Rifle: No. 1 WVU Welcomes Ohio State
October 15, 2010 01:49 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 1- ranked West Virginia University rifle team opens its 2010-11 season and plays host to No. 14-ranked Ohio State Saturday, Oct. 16, at the WVU Rifle Range at 8 a.m.
The shoulder-to-shoulder match is the first for the Mountaineers since taking third place at the 2010 NCAA Championships. The squad returns to the range as the reigning Great American Rifle Conference (GARC) champions, and with hopes of keeping its 17-match regular season win streak alive.
Mountaineer coach Jon Hammond, the 2010 GARC Coach of the Year, returns for his fifth season at WVU and owns a 36-8 overall record.
“It’s great to finally start the season, and I know the team is excited to compete in a match after practicing for the last six weeks,” says Hammond. “We have a lot of experience returning to the team this year, and that should help us achieve our long list of team goals. Most importantly, this is the first match of the season, and we are looking forward to putting in a good performance and getting a win.”
WVU enters tomorrow’s match as the nation’s No. 1 ranked team on the College Rifle Coaches Association Preseason Poll. TCU, the 2010 national champions, are ranked No. 2, while the University of Alaska-Fairbanks is No. 3. GARC foes Kentucky and Army round out the top 5.
WVU has never lost to OSU and owns a 36-0 series record. The Mountaineers defeated the Buckeyes, 4666-4538, last season in Columbus, Ohio.
A combined 17 National Rifle Association (NRA) All-America honorees return to guide the Mountaineers toward their nation-best 15th national title, including seven seniors and reigning air rifle International Shooting Sport Federation world champion Nicco Campriani.
Tomorrow’s match is only the seventh for Campriani in a Mountaineer uniform, but the Florence, Italy, native has already made an impact at WVU, as he set the program’s smallbore (593), air rifle (598) and combined score (1189) records last year. A two-time NRA first team All-American, and the reigning GARC air rifle, smallbore and combined score champion, Campriani is expected to pace the Mountaineers throughout the season.
Campriani’s classmates – Brandi Eskew, Andy Lamson, Tommy Santelli and Kyle Smith – should also figure heavily into the Mountaineers’ counting scores this season.
Eskew, a Petersburg, W.Va., native, is a three-time first team NRA smallbore All-American and paced WVU in the discipline last year with a team-best 578.92 season average. Lamson, a native of Colchester, Vt., led the team’s air rifle squad with a 588.38 season average and owns a combined five NRA All-America honors, including two air rifle first team selections.
Andraz Poje and Ashley Zultanky round-out this year’s senior class.
Juniors Michael Kulbacki and Justin Pentz, both natives of DuBois, Pa., return after shooting in last year’s national championship, while sophomore Petra Zulbasing and freshman Thomas Kyanko join the Mountaineers for their first season.
Fans are encouraged to stop by the WVU Rifle Range throughout the day, as tomorrow’s match is expected to continue into the afternoon.
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