Head Coach: Dylan Owens (1st year) 2022 National Finish: 5th (out of 17 teams in “Division 2”) 2021-22 Team Highlights: Placed second at the Prairie Circuit Conference Championships; placed either first or second in four additional competitions; Wyatt Hambly claimed the individual conference title; broke program records for most broken targets in a season (66,667), most awards won at nationals (28), highest trap score (491/500) and highest skeet score (492/500).
Outlook
The ninth season of existence for the Concordia University Shooting Sports program will have a new feel to it as Dylan Owens takes over as head coach. An alum of NAIA institution Bethel University (Tenn.), Owens replaces the late Scott Moniot, who tragically passed away in November 2021. Since his hiring in April, Owens has worked to establish relationships while building upon the foundation Moniot helped put into place over his four seasons wearing Bulldog blue.
The standard keeps getting higher in each successive season. Members of the program will tell you that last season’s fifth-place team finish at the ACUI National Championship fell below expectations. To be fair, the Bulldogs were competing with heavy hearts. Moving forward, the plan is use Moniot’s legacy as an avenue for positive momentum.
Says Owens, “As far as the standard on the team, Scott held them to a really high standard in terms of attitude and the way they carry themselves. I just have to continue that. I don’t have to create new habits. I’m very happy to be part of a team that really holds themselves to that standard. As far as achievements, sporting clays and HOA (overall scoring) are the areas we need to grow the most in.”
The competition across the shooting landscape has become increasingly fierce. A program that regularly tests itself on the national – and even international – stage, Concordia entered more competitors (nine) into the 2022 USA Shooting Shotgun Selection than any other collegiate team. From that group, three are current Bulldogs: Sam Blevins, Jessie Ciezki and Jack Nelson. Throw returning Prairie Circuit Conference champion Wyatt Hambly (who will compete while also serving as a graduate assistant coach) into the mix and you get the makings of a strong nucleus.
The roster also features nine freshmen, many of whom were recruited by Associate Athletic Director Angela Muller, who helped bridge the gap from Moniot to Owens. Now comes the challenge of attempting to raise the bar once again. The standing goal for the program is not only to win the conference (which it did in the fall of 2020), but to also some day raise the national championship trophy. The 2021-22 team attempted to move a step closer while breaking school records for most broken targets in a season (66,667), most awards won at nationals (28), highest trap score (491/500) and highest skeet score (492/500).
“He started something so great here,” said Ciezki of Moniot. “It was tough to get a new coach and have changes happen, but I really think Coach Owens is going to keep us going in the direction Scott was going with improving our international games. I hope Coach Moniot is looking down and smiling at us with what we’re doing, which I think he is.”
Owens understands why Moniot earned such respect and admiration from his student-athletes. Owens himself considers Moniot to be somewhat of a mentor in the profession. Their paths had crossed several times through their shared connections in the world of shooting sports. They have philosophies that overlap, but Owens will certainly put his own stamp on the program. There have already been noticeable differences in the way practices have operated.
“Last summer, Scott and I had a long conversation about the future of clay target shooting in general and at the collegiate level,” Owens said. “We agreed that coaching has to start evolving a little more towards how other sports are coached. It’s much more goal-oriented than score-oriented. We had all the athletes set goals. Now my job is to help them achieve their goals.”
One lofty goal is for every Bulldog athlete to qualify for the national championships in Las Vegas in the spring of 2023. A year ago, Concordia took 25 competitors to the national stage in San Antonio and cracked 2,774 targets. Hambly emerged as the team’s top HOA (high overall) shooter with a total of 565. The next best among returners is junior Breyer Meeks, who knocked out 537 targets. Junior Claire Kee (515) represents the top returning female in terms of HOA at the 2022 national championships.
Based on last year’s national competition, the Bulldogs will be working on chasing down the likes of the University of Tennessee Southern, Emmanuel College (Mass.), Fort Hays State University (Kan.) and Angelo State University (Texas). Regionally, Fort Hays State and Midland have been two of Concordia’s main rivals. Fort Hays State managed to beat out the Bulldogs for the conference title last season.
Concordia will know very soon how it stacks up against Fort Hays State. The Bulldogs won’t back down from anybody, no matter the coaching change.
Says Nelson of Coach Owens, “He’s got a lot of energy, he has high expectations and there’s accountability. I really like that, so I’m very optimistic about the upcoming season. I really want that top three spot at nationals. That was a big goal for me and the team last year. We’re going to be chasing that this year.”
A native of Kimberly, Idaho, Owens isn’t afraid to shoot for the stars. He’s already achieved significant heights as someone who earned a spot on the Shotgun National Junior and National Development Team. Nelson and his teammates appear to be on the same page in terms of what they believe to be attainable. Owens is tasked with rounding into form some key areas that have kept Concordia from contending for team national titles. That type of lofty goal could become reality if everything comes together the way the Bulldogs hope.
