ELLSWORTH — Three of the valley’s teams duked it out against the area’s best in the Battle for the Paddle, a traveling event hosted at the Ellsworth Rod & Gun Club this year.
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ELLSWORTH — Three of the valley’s teams duked it out against the area’s best in the Battle for the Paddle, a traveling event hosted at the Ellsworth Rod & Gun Club this year.
The event is made up of four north teams (St. Croix Central, Elmwood, Spring Valley and Ellsworth) and four south teams (West Salem, Melrose Mindoro, Tomah and Bangor). Ellsworth was the host this year, taking second with a score of 239/250 to West Salem’s 243.
Eighty shooters participated in the event including 19 from Ellsworth, with the top five scorers out of 50 shots on each team counting toward the team score.
Ellsworth Claybreakers Assistant Coach Mike Moldenhauer said it is a special event because the shooters and their families are all interacting with members of the other teams, having a blast all around.
“It’s the interaction where they’re shooting against each other,” Moldenhauer said. “It’s very special just because of everybody there together.”
Western Wisconsin teams frequently go toe to toe with some of the best teams in the nation, and a handful of those teams compete in the Battle for the Paddle.
“Trap shooting has come a long way,” Moldenahauer said. “It’s the knowledge that’s there, it’s the equipment that’s there and it’s the striving of the kids wanting to be better.”
He said a reason for the advancement in trap shooting is because once you pick it up, you can do it for your entire life. Moldenhauer encouraged people from all over the area, not just in Ellsworth, to give it a go.
“No matter what their score is, if they can smile when they walk off that line, that’s the whole thing,” Moldenhauer said.
A year ago, Ellsworth won the Battle for the Paddle in an absolute cinematic finish. The Claybreakers tied for the lead at 243 with West Salem in Melrose, leading to a coach shootout. Coach Lucas Moldenhauer outshot West Salem’s representative to take home the Paddle. Mike Moldenhauer felt the win last year helped with the confidence to find themselves in the top two again.
“For most of them, if not all of them, it really means something because it’s at your place now,” Moldenhauer said.
Moldenhauer thanked Head Coach Denton Achenbach as well as the Ellsworth Rod & Gun Club for leading the charge to put on the event. The event was the last for the Claybreakers as a team this season.
