Jul. 3—BEMIDJI — In 2025, the Bemidji High School trap shooting team finished a respectable 29th out of 40 teams in the state tournament.

A decent showing, sure. But the Jacks were hungry for a better result. They wanted to win the whole thing, and this year, they felt like they had the squad to do it.

At this year's state tournament on June 26 in Prior Lake, confidence was sky-high for the team of Kadyn Nipp, Roman Vold, Kolter Braunhausen, Clayton Johnson and Jeremy Linn.

"I was asked, 'Do you think you could win it all?' And I said, I knew we were a contender at the beginning of the season," head coach Cory Wilson said. "The scoring and the quality of the athletes was that good."

It was a sunny day with little wind — perfect shooting weather. And after the first round, the Lumberjacks were sitting in third place out of 40 teams with a score of 241. They were in the mix, but the Jacks had to go on a run in the last round to have a chance at the state title.

Then, something clicked between the five teammates. They only missed four clays in the last round, a remarkable streak that ended their day with a total of 487 out of 500 targets.

"Every time a clay came out of the house, there was no doubt in my mind that it was breaking," Nipp said. "And to see that come to life, I've never seen a squad do that, especially on that high of a stage."

Then came the waiting game.

Bemidji was one of the first teams to shoot at the state tournament. Its score of 487 sat on top, just ahead of Lakeville South's 486. Wilson knew margins would be thin, so he made sure not to have his expectations too high.

"I had a feeling we were going to be right there. If anything, we'd maybe get second," he said. "One of the schools that was ahead of us (after the first round) shot last ... (and) they were a good school, they had good scores. I just had a feeling it'd be tough."

Once the final scores came in, Bemidji's first-place position didn't budge. The Lumberjacks were officially state champions for the first time in school history.

As expected, they were ecstatic when they heard the news. Then their minds went to all the shots they could've missed.

"We replayed things in our mind, knowing that any of the chips that we had on the clays could have very well been misses," Nipp said. "That could have been the difference between us getting first or dropping behind (Lakeville South)."

In the end, it's a whole lot easier for the Jacks to second-guess themselves when they're in the winning column rather than on the losing end.

Trap shooting can sometimes be more about mentality than skill. A focused shooter can hit more targets than a skilled shooter who wavers after a missed shot.

Getting high school shooters in a proper headspace where misses don't bother them is a difficult task, as Wilson admitted to the Pioneer last year.

Entering his second year as head coach, Wilson decided to bring in an outside coach to give pointers to Bemidji's shooters on how to properly focus.

It may sound simple and cliché, but the biggest thing Wilson and the team took away was simple: just focus on one clay target at a time.

A shooter getting ahead of themselves can be natural at times, but if they ignore their competition and focus just on the clay target in front of them, it can be extremely beneficial to their score.

"It's just that target one at a time and trying to get them to understand that," Wilson said. "I think we're getting there, right? They're still getting some nerves, but overall it's fine. The nerves are natural."

Nipp, Vold and Johnson have been shooting together for three years and have competed in the state tournaments in years past. Linn had competed at the state tournament for Detroit Lakes before transferring to Bemidji.

Four out of the five shooters having state experience certainly helped their journey to the top of the standings last weekend, but they'd first have to qualify for the state tournament in Alexandria at the Minnesota Trap Shooting Championship, where every team across the state gets a chance to compete.

The championship acts as a qualifier for the Minnesota State High School League State Tournament, with the top 40 teams competing for the state title. The Jacks finished in second, only two shots behind first-place Northfield.

"Heading into state, my confidence was really high," Nipp said. "I knew the shooters we'd be taking to state can all shoot really good. It was exciting to know that we were taking a team to state that could very well at least be on the podium, if not winning it."

After the first round, the Jacks knew they had a shot at first place. They didn't buckle under pressure and found their way to the state title.

"For me, it was overwhelming and (I'm) grateful that I got a program handed to me that was already set up to succeed," Wilson said. "I just tried to take it a step further, add a few things here and there, but not change what works. If it's working, don't break it, right?"