“Winning a (national championship) ring would be huge,” Ciezki said. “For me personally, I really want to qualify for nationals. There have been some guideline changes. Instead of it being up to the coach’s discretion on who to bring to nationals, now we have a qualifying score we have to hit. It’s really important for me to get there – that’s my No. 1 goal. As a team, we’re trying to get everybody there and hit that mark. If we can take all of our team to nationals, that would be awesome.”
The enthusiastic Owens is aiming for the same thing. The native Tennessean beams when discussing all that the program has to offer prospective recruits. The team has such amenities as its own on-campus training room, safes for keeping its guns and a top-notch home range of Oak Creek Sporting Club. Owens has already noted the unique aspects of Concordia that make it special, like recruit visits that are personable and specifically tailored to each individual.
“When I left my previous job, the goal was collegiate head coaching. Scott was the one who told me I should really consider it,” Owens said. “As soon as I got in touch with Angela and (Director of Athletics) Devin (Smith) and felt their passion for athletics on this campus, I wanted to be here. I’m excited to be here. The team is growing and the school really supports shooting sports. That makes it a lot easier to come out and be part of it.”
Practice sessions at Oak Creek will give way to the first official competition: the Fort Hays State Fall Intercollegiate Shoot on Sept. 10-11. The conference championships will take place Sept. 23-25 with the seventh annual Concordia Bulldog Sporting Invitational on Oct. 1-2. The season is made up of both fall and spring semester slates. The national championships will be held in mid-March of 2023.
Bulldogs place second at Fort Hays State Shoot as Owens makes debut
Sept. 12, 2022
HAYS, Kan. – The debut as head coach for Dylan Owens arrived this past weekend (Sept. 10-11) as Concordia Shooting Sports entered 24 individuals into competition at the Fort Hays State University Fall Intercollegiate Shoot. With a combined 1,591 total targets cracked by the top five Bulldogs, Concordia placed second high overall out of 10 teams present at Hays City Sportsmen’s Club in Hays, Kan. Fifth-year student-athlete Wyatt Hambly finished one target off an individual title.
Named head coach back in April, Owens took over a program that has steadily improved since its inception in 2014-15. This was the start of a 2022-23 campaign that comes with high hopes.
“We were using this first shoot as a benchmark,” Owens said. “It’s not a qualifier for nationals, but we wanted to go out and be competitive and see where we’re at. The team did really well even with Saturday’s weather conditions. It was an uncomfortable day of shooting, so for them to shoot as well as they did was very impressive. Our freshmen really stepped up and did fantastic for their first collegiate event. I was really happy with our sporting clays scores over the weekend. I’m not upset with taking second place. This week’s practice will be focused on some of the weaknesses we saw over the weekend.”
Overall, the Bulldogs placed as the runner up to host Fort Hays State (1,622). In a close battle for second, Concordia outgunned rival Midland (1,588) by three targets. Owens’ squad was able to hold off Midland after entering day two leading the Warriors by just one target. While Hambly led the way for the Bulldogs with an HOA total of 331, the rest of the team’s top five included Jack Nelson (318), Tanner Muff (316), Breyer Meeks (315) and Wayne Moore (311).
Broken down by discipline, Concordia placed either second or third in each category: second in singles trap (486), second in sporting clays (411), third in skeet doubles (236 + 46) and third in doubles trap (446 + 84). Hambly paced the Bulldogs in skeet doubles (49), doubles trap (93) and sporting clays (92) while Moore led the way in singles trap (99).
The top female shooters for Concordia, in terms of high overall, were: Claire Kee (309), Katie Welker (301), Abby Kepplin (288), Angie Wolfert (284) and Monica Reed (284). A native of Gibbon, Neb., Kee finished only three targets behind the top HOA female at the Fort Hays Shoot. Nine Bulldogs eclipsed 300 overall targets hit.
As a team, the Bulldogs also defeated the likes of Iowa Western Community College (1,571), Schreiner University (1,543), Hastings (1,540), Northwest Kansas Technical College (1,425), Connors State College (1,392), Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (1,286) and Oklahoma Panhandle State University (1,275). The Concordia total of 1,591 was an increase from 1,568 at the 2021 Fort Hays State Shoot.
The Bulldogs will return to action this Saturday and Sunday for the Midland University Warrior Open. The event will be staged at Lincoln Trap & Skeet with bullets flying at 9 a.m. CT both days. The competition will provide athletes the opportunity to qualify for the NCSSAA National Championships held in the spring of 2023.
