For just the second time in history, a junior team claimed the overall win in the National Trophy Infantry Team event. To solidify their place in the history books even more, the collective members set new national junior and civilian records with a score of 1361 along the way.
The National Trophy Infantry Team Match is a crowd favorite at Camp Perry—a six-person team event featuring 384 rounds, beginning at 600 yards and moving forward until all rounds are expended. Because of the sound made by the constant firing, the match is better known as the “Rattle Battle” amongst the marksmanship community.
The Rattle Battle was first held in 1922, and, before this year, only two civilian teams have ever won the competition. The first was in 1930, while the second came nearly 80 years later in 2009 when the California Grizzlies earned the top civilian honor as well as becoming the first junior team to ever win the match.
Wisconsin’s juniors and coaches admitted to performing poorly in the event in the past, but, this year, they were ready to secure their own place in the legacy of the treasured event.
“Historically, we've not done well in that match,” Wisconsin’s Team Captain, Kaleb Hall, said. “We wanted to change things, so we put some time and effort into making it happen, and the results showed up.”
Along with the overall win, Wisconsin earned the Leatherneck Trophy as the top civilian team in the match and was, of course, the high junior team.
“Last year, we put a lot of work into the Infantry Trophy team match,” he said. “We spent a lot of time and effort to get everybody up to speed on what it takes to win.”
They put Mike Stewart in charge as coach and tasked him with laying out a plan. The juniors immediately rose to the challenge—practicing twice a week, beginning in May, and competing every weekend a match was conducted in Wisconsin, with extra practice as time allowed.
“We didn't know where we'd end up, but we knew we did what we could do,” Hall said with a smile. “The kids show up every weekend to shoot our matches back home, and with the support of their parents and coaches, they're able to do that. So, they put in the work.”
The work paid off.
“Honestly, it felt easy,” Hall said of their victories. “There were no questions, and everybody knew what they were doing. There was no worry. It was just, ‘We've done this before, we're just doing it again, here.’”
The team also secured the Solider of Marathon Trophy as the leading civilian team in the National Trophy Team (NTT) Match along with the Minuteman Trophy as the leading junior team, with a score of 2923-105X.
Of the six firing members, coach and captain of the National Civilian Rifle Team, an honorary team comprised of the highest individual scores in the NTT, three of Wisconsin’s own were named firing team members (Thomas Kirsten, Liam McKenna—a former Wisconsin Junior—and Thomas McGowan), while the coach and captain also hailed from the same team (Kaleb Hall and Anna Behnke).
“I want to thank all our coaches and captains and adults, helpers,” Hall said. “We've got people cooking for the kids every night, driving them out here, taking care of them. None of this would happen without them.”
Also earning a spot on the Civilian Rifle Team was 2024 Mountain Man Trophy winner (high rifle competitor of the President’s Rifle, National Trophy Individual and NTT events), Justin Utley, as well as Julia-Watson Carlson and Staff Sgt. Jonathan O’Neal.
Additionally, Wisconsin provided four of the six National Junior Rifle Team members (the Colonel Bill Deneke Trophy): Anna Behnke, Thomas Kirsten, Thomas McGowan and Kacie McGowan.
Behnke and teammate Casey Hollenbeck earned third place overall in the National Trophy Junior Team event as team “Cheddar,” while other Wisconsin teams “Colby” (Kacie McGowan and Samuel Tuiter) and “Mozzarella” (Thomas McGowan and Thomas Kirsten) earned second and first, respectively. The two teams were only separated only by X-count.
For their win, McGowan and Kirsten received new triggers donated by Geissele, as well as 10-round magazines donated by Leapers.
Congratulations also to the leading team in the NTT by just one point, All Guard, with a score of 2956-114X. Firing members included Maj. Samuel Freeman, Sgt. Kade Jackovich, Sgt. Jonathan Wood, Sgt. 1st Class Amanda Elsenboss, Spc. Jedidiah Gaddie and Staff Sgt. Josh Hanrahan. The win marked only the third time the National Guard has achieved the accompanying Dogs of War Trophy, after posting victories in 1986 and 1977.
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