By Reagan Hoverman

When Denton Achenbach started the Ellsworth Claybreakers trap shooting team in 2015, his goal was to spend more time with his son Ben who was a high school student at Ellsworth at the time. Now, nearly eight years later, his organization provides alternative involvement opportunities to traditional high school sports for students who may not fit into those norms.

Achenbach started the team with the assistance of current Ellsworth Superintendent Barry Cain. At the time, Achenbach decided not to have the Claybreakers be an official Ellsworth HS sanctioned sport. If that were the case, he would have to regularly receive approval from the school board before spending money and would have to jump through WIAA hoops.

Because of that, the Claybreakers are an independent organization that recruits high school students to the team. Achenbach stated that his son, Ben Achenbach, was the first official recruit for the program. After the team was established and joined the USA Clay Target League, Ben Achenbach recruited his friends to join the program so that they could begin competing.

“We started it as an alternative option for kids to be involved in a team and sport that maybe was a little different than what they could do in the school system,” Denton Achenbach said. “I’ve been the coach the whole time, the organizer, media relations, recruiter,” Achenbach said in a lighthearted manner.

Denton Achenbach has worn many hats throughout the nearly decade-long run that the Claybreakers have had. While he’s occupied many roles, he has focused on providing team sports opportunities to those kids who may have come from underrepresented backgrounds.

“A lot of the kids that are on our team are kids that typically don’t do a lot of extracurricular stuff,” Denton Achenbach said. “Some of them might be from a background where they don’t have a lot of money for that stuff.”

Because Denton Achenbach and the Claybreakers have focused on providing those team sports opportunities to potentially economically challenged kids, he has worked to develop local sponsors that help offset the cost of a sport that can get expensive quickly.

On a typical high school trap shooting team, the cost of a jersey, shells, clays and administrative fees can run as much as $350 for each student-athlete. Denton Achenbach’s relationship with local sponsors has helped offset costs for students. Instead of that aforementioned figure, the Claybreakers charge only $150 per athlete for the entire season, thanks in large part to those sponsors.

“Each sponsor can donate at a platinum, gold, silver or bronze level,” Denton Achenbach said. “They get their logo on our jerseys and down at the rod and gun as a sponsor. That $350 cost per year is down to $150 because of those sponsors. They’re keeping it affordable so that more kids have an opportunity to do it.”

According to Denton Achenbach, approximately half of the student-athletes on his team are involved in other sports including baseball, softball, golf and track, whereas this is the only team sport for the other 50% of the team. He spoke about how he likes working with kids who don’t fit into traditional high school roles and how this team has been life-changing for one athlete.

“My wife always says that I like kids that don’t fit in,” Denton Achenbach said. “I have

See CLAYBREAKERS, Page B-2

The Ellsworth Claybreakers trap shooting team celebrates with the 2022 Wisconsin State High School Clay Target League conference championship trophy. The Claybreakers won the 2022 conference title, its second such title in team history. Photo courtesy of the Ellsworth Claybreakers Claybreakers

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one right now. I know from other kids that he sits alone at lunch and just doesn’t fit in anywhere. When he was a freshman (on this team), his mom pulled me aside and said, ‘You’re the best thing that ever happened to my son because you believe in him, give him the confidence to do stuu and he feels like he is a part of the team.’ That’s really why I do this.”

Because of Claybreakers’ history of success and the positive word-of-mouth throughout the Ellsworth community, the team has steadily grown since its inception more than seven years ago. The first iteration featured both Denton and his son Ben Achenbach, as well as approximately 25 other high school students that got the program going.

In recent years, roster numbers have spiked to approximately 50 student-athletes. According to Denton Achenbach, that’s as many as he could take in the program because of the limited capacity of the Ellsworth Rod & Gun Club.

“We have anywhere from 45 to 55 kids,” Denton Achenbach said. “We’ve always had only one trap house at the (Ellsworth) Rod & Gun. With only one trap house, we could only handle about 45 to 55 kids otherwise we can’t get all the kids through in one night.”

In the last approximately two years or so, the Ellsworth Rod & Gun went through a major overhaul and added a second trap house that allowed Achenbach to continue adding kids to the program, including some middle school students that want to begin shooting competitively.

While Denton Achenbach started the program, with the assistance of the aforementioned Cain, he also has several dedicated individuals that have helped him run the Claybreakers throughout the years including Lee Wright, who is the range safety ovcer and has helped teach hunter safety courses, and Jesse Thurmes and Chris Kilness.

“I want to mention those guys that help me because they are really important,” Achenbach said. “Lee Wright has been there twice a week for eight years to help us. Jesse Thurmes and Chris Kilness have been great over the years.”

Denton Achenbach plans to continue growing the team now that the Ellsworth Rod & Gun can handle more shooters. He also wants to continue providing opportunities for the underrepresented demographics and giving them a place and team environment to enjoy and be a part of.

Ellsworth Claybreakers senior Taite Place holds his 75 Straight patch after hitting 75 consecutive targets during the 2022 state trap shooting meet in Nekoosa. Place’s 75 consecutive helped him shoot an overall team-high score of 95. Photo courtesy of the Ellsworth Claybreakers