Muff, Welker shoot perfect trap scores; Bulldogs place second at Warrior Open
Sept. 19, 2022
LINCOLN, Neb. – It was a record-setting weekend for Concordia University Shooting Sports, which rose to a new level in the discipline of trap. Led by the team’s top overall shooter Tanner Muff, the Bulldogs placed second HOA (high overall) out of 11 teams at the Midland Warrior Open (Sept. 17-18). The team’s top five shooters combined to crack 1,399 targets. Both Muff and Katie Welker ran 100 straight in trap in eye-popping performances.
This was the second time out this fall for Head Coach Dylan Owens’ squad. Concordia also placed second at the Fort Hays State Collegiate Shoot the previous week. In the latest event, 26 Bulldogs competed in Lincoln, Neb.
“They’re taking the steps that are needed,” Owens said. “The mental game is always the toughest thing to conquer. As far as changing fundamental things, I saw several of our athletes gain targets over their previous scores because they have made incremental improvements over time. I’m really proud of Tanner and what he did. It’s really cool to have Tanner and Katie break 100 in trap. The goal is to get to five athletes to 288 (HOA) by the national championships. We had five people get pretty close.”
Muff and Welker are only freshmen, but they looked like seasoned vets while cracking every target during trap competition. Meanwhile, three Bulldogs shot 99 in trap: Ames Andelt, Sam Blevins and Wayne Moore. Their combined efforts put the team trap score at a near spotless 497 and edged Fort Hays State (495) for first place in that particular discipline. The previous trap school record had been 491 set last season.
A Lincoln Southwest High School alum, Muff represented well at the Warrior Open, hosted in his hometown at Lincoln Trap & Skeet Club. Not only did he shoot 100 in trap, Muff also totaled 96 in skeet and 89 in sporting clays for an HOA figure of 285. Only three shooters in the entire event turned in a higher score than Muff. The remainder of Concordia’s top five HOA were Wyatt Hambly (283), Moore (278), Breyer Meeks (277) and Buchannan Tietjen (276). The team’s top three female shooters were Emily Uitermarkt (261), Jessie Ciezki (252) and Angie Wolfert (252).
In other disciplines contested at the Warrior Open, the Bulldogs placed second in sporting clays (438) and fifth in skeet (481). Hambly paced the team in sporting clays with a score of 92 and Blevins led the way in skeet with a 97.
The Warrior Open served as one of a few national qualifying events for Concordia. Starting this season, the Bulldogs are competing under the umbrella of the National Collegiate Shooting Sports Athletic Association (NCSSAA). Athletes must meet a minimum standard in terms of average scores at national qualifying shoots. Owens likes the way things are coming together.
Said Owens, “The team’s goal for nationals is a 1,440 – 41 targets from our goal five or six months away is something I’m pretty happy about. We want to keep chasing higher standards.”
Next up will be the Prairie Circuit Conference Championships held in North Platte, Neb., this Friday through Sunday. Under previous head coach Scott Moniot, Concordia won the conference title in the fall of 2020. A year ago, the Bulldogs were the conference runner up behind the Prairie Circuit individual titlist in Hambly.
Concordia places third in Prairie Circuit; six Bulldogs earn all-conference awards
Sept. 26, 2022
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. – With regional bragging rights on the line, the Concordia University Shooting Sports team went toe-to-toe with its closest rivals this past weekend. When the smoke cleared, the Bulldogs placed third high overall out of 12 teams at the Prairie Circuit Conference Championships held at Lincoln County Wildlife Gun Club in North Platte, Neb., Sept. 23-25. After adding up the top five Concordia scores in each discipline, the Bulldogs knocked out 1,846 targets towards the high overall (HOA) leaderboard.
Among the individual highlights, Angeline Wolfert emerged as the top HOA female freshman at the event. Meanwhile, Breyer Meeks and Claire Kee represented Concordia with all-conference awards. Head Coach Dylan Owens and his team had hoped to place top two in the conference, but there were many positives to build upon.
“I think we’re coming together as a team,” Owens said. “They’re supporting each other and building each other up. I’m seeing more leadership from certain athletes. They are realizing it’s not just my job to lead them. It’s in their hands and they have to do the work. That was great to see this past weekend. I really want to thank the parents of our athletes. They help us out with food so much and are really active within the team. It’s really nice to have that support system.”
The Bulldogs wound up placing just behind Fort Hays State University (1,879) and Midland (1,850) in the race for the conference championship. Concordia won the Prairie Circuit title as recently as 2020 and then placed second in 2021. The Bulldogs also had back-to-back individual conference champions courtesy of Erin Lokke in 2020 and Wyatt Hambly in 2021.
