Author: Wisconsin Skeet Shooting Association

Wisconsin State Titles

28 Gauge (1 times) – 1994

.410 bore (1 times) – 1992

Doubles (1 times) – 1989

HAA (1 times) – 1989

---

Jim began honing his skills in the mid 40’s.  His mentor Vic Reinders was his chief instructor.  He began his career as a trap shooter at the tender age of 15.  He promptly went down to Vandalia Ohio to the Grand American trap shoot and tied for the Grand American Handicap Championship.  He then left shooting to further his academic pursuits.  He finished college and went on to medical school. With a family and career well underway he then decided to get back into shooting.  In 1983 he joined the NSSA.  With his mentor Vic he proceeded to begin his skeet career.  Along the way his other mentor Ed Scherer joined the team.  It didn’t take Doc long to start his winning ways.  By 1990 he had already won numerous titles along with his first state title in doubles.  In the early 90’s Doc hooked up with Mike Schmidt from Minnesota and toured with Mike for the next 10 years.  While with Mike he won several more state titles.  Doc’s biggest influences in skeet have been fellow hall of fame members Vic Reinders and Ed Scherer.  In 1989 Doc shot 2000 registered 410 targets while maintaining a 97 average.  During his illustrious career Doc has amassed over 125,000 registered targets.

Wisconsin State Titles

28 Gauge (2 times) – 2001, 2007

.410 Bore (1 time) – 2001

Zone Titles

12 Gauge – 1997

Doubles – 2000 

---

With the hope of improving his field shooting skills, Gary joined Middleton Sportsmen’s Club around 1970.  Initially trap was the game, but he soon saw that the guys on the skeet field were having more fun.  He bought a skeet barrel for his 87- trap gun and joined in.  In those days at Middleton, instruction in how to shoot skeet wasn’t available.  Shooters just copied someone who seemed to break quite a few targets and, of course they acquired some bad habits along the way—such as shooting heavy loads through the 870.  Eventually the recoil took its toll on Gary and he eventually developed the dread “flinch.”

In 1979 he registered his first NSSA targets and during the early ‘80s he mainly shot the 12 and 20 gauge events.  It wasn’t until about ’85 that he began to take the game seriously, but flinching kept him from shooting those elusive hundred straights.  In 1992 he went to the World at Savannah and among the scores he posted were three ninety-nines—each miss the result of a flinch.  That winter he began shooting a “release” trigger and has used one ever since.

Gary made the All-State second team three times in the early nineties, but then work got in the way and his shooting schedule was light for several years until he retired from UW-Madison in ’97.  With retirement he had time to practice and take in more shoots.  It was in the fall of ’97 that “coach” Bruce Ramos convinced him to register another hundred twelve-gauge targets so that he would be eligible for the NSSA All American Senior team, and he was subsequently names to the Honorable Mention squad.  In following years he was named second team All American twice and first team once.  Over a seven-year span beginning in ’98, he made first team once.  Over a seven-year span beginning in ’98, he made first team All-State five times.  During this stretch he managed some major wins: two Zone 5 gun titles, two State Championships, and two wins against some of the country’s top competitors at the Kachina Open in Phoenix.  For one of the latter he squared off against a long line of shooters that included Todd Bender, Robert Paxton, and Mike Schmidt.

Gary’s skeet career doesn’t stop here.  Gary spent several years on the board of Sauk Prairie Gun Clun running their skeet leagues as well as their registered programs.  He also spent several years as the Vice President of the Wisconsin Skeet Shooting Association.  His dedication to promoting as well as shooting skeet makes Gary a welcome addition to our Hall of Fame.

World Titles

.410 Bore – 1990 Runner Up

Doubles – 1992 Champion

Wisconsin State Titles

12 Gauge (1 times) – 2008

20 Gauge (1 times) – 2007

28 Gauge (2 times) – 1990, 1992

.410 Bore (2 times) – 1989, 2006

Doubles (2 times) – 1994, 2010

HOA (1 times) – 1993

HAA (3 times) – 1993, 1994, 2007

Zone Titles

12 Gauge – 1994 

Major Accomplishments

400 x 400 – September 25th, 1994 World Shoot Warm-up, Waukesha Gun Club

500 x 500 – September 25th, 1994 World Shoot Warm-up, Waukesha Gun Club

---

Mark Reichow’s first skeet career in the 1970’s is shrouded in mystery. Neither the NSSA nor Mark will say much about it. After nearly a decade of inactivity, Mark acquired a new NSSA number in 1989, and in his first state shoot that year won the.410 championship. During the next five years, Mark was one of the hottest shooters in the state. His four-gun Average never dipped below .9800 and he collected four more state gun championships, an HOA, two HAAs and a Zone 5 title during this period.

