Results: 2024 Louisiana State High Power Rifle Championship

Mike Burke

posted on December 21, 2024

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4 Lousiana HPR Champ 2024 — With a score of 792-27X, Chance Cavin (third from left) was the winner of this year’s Louisiana State High Power Championship title.

Photo courtesy of Palo Alto Rifle & Pistol Club

2024 Louisiana State High Power Rifle Championship
Palo Alto Rifle and Pistol Club
Donaldsonville, La.
October 18
30 competitors
Submitted by Mike Burke

The long-anticipated weekend of High Power Rifle shooting has come and gone, and what a match. Shooters traveled from as far away as Michigan and Virginia, and all five Gulf Coast states were represented at this year’s Louisiana State High Power Rifle Championship in October.

The weather was perfect, blue skies, cool temperatures and just enough switching wind to keep things interesting. The range was in beautiful shape, with target carriers and electronic targets working great.

Left: Competitors on the firing line during 2024 Louisiana State High Power Rifle Championship, held at Palo Alto Rifle & Pistol Club in Donaldsonville, La., in October. Right: In the EIC match, Sarah Morton secured the eight-point leg with a score of 479-9X.

The two-person team match in the Hearst Double format kicked things off on Friday morning. Team Cavin/Matzelle jumped to early lead, taking first place with a score of 577-17X, followed by Team Edwards/Carozza with 567-11X and Team Iliff/White with 565-9X. The 18 competitors in this match were greeted with the infamous winds that Palo Alto Rifle and Pistol Club is known for. The wind was a recurring theme, along with the name Cavin.

Next was the Garand Match with 14 shooters in the hunt for first place. Chance Cavin won the overall match with a score of 287-6X. Gregg Foster was runner-up with 283-4X, and Capt. Seth Carozza took third place after firing a score of 272-4X. All three were shooting as-issued M1 Garand rifles.

Saturday morning had 30 shooters competing for the 2024 Lousiana State High Power Rifle title. Match One (offhand) went to Chance Cavin with a score of 195-4X, followed by Lt. Eli Edwards with 192-3X. Match Two (rapid sitting) followed, with Maj. White winning with 200-8X, Chance Cavin in second with 200-7X and Lt. Edwards with 198-13X, good for third place. Coming off the 200-yard line, Cavin and Edwards were the overall leaders. By now the wind was blowing, quartering and switching. For 300-yard prone, Cavin finished in first place with a score of 199-9X, Kyle Matzelle the runner-up with 198-8X and Lt. Edwards in third place with 197-9X.

There were 30 shooters vying for the Louisiana State High Power Rifle Championship title this year at Palo Alto Rifle & Pistol Club.

Championships are won standing and lost at 600 yards, especially on windy days. Cavin shot 198-7X for the 600-yard win. Sgt. Jon Wood was second with a score of 197-11X, while Lt. Edwards claimed third place after firing a score of 197-9X.

Chance Cavin won the 2024 Louisiana State High Power Rifle Championship title after posting a final score of 792-27X. Second place in the overall standings went to Lt. Edwards with 784-34X, while Sgt. Jon Wood claimed third place with 781-30X.

A big shout out goes to junior champion Sam Matek and 300-yard high expert Sarah Morton, both from the Golden Triangle Texas program. Thank you to Kristen Morton for bringing your team members, along with Bobby Simpson, James Radford and Steven Clements for bringing their junior shooters as well. Also, if my calculations are correct the top three finishers (Cavin, Edwards, Wood) will receive step points for the NRA Distinguished Program.

The 2024 Louisiana State High Power Rifle Champion, Chance Cavin, is holding some of the trophies he won at this year’s competition.

After the match we enjoyed a fine meal of jambalaya. We also held a drawing for door prizes. In addition, the Louisiana Shooting Association held a drawing for an M1 Garand, with proceeds going to support the junior programs in all disciplines.

The match also featured a drawing for door prizes. Our sponsors included the following vendors.

HIC-Tec. $250 gift certificate
Wisconsin Trigger. MKII Trigger
Redding. Two 50% off certificates
Palo Alto Rifle and Pistol Club. 200 pieces of .556 Starline Brass
Starline Brass. Two $50 gift cards
South Lousiana High Power Rifle Club. Browning Precision data book and T-shirt
Satern Barrels. Eight powder funnels

We appreciate the support of these companies.

First and second place EIC Leg Match competitors are on the left, with a fine jambalaya meal is being prepared by Chefs Tony, Karl and Kyle on the right.

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, Sarah Morton took the eight-point leg with a score of 479-9X and Sam Beane earned the six-point leg with 476-12X. Congratulations to both competitors. And yes, Chance Cavin won the overall match with 491-16X and Lt. Edwards was second with a 490-17X.

Medals and trophies were handed out at the awards ceremony.

I want to thank the board at Palo Alto—they have always supported the High Power Rifle Program.

There are many other individuals I want 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, along with Lee Shall for calling the EIC match and Kyle Matzelle, who came all the way from Michigan so we could put him to work. Additionally, I want to thank Tony Geeck for cooking and helping the juniors (also he and Kyle are great on the Shotmarker system), our statistician Adrian Moore and Karl Schoeder, for his general support all over the place during the match.