After a summer of too hot, too wet, too whatever – Saturday September 26th was a beautiful day for the final match of the High Power Championship series. It was clear, beautifully sunny, no wind and about 65-degrees – not even the most particular shooter had a reason to complain about the weather.
The last match of the series was a reduced range (100-yard) 80-round Regional Match course of fire. Not only was this the last of the FWRR High Power Championship series, it was an NRA Registered match, a match at which National records could be set. As it turned out, both the FWRR High Power Championships were decided and National Records were tied and set.
For the FWRR High Power Championship for 2026, there are winners for both the Senior and Junior categories. The two champions will be recognized on a plaque that will be displayed in the clubhouse.
In the Senior category, Mike King took top honors with a season aggregate across the four matches of 2924-97X , followed by Jim Jackson’s runner-up score of 2908-93X and Mark Walters’ third place finish with 2886-71X.
In the Junior category, Aria Hobbs was the high shooter with 1801-41X followed by Ashton Hovey’s 1748-11X and Madyson Klebba with 1730-12X. As a reflection of our Juniors’ busy schedules, none of the Juniors were able to shoot all four of the championship matches.
But wait – there is more! Remember that this was an NRA Registered Match where National Records could be set and indeed, two new National Records were set and a third was tied.
In the NRA’s Military Veteran category, Mark Walters tied the existing record (previously held by Mark Richard of Decatur, Indiana) in Slow Fire Standing with a score of 186-4X. Mark then set a new record in Rapid Fire Sitting of 199-4X, topping the previous record of 198-8X held by Philip McMillen of Springville, Indiana. Mark continued his record run by setting a new record for Match Aggregate of 780-23X; eclipsing the previous record of 775-21X (another Mark Richard record retired!).
We will submit the documentation (extensive!) for these records to the NRA and wait for them to validate the scores. Congratulations to all of the competitors who took honors and set records.
THEN – after the morning match had completed, we walked back to the 200-yard firing line and shot a Garand Match. We had competitors shooting Unlimited Modern Military rifles, M1 Garands, an Unlimited Garand, M1903A3 Springfields, an M1917 Enfield and a lone Swiss K31.
Medalists were:
Mike King Unlimited Modern Military 292-15X Gold Medal
Jim Jackson Unlimited M1 Garand 276-4X Bronze Medal
Mark Walters M1903A3 Springfield 272-2X Silver Medal
Jeff Beierke M1917 Enfield 259-2X Silver Medal
Mark Walters M1 Garand 276-2X Silver Medal
Jeff Beierke M1Garand 267-3X Bronze Medal
The High Great Grand Senior (age > 80 years old) in the Garand Match was Larry Beardsley with a 255-2X, no medal, but all the shots went off and they went into the dirt behind the target – take a win when you can! Madyson Klebba was the High Junior with an Unlimited Modern Military score of 261-3X. Ashton Hovey, another Junior, persevered with an M1 Garand for a score of 223-1X.
We will close out the High Power season with a 3 x 20 Prone Match on Saturday, October 17th. As a consideration to the later Fall sunrise, we will start this match at 10:00 AM instead of our usual 9:00 start time – so you can catch an extra hour of sleep that morning.
