The Ellsworth Claybreakers trap team made the trip to Mason, Mich., from July 8-12 to compete at the National Championship against the best of the best in the United States.

The Claybreakers finished 17th in their division at State in June, led by scores over 90 out of 100 from Cooper Moldenhauer, Carter Moldenhauer, Marshall Funk, Jens Christensen and Katen Achenbach. Each of them had their career best days with the exception of Carter Moldenhauer.

The team had seven members place in the top 25 of Wisconsin Conference 1, Class 2A this year, being Carter Moldenhauer, Chace Kressin, Christensen, Trevor Doherty, Eli Wang, Graham Bierbrauer and Cameron Sears. Moldenhauer took first place in conference with a 24.1 average out of 25 and senior Kressin was right behind in second with 24.0.

At Nationals, 1,800 individuals and 200 teams compete for their chance at a title. The day one scores for Ellsworth were as follows:

Carter Moldenhauer 99/100 - 32nd place

Graham Bierbrauer 95/100 - 430th place

Jens Christensen 94/100 - 515th place

Trevor Doherty 94/100 - 522nd place

Cameron Sears 83/100 - 1518th place

After day one, the team was in 125th place with a score of 435/500. The top 400 individuals and 80 teams then moved on to the championship round. Moldenhauer was the lone individual to advance for Ellsworth, scoring a 96/100 to finish 232nd.

Wisconsin’s own Fall River trap team took home the National Championship, scoring a 485/500 in the final to win by a single shot over Fort LeBoeuf out of Pennsylvania. Nevyn Hengel of Sibley East, Minn., was named the individual champion, shooting a 100 in the final to end up in a 16-way tie. Hengel was then placed in a shoot-off tiebreaker, taking home the crown.