Yet the Most Impressive aspect of Mark’s career was his success at World Shoots.  At Savannah in 1990, he was Runner-Up in the .410 event. His Shoot-off in the stadium field against twelve other perfect shooters in the little gun was truly exciting. Again in Savannah in 1992, Mark impressed his Badger State followers even more when he outlasted twenty-six competitors in the doubles event shoot-off.  A very expensive bottle of champagne was consumed in celebrating his championship.  Mark and fellow Hall of Fame member Ed Scherer are the only Wisconsinites to have won a World Shoot title. Mark’s all too brief career came to a dramatic but satisfying end for him in 1994 with a 5×5 at Waukesha, his last shoot in the state as a Wisconsin resident.

UPDATE (3/30/15): At the end of 1994 Mark and his wife took early retirements from Wisconsin Bell/Ameritech, bought a sailboat a took off to the Caribbean.  His last shoot in Wisconsin before leaving was the World Shoot Warm-up at Waukesha Gun Club where he ran his 5×5. Mark shot very little over the next dozen years. In 2007 Mark’s wife Kathy’s cancer returned, and after getting his with three major hurricanes in 2004 and 2005, they decided it was time sell the boat and get closer to home. Sadly Kathy passed away in 2008. Mark now can be found occasionally at a skeet shoot in Wisconsin shooting with his son Aaron.

From Mark:    At my first World Shoot in 1990 I won RU .410 in a 13-way shootoff of 100’s, and with JD won the .410 2-man World title with a 199×200 outright. That set the hook. 1992 was the year I won the doubles in a 27-way shootoff and also won the 28ga 2-man title with Orin in a short 5-way shootoff of 200’s against some great shooters. (Orin and I were STUNNED deer in the headlights.) Also won the 1994 28ga. 5-man World title with JD, Orin, Dave West, and Stew Rempert shooting 497×500.

I shot with the best squad I guy could have – JD, Celebre, and Orin. As I’ve often said, I don’t think we could have put together a better squad, or an atmosphere more conducive to breaking good scores, if we’d tried. The goal was always to carry everyone to the shootoff and settle it there. And they made it fun, even on a bad day.

Wisconsin State Titles

12 Gauge (3 times) – 1988, 1991, 1997

20 Gauge (2 times) – 1988, 1991

28 Gauge (3 times) – 1987, 1991, 1995

.410 Bore (1 times) – 1991

Doubles (5 times) – 1984, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1998

HOA (2 times) – 1991, 1997

HAA (3 times) – 1987, 1991, 1992

Zone Titles

28 Gauge – 1990

.410 Bore – 1991

HOA – 1991 

Major Accomplishments

400×400 – July 7th, 1991, July Open, Waukesha Gun Club

400×400 – Feb 16th, 1994, Mid-Week Open, Black Canyon Trap and Skeet

---

James Dawson was “Mr. Skeet” in Wisconsin from the mid-eighties to the late nineties – the sport’s hey-day in the state.  As one of the movers and shakers at the club and state levels, He promoted the game and made it fun for all classes of shooters. Jim raised money for shoots and cajoled people into getting involved. Jim’s enthusiasm for skeet rubbed off on everyone including his regular team members – Mark Reichow, Orrin Piepenburg, John Celebre, and Ron Duffy. As Jim is quick to say, it is the people you meet and the camaraderie among the shooters that make the game fun.

Jim had fun, but he was also a terrific competitor who loved to win. And he won a lot, but only after paying his dues by working his way up the ladder of classes. He learned that practice had to be focused if his skills and mental toughness were to improve.  Improve he did. In his best year of shooting, 1991, he broke forty-two 100 straights. That same year he overwhelmed a tough field of competitors by winning all four gun titles along with HOA and HAA at the state shoot.  He also broke his first of two 4X4s in ’91. Over the years at Wisconsin State Championships he collected fourteen gun titles along with two HOA and two HAA crowns.

