all comers, including adult teams.

In the individual competitions the OSC shooters also did extreme1y well. Jeff Tuomi finished second overall in the Marksman class, While Kurt Szyszkoski finished fifth and Sam Gardner finished ninth in High Junior Marksman class.

All three earned the Red Jacket and Cap honors and a berth on the NRA/USA National Civilian Pistol Team.

Mark Saari and Ben Granroth, along with Ben Seppala, also did very well with Mark posting a "personal best" set of scores.

Providing valuable assistance as managers were the team's newest members, Patrick Miller and Peter Granroth, with more help coming from team friend and member of the Michigan Tech Pistol Club, Joel Prusi of Republic.

The team coaches were Bob Gardner and Ron Granroth.

The National Rifle and Pistol Matches is an annual event sponsored by the National Rifle Association, the Civilian Marksmanship Program and the Ohio National Guard.

In addition to OSC team and one from the Detroit area, there were teams sponsored by the New Jersey State shooting association, the Texas State Shooting Association and two teams sponsored by the Massachusetts State Association.

OSC junior shooters win national title

The L'Anse Sentinel July 30, 2003

The Ottawa Sportsman’s Club Junior Pistol Team performed a 'clean sweep' in becoming the 2003 National Champion Junior Pistol Team.

Defeating five other junior teams entered in the National Pistol Matches, the team took high junior honors in the .22, centerfire and .45 caliber matches held on July 17, 18 and 19 to become the new National Champion Junior Pistol Team, the first such title ever brought to the UP.

Coach Ron Granroth said that the team performed exceptionally in the centennial anniversary competition on the shores of Lake Erie at Camp Perry, OH (an Ohio National Guard and former WWII POW camp). "Everyone did a great job", Granroth said. "It was a real team effort."

In addition to high junior honors, the team also took first place defeating all other teams in the Marksman Class, including adults.

In an act of sportsmanship, one of the competing junior teams arrived one member short, and asked if OSC shooters could help. The team agreed that they should and Ben Seppala volunteered to shoot for the Detroit area team promising Granroth to shoot his best for them even taking the chance that it might mean the defeat of his home team.

In addition to the one from the Detroit area, there were teams sponsored by the New Jersey state shooting association; the Texas state shooting association and two teams sponsored by the Massachusetts state association.

In the individual competitions the OSC shooters also did extremely well. Jeff Tuomi finished second overall in the Marksman Class and High Junior Marksman; Kurt Szyszkoski finished fifth and Sam Gardner finished ninth with all three of them earning the Red Jacket and Cap and a berth on the NRA/USA National Civilian Pistol Team. Mark Saari and Ben Granroth, along with Ben Seppala, also did very well with Mark posting a 'personal best' set of scores.

Providing valuable assistance as team managers were the team’s newest members, Patrick Miller and Peter Granroth, with more help coming from team friend and member of the MTU Pistol Club, Joel Prusi of Republic. The team coaches were Bob Gardner and Granroth.

The National Rifle and Pistol Matches is an annual event sponsored by the National Rifle Association, the Civilian Marksmanship Program and the Ohio National Guard.

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