This time around, Concordia was led in the HOA department by the junior Meeks, a native of Filer, Idaho. He shot 369 HOA and placed seventh out of the entire field at the championship meet. Next in line for the Bulldogs were Tanner Muff (359), Joe Blevins (357), Kee (353), Wayne Moore (350) and Jack Nelson (350). Moore busted all 100 targets in trap. He wound up losing the shootout for top honors in the event.
Across disciplines, Concordia shot 473 in skeet, 488 in trap, 438 in sporting clays and 447 in doubles trap. Owens remarked that sporting clays will be an emphasis in practice this week. The top Bulldogs by discipline were Andrew Fynaardt in skeet (96), Moore in trap (100), Muff in sporting clays (91) and Blevins in doubles trap (91). Emma Singer tied for first among females in doubles trap (lost the shootout) with a total of 89.
Concordia cleaned up with three of the five award winners for all-conference female freshmen. Those honors were collected by Wolfert, Katie Welker and Kaylee Hinton. Muff also took home all-conference freshman accolades on the men’s side. Both Muff and Welker shot perfect trap scores a week earlier at the Warrior Open. Meanwhile, Wolfert ended up as the team’s seventh overall shooter at the Prairie Circuit Championships with an HOA total of 349.
Added Owens, “Something I’ve been working with the team on is that missing a target is okay. Then the focus has to be on the next target. Anybody could have made up four targets on our team. When you look at it as a more of a team sport, you realize that every single target makes a difference.”
The Bulldogs now look forward to hosting the seventh annual Concordia Bulldog Sporting Invitational at Oak Creek Sporting Club in Brainard, Neb., on Saturday and Sunday. Owens expects roughly 150 collegiate/high school competitors to be on hand. Rivals Fort Hays State and Midland will be part of the field of teams.
Seventh annual Bulldog Sporting Invitational set for Saturday-Sunday
Sept. 27, 2022
SEWARD, Neb. – The Concordia University Shooting Sports program is preparing to host the seventh annual Concordia Bulldog Sporting Invitational. The 2022 edition of the event is set to run this Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 1-2) at Oak Creek Sporting Club in Brainard, Neb., where action will begin at 9 a.m. CT both days. Oak Creek Sporting Club serves as the home range for the Bulldogs, who first put on this event in 2016. Since then, the Bulldog Sporting Invitational has routinely hosted more than 100 collegiate and high school shooters each year.
Head Coach Dylan Owens expects more than 150 athletes and roughly a half a dozen collegiate shooting teams to be present this weekend at Oak Creek. Prior to action on Sunday morning, Concordia campus pastor Ryan Matthias will deliver a devotional message.
The Bulldogs are the defending champions of their own invitational. Last year they edged out Midland University and Fort Hays State University for the title as Concordia’s Sarah Schwacher won the high overall female championship. So far this season, Owens’ Bulldogs have placed second at the Fort Hays State Intercollegiate Shoot, second at the Midland Warrior Open and third at the Prairie Circuit Conference Championships. Among the highlights from those events, Concordia broke the school record in trap with a 497/500 at the Warrior Open. Both Tanner Muff and Katie Welker shot perfect 100s in contributing to that new standard.
In terms of high overall performance at the 2021 Concordia Invitational, the top Bulldogs were Colten Uitermarkt (272), Schwacher (270), Russell Malterud (269), Wyatt Hambly (266), Joe Blevins (259) and Damien Stewart (259). The top three shooters at the event were Midland’s Dalton Wilcox (279), Hastings’ Tanner Dager (276) and Fort Hays State’s Hank McVeigh (275).
Said Owens, “We’re excited for our home event. I think we’re going to have right around 150 athletes and we’ll have recruits coming in. We’re looking forward to being at Oak Creek. (Owner) Terry Kriz always throws great targets and he’s a huge supporter of the team. He’s very involved and wants the team to be successful.”
Following last year’s Concordia Sporting Invitational, the late Scott Moniot had this to say, “We got a lot of compliments. A lot of teams say this is one of their favorite events. Wartburg was new this year and they said it was the first time they’ve had a chance to shoot at anything quite like this. They had a fantastic time and really want to come back.”
2021 Concordia Sporting Invitational Team Results 1. Concordia University – 1,338 2. Midland University – 1,319 3. Fort Hays State University – 1,317 4. Hastings College – 1,292 5. Wartburg College – 1,253 6. Iowa Western CC – 1,210 7. Doane University – 1,180 8. University of Wyoming – 1,087 9. University of Nebraska – 1,071 10. Northwest Kansas Technical College – 1,071 11. Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture – 1,048
Following the Concordia Bulldog Sporting Invitational, the fall season will continue with the NCSSAA Central Regional Qualifier in Waukee, Iowa, Oct. 21-23.