WPIAL titles are the target for rifle teams

A couple of rifle squads have made a bang during the regular season and could shake things up come the WPIAL team championships.

Butler and Waynesburg have been on the outside looking in in recent seasons. Both are looking to break through.

Butler won district titles in 1988 and 1993. In the 25 years since the Golden Tornado’s previous title, the competition has been dominated by five programs. Aside from Avella’s championship in 2008, Trinity (11 titles), Woodland Hills (five), Mt. Lebanon (three), Hempfield (three) and Bethel Park (three) all have won multiple titles.

This could be the season that bucks the trend. Butler has finished in the top three in recent seasons and is undefeated at 10-0 through Monday.

“We’ve been close the last couple years, we just couldn’t win it,” said Butler coach Eric Beveridge, who is in his 17th season. “We’re hoping to change that this year.”

The Golden Tornado’s top shooters are juniors Andrew Arbanas and Alec Stamm. Neither has dropped a point this season. Both were on last season’s team that finished third in the district. However, Butler did not bring back a lot from that team, making this year’s run a pleasant surprise.

“This year, we have a really young team,” said Beveridge. “I didn’t expect to actually perform quite this well. Once we started the season, they just came along really well and have been working their tails off.”

Waynesburg has plenty of experience in its four seniors. The Raiders are unbeaten in section competition and have been dominant as of late. The Raiders made the WPIAL playoffs each of the past four seasons and advanced to the PIAA playoffs once during that span. For a program less than a decade old, winning the district title would be huge.

“It would be a great accomplishment,” said Waynesburg coach Rich Rush. “It would bring a lot more recognition to the team for the school and the surrounding area. It would get a few of the kids that are on the fence to come out.”

The team championship takes place Tuesday at Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsman’s Club. Each team will send out 10 shooters, with the top eight performers accumulating the score. In the event of a tie, the bottom one or two shooters, depending on the amount of tie-breaks needed, will be counted.

While their teams are in the mix for a title, both Beveridge and Rush said that it would not be a shocker if one of those previous winners did it

again this time.

“There’s a reason those are the perennial powers,” Rush said. “Those are still top teams.”

Individual shooters

Could Waynesburg sweep the team and individual titles? If any squad were to do that, the odds are in the Raiders’ favor with defending champion Selena Phillips, who is the only shooter in Waynesburg’s history to win the individual title. Last season, she was the only shooter to notch a perfect score in the competition. This year, she has been just as sharp.

“I don’t know if she can do better than she did last year with that perfect score, but she’s right where she was last year,” said Waynesburg coach Rich Rush. “She’s in the high X count, consistent 100s. She puts a lot of time and effort into it.”

Phillips is the only returning medal winner in the competition.

The Raiders also have senior Hunter Wasson, who finished third in the state last year.

Also in the hunt should be McGuffey’s Kyle Dietrich, who qualified for states the past two years and is back for his senior year, and Washington’s Oliver Kilgore, a junior who registered one of the top scores in last year’s final with a 200-18x.

The individual championship takes place Thursday at DormontMt. Lebanon Sportsman’s Club.