You know what‘s better than winning six national championships? That’s right, winning seven. The St. Louis U. High varsity rifle team would agree as they made it to Port Clinton, Ohio from July 9 to 11 and shot at the CMP Precision National Championship.

Preparation for the National Championship began with plenty of time for the seniors to shake off any rust. They were accompanied by a rotation of SLUH coaches, a number of fellow SLUH shooters, and sophomore Jack Klein, who was only the second-ever freshmen to qualify for Sporter Nationals in June. 

“It was more one-on-one as we’re working. For example, one of our shooters, Colin Dickinson, was injured. He had partially torn his ACL a few months earlier, so we very much limited his practicing for kneeling and standing during the lead-up,” said SLUH Rifle head coach Will Bresnahan. 

Even for the shooters who were not injured, the coaches still had to take into account what they could improve on and the stresses of being in such a big match for the last time. There was also a mix of emotions for the team as they headed up north to Ohio.

“I had all the confidence in the world that we could do something there. Coach Will had talked about how we were real contenders for first place this year. I knew that all I had to do was my best,” said co-captain Nathaniel Shaw.

The event, which spanned three days, has a very unique structure. On the first day, all the shooters arrive at the range, which sits inside the confines of Camp Perry. Once inside the building they have to get all their gear and go to an equipment check where every last bit of their gear is checked for weights, thickness, and almost every other minuscule detail you could think of. 

That equipment check is then followed by a one-hour practice period. Over this period, shooters go over to the exact firing point they will shoot at for the rest of the event, and practice whatever they should practice. 

On the second, and the first day of shooting, all the shooters go back to their designated points and shoot a 3x20 match, or 20 shots in each three positions. After that they go into the third and final day, which is also the second day of shooting. This final day consists of yet another 3x20, and the agonizing wait to find out how you did.

Going into the first practice day, the shooters from SLUH were feeling the pressure. They knew just how experienced they were, and they knew how good they could shoot, but that didn’t stop worrying and obsessing over small details even as the coach tried to help them through it.

It was on the first day of matches where they were able to excel. Shaw shot an impressive 585-38x. Dickinson also shot extremely well, posting a 582-37x. The other two shooters were Clayton Garozzo and Griffin Grabowski, who shot a 580-39x and a 572-28x respectively, helping propel SLUH to first place when all the dust had settled.

Going into the second day of shooting, the pressure was mounting. Being in the top place already had put pressure on them, but then combined with the fact that this was their very last team match, and the last shot they would have at nationals simply magnified the pressure.

“Day two was tough. Day two is always the toughest day especially when you’re in that one spot or in that two spot because after day one the field kind of widens. You can see the teams who can’t catch you and you see the teams that can,” said Bresnahan.

Between that first and second day of shooting, shooters can sometimes hurt themselves and their scores inadvertently. No matter how much the rifle coaches tell their shooters not to check their scores, it is bound to happen eventually. That glance and thought of seeing the leaderboard builds the pressure, making every next shot more and more important, which can seriously throw off even the best shooters.

“A couple of them were coming to me during the middle of the match and talking about the nerves and having trouble settling down, at that point we just talked to them and made it as simple as possible,” said Bresnahan.

SLUH had finished third in 2024, and runner-up in 2025, so they knew that if they had any chance to win it, it would be that match. Shaw shot well, shooting a 582-34x. Dickinson also shot pretty well, laying out a 571-29x. Garozzo (583-29x) and Grabowski (573-26x) rounded out the scoring and SLUH secured the national title. 

Once the news had come back and crowned the team officially as national champions, emotions were high and all over the place.

Rifle is a sport where you can enter without having played the sport prior, as these national champions demonstrated.

“They are the perfect example of you can come here, you can do it. You don’t need experience … we can teach you, and you can learn, and you can build the experiences over four years to make you champions,” said Bresnahan.