Wisconsin State Titles

12 Gauge (3 times) – 1984, 1986, 1996

20 Gauge (3 times) – 1980

28 Gauge (3 times) – 1980, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1997

.410 Bore (1 time) – 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 2000

Doubles (1 time) – 2005

HOA (3 times) – 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989

HAA (1 time) – 1996, 2000

---

Orrin Piepenburg can’t remember when he started shooting skeet, but he does recall that he switched from trap shooting to skeet when a field was installed at his local Reedsville club.  The first stage of his career began sometime before 1970, but those records seem to have been lost.  Orrin recalls that those were the days when singles were shot at each station, then shooters proceeded to circle the field again to shoot doubles at stations one, two, six and seven.  During this early period orrin was influenced by another Hall of Fame member, Jim Settlage (2000).  Orrin reminds us that in those days it was not unusual to drive to a shoot in a pickup and then sleep in it.  When Orrin began his shooting, he used a set of four Remington 870s.  He still has a matched set of weighted 28 ga. and .410 Remingtons. He soon graduated to a set of Remington 1100s.  In 1977, Orrin tubed a Winchester 101 with Purbaughs.  While he wasn’t the first to have a tubed gun, many people thought the idea was a bit weird and referred to the “tinker toys” that had to be put together rather carefully.

Orrin began his “second” career in skeet in 1976. Since that time he has registered more than 150,000 NSSA targets.  He has been named to the All-State First Team 16 times.  He was named Captain 3 times. He was won twenty-one state championships.  During this time, he captured wins at the Wisconsin State Championships in HAA, HOA, 12, 20, 28 Gauge and .410 Bore.  Fiver times he won HOA including four in a row from 1984 to 1989.  In 1988 he broke a 399 to take the HOA-still the highest score in this event.  One of Orrin’s most impressive accomplishments has been his success with the .410. Five times he has won the state .410 crown – more wins in that event than any other shooter.  His skills remain as evidenced by his win in the .410 last year (2000).  Now a “Senior” shooter, Orrin reminds us that “I ain’t done yet.”

Wisconsin State Titles

12 Gauge (3 times) – 1990, 1992, 1994

20 Gauge (3 times) – 1984, 1985, 1995

.410 Bore (1 times) – 1999

HOA (3 times) – 1985, 1992, 1999

HAA (1 times) – 1999

---

John Celebre, the cigar smoking fireman from Kenosha, took up skeet with the hope that his hunting skills would improve and he could bag more ducks.  He shot a few registered targets in 1972 but took the sport seriously beginning in 1976.  Shooting must have come easily to him because he quickly attained a HOA average over ninety six percent in 1977, and the ducks began to fall regularly.

John claims the rare distinction of having a shoot named after him and not having to die to achieve fame.  The famous “Celebre Fly-In” held at Faskell’s club was dedicated to John because of his ineptness at the controls of a plane.  The story, according to John, was that Bernie Faskell assured him that a place could land at his club, but that the landing should be toward the south; i.e. toward the highway.  As it turned out, the wind was from the north (behind the plane), and as John approached the “landing strip” he recalls, I cut the power (but) the airplane would not stop flying.  It just kept floating and eating up ground.”  As he (and eventual wife Laurie) raced past a couple of Bernie’s trucks and assorted cars parked along the field, he shouted, “We’re going to crash!”  They skidded through the front parking lot and onto the highway where the front wheel came to rest on the white line.  John and Laurie looked out the window into the astonished face of a motor home driver who was now cross-wise in the road.  John calmly motioned him around, taxied the plane into the parking lot, and proceeded to break a hundred in the 20 gauge.  John was named to the All-State First Team 6 times.  Over the years John won eleven state championships.  As recently as 1999, he won the .410 and the HOA events at the State Shoot while carrying a .9825 four gun average for the shooting year.

Wisconsin State Titles

12 Gauge (2 times) – 1968, 1980

20 Gauge (2 times) – 1960, 1969

28 Gauge (2 times) – 1959, 1966

.410 Bore (1 times) – 1961

NSSA All American Teams

Junior First Team – 1958

---

Jim Settlage began his shooting career in 1954 as a junior shooter.  He won junior titles in 1954, 1955, 1956, and in 1958.  In 1958, he was named to the Junior All American Team.

