CT: 2010 Great Pumpkin Match Results

Shawn Carpenter, Bill Neff, and Joe Graff

The 2010 Great Pumpkin Match

Had William Shakespeare covered the first day of the 2010 Great Pumpkin Match held at the Bell City Rifle Club he would have reserved  these lines from King Lear to describe the conditions, “Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow! You cataracts and hurricanes, spout.”

The winds, gusting to 40 miles per hour ,were only part of the problem for the competitors also faced constantly changing light conditions as the low clouds scudded by and further worsened by the long shadows of mid October.  By the end of the day the physical and mental exhaustion brought on by the challenging conditions and the metric targets had taken it toll.

The day began with the 100 yard match metallic sight match.  Bill Neff, a former Connecticut junior, shooting a 52 B action in a Sitman stock, topped the field with a 380-11X.  Unclassified rifleman Jeff Henry’s 375-13X took that class while Expert Shawn Carpenter eked out another 375, with 14 Xs, to win that class.  Junior Anthony Cuozzo fired a 374-7X to best all Marksmen.

Leaf filled wind devils danced across the range during the reverse Dewar which was won by Joe Graf’s 377-9X.  Henry racked up another win with a 364-6 while Chet Ruscio bested his Expert class brethren with a 374-11X.  Cuozzo cruised to marksman win with a 359.10X.

The final match of the day had the targets a mere 50 yards away but there was no relief from the unremitting wind.  Nicole Rossignol, a hard holder from Canada, broke into the winner’s circle with a score of 381-12X.  Neff took the Expert class with a 380-13X as Mackenzie Martin broke Henry’s lock on unclassified with a 377-12X.  Cuozzo cruised on sweeping the Marksman class with his 370-5X.

At the end of the trying day Carpenter was in the lead with an 1131-40X while Expert Neff followed him with an 1126-35X. Henry and Cuozzo handily captured their classes with an 1112-28X and an 1101-22X respectively.

Any sight day was gem of a New England autumn day, clear, dry, and cool.   While it was a dramatic and positive change from the day before it brought with it its own problem: the dry air eliminated any chance of reading the wind through mirage.

Carpenter took up where he left off on day one by winning the 100 yard match with a 386-15X.  Ruscio was first Expert firing a 385-16X.  Henry rolled on with a 373-10X but Eric Sloan broke Cuozzo’s strangle hold on the Marksman class with a 366-7X.

Hap Rocketto and Neff dueled it out in the Dewar with Rocketto sliding by with a 388-15X to Neff’s 388-13X for the win.  Neff settled for the Expert class title.  Henry, to no one’s surprise, was unclassified winner with a 373-10X.  Cuozzo stepped up his game to return to the top of the Marksman class with a 370-9X.

The last match of the day was, for all intents and purposes, the last outdoor match of the season and it was won by Neff with a 393-19X and with it a score of 1163-44X for the any sight aggregate win.  Rocketto again found himself in a tie, this time with Graf.  Both posted 390s but Rocketto managed to shoot one more X than his fellow Rhode Islander to take the class award, but Carpenter won the Expert class with an 1158-48X.  Henry and Cuozzo continued to dominate their classes by shooting an383-11X and a 384-13X, also winning their class in any sights.

Over the last two matches Carpenter’s grand aggregate lead had been slowly nibbled away by Neff, his surge at 50 yards made for a finish that would only be decided in the scoring room. When all was totaled up both had identical scores of 2289 but Carpenter had four more Xs any sight and five with irons giving him a total of 88 Xs to Neff’s 79. In pretty convincing fashion Neff, Henry, and Cuozzo won their classes.

In aggregate competition it was Carpenter, Neff, and Graf on the steps of the podium shooting 2289-88X, 2289-79X, and 2268-57X.  Rocketto’s 2264-60X was tops in both Expert class and Senior category. Henry’s 2237-56X performance bested all unclassified shooters and Cuozzo’s 2216-50X got him Marksman and intermediate junior laurels.  Martin mustered a score of 2208-47X to pick up sub junior honors.  Rossignol was high woman with a 2258-57X.

The team match for both days was a two man paper 50 yard match and was swept by RICONN: Rhode Island resident Graf and Connecticut resident Carpenter.  While they ran away with the iron sight title they were severely challenged in any sight match by The Bailiff and the Bondsman, a pair that will not let facts interfere with a good alliterative team name for Bob Lynn is not a bailiff but rather New Hampshire’s Superior Court Chief Justice and Rocketto is not actually a bondsman, he just has had a lot to do with them and is also a friend of one.  RICONN bested The Bailiff and the Bondsman by a score of 762-30X to 761-27X.

The Great Pumpkin Match is one of the two bookends that contains the southern New England outdoor season.  It closes the year and everyone parted to endure the cold damp of the gallery season until the Digby Hand Match open the outdoor season in April.

Complete results can be downloaded here: 2010-ct-great-pumpkin-results (PDF, 106KB)