The 2020 Winter International Indoor Pistol Tournament at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX, this past February encompassed five matches and hosted 38 competitors shooting a total of 74 International Pistol events. Twenty of those competitors were beginning competitive shooters in the Master Unclassified and the Texas shooting community looks forward to their continued participation in the challenging disciplines of Sport, Standard, Rapid, Free and Air Pistol. The experienced competitors were ranked according to their highest International or Precision Pistol (also called Bullseye or “2700”) classifications. Competitors could shoot more than once per event with only the first score counting for awards, but each score was submitted to the NRA. Several competitors will soon receive classification cards after this match.
As is tradition, the first event in the rimfire range was Free Pistol. Many competitors were shooting their first Free Pistol match. Experience ruled as former U.S. Pistol Team member Greg Appleton from the Fort Worth area, took first place with a 499. Appleton outdistanced two Texas A&M alumni—Tom Echols by 20 points and Steve Lightfoot by 37 points. Both Echols and Lightfoot are also former A&M Pistol Team members.
Standard Pistol, an event closely akin to Precision Pistol, was won by Master class Precision Pistol competitor, Mason Talbert, besting a field of 20 with his strong score of 564. Texas A&M’s Hongxu Wong and Matthew Kufrovich followed close behind with scores of 558 and 554, respectively.
The Rapid Pistol match saw Talbert and Wong repeat their Standard finishes with Talbert shooting the top score of 535 followed by Wong with a 531. The remaining competitors were neophytes to this Olympic event and Steve Lightfoot rose to third place with a 467.
Members of the A&M Pistol Team swept the Sport Pistol match. First-year team member Justin Kragh easily led the field of nine women and junior men, scoring 524 to second place finisher Jason Vorderbruggen’s 509, followed by Georgia Eddy with a 504.
In the Air Pistol match, 26 competitors saw A&M’s Jay Palacios secure the win with a 552, followed by Greg Appleton with 549. In third place was A&M’s Pistol Team President, Matthew Kufrovich with 542.
Many thanks to our volunteers Garrett Martin, statistician; Bill Foster, scoring and chief range master for Air Pistol; as well as Destiny Binnion, Range Officer for Air Pistol and Free Pistol and the Texas A&M Pistol Team for a myriad of duties.
For more information on this match and the Texas A&M Pistol Team, please visit their Facebook page.