Shortly after his junior career ended, he began winning open titles. Beginning in 1959 with the 28 gauge title, he followed that with two in the 12 ga., in 1968 and 1980.  In 1960, he won his first 20 ga. title and repeated in 1969.  In 1965, he again won another 28 ga. title. In 1961, Jim won his .410 title.

By the time Jim retired in 1982, he had shot for four decades. Jim was the first Junior shooter to make the jump from junior to adult with equal success.  After a five year lay off from 1971 to 1976, Jim returned to shooting and was named to four consecutive All State Teams.

Jim retired with over 54,000 registered targets.  He now lives in Michigan and still returns to Wisconsin to visit family and friends.

Wisconsin State Titles

12 Gauge (2 times) – 1989, 2007

20 Gauge (2 times) – 1976, 1978

28 Gauge (3 times) – 1976, 1979, 1985

.410 Bore (3 times) – 1975, 1982, 1993

HOA (3 times) – 1976, 1979, 1982

Major Accomplishments

Doubles Preliminary Champ –World Championships

Doubles Preliminary Runner Up – World Championships

NSSA All American Teams

Open Second Team – 1976

---

Steve Schneider began his shooting career in 1971 “because I couldn’t hit anything with a shotgun”.  Steve said he learned about shooting by watching and talking with better shooters at the club.

When he got into registered skeet shooting, he spent a lot of time observing the best shooters and “getting into discussions about the most important aspect of competitive shooting, the mental game”.

During Steve’s shooting career, he won “a few championships at Windy City Warm-Ups in Palos, Illinois, a few at the Old Dutch in Minneapolis, and 1 at the 3-I in Peoria, and a couple class wins at the Mid-America shoot”.

Steve and his wife are the 1st and only husband and wife to shoot a 200×200 in the 12 ga. in Wisconsin.

Steve Schneider’s State titles number 12.  Beginning in 1972 he has won the .410 title in 1975, 1982, and 1993, the 28 gauge title in 1976 and 1978, the 12 ga. title in 1989 and the HOA titles in 1976, 1979, and 1982.

On the National level, he distinguished himself by being named to the 2nd team All American in 1976 (22-100’s on 4600 targets), using 1100’s.  All this was done before tube sets!!  At the world shoot, he won the following titles, Doubles Preliminary Champ, and Doubles Preliminary RU., AAA2nd .410 and HOA AA2 with a score of 547.  Steve ended his shooting career in 1993, with a top HOA average of 98.61 and a career target total of 53,050.

UPDATE (3/30/15): Steve made a small comeback to registered skeet shooting from 2007 to 2009 resulting in winning the 12 Gauge State Championship in 2007.  Steve has now retired from competitive shooting but is still active at Wausau Skeet and Trap.  Steve Retired in 2010 and is enjoying spending his time fishing for bass and muskies as well as doing some work around his daughter’s property.  Steve enjoys reading and going on his eight mile a day walks.

Wisconsin State Titles

20 Gauge ( times) – 1979

28 Gauge ( times) – 1981  

.410 Bore ( times) – 1972

HOA ( times) – 1981 

---

Carl Sorensen began shooting in 1967. Starting in 1968, he was a member of the All State Team, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1981, 1982 and was Captain in 1981.  Carl has won state titles in 20, 28, .410 and HOA.  He has been named Captain of the N.S.S.A. All American Senior Team.  In 1983 he was named to the Senior first team.  In 1992 & 1993 he was named to the All American Veteran 2^nd Team.  In 1994 he was named honorable mention to the Veteran All American Team.  1996 Veteran All American 2^nd Team.

 1981 Carl ran 250×250 at the World Shoot and took Senior Champion and AA-1^st and won the Senior HOA Championship.

 Carl currently holds the record for most registered targets by a Wisconsin shooter in excess of 206,500.

 Carl is now retired and lives in Racine with his wife and is still shooting registered targets.

Wisconsin State Titles

12 Gauge (3 times) – 1935, 1938, 1942

20 Gauge (1 times) – 1941

28 Gauge (1 times) – 1941

HOA (1 times) – 1935

---

Frank Mazanet started shooting skeet in 1932 at the Winga Skeet Club.  At his first State Shoot in 1935 he won the HOA and 12 Ga. Titles.  He won six State Titles in total.  He was the first person to shoot 99×100 at the State Shoot.  His favorite gun for shooting skeet was a Remington Model 32.  Franks last recorded registered skeet targets were in 1960.  Frank presently resides in Madison.