March 28, 2024

Newton trap team finishes second at state meet

CEDAR FALLS — Dryden DeKoning, Tucker Wade and Lane Arrowood all placed in the top 10 of state trap competition at the Cedar Falls Gun Club during the month of June.

Those finishes helped Newton place second in the team competition as the squad hit 970 of 1,000 targets in the 16-yard trap division.

DeKoning was the overall varsity men’s division winner, hitting 199 out of 200. Wade finished sixth with 197 and Arrowood was ninth with 196. There were more than 800 shooters in the field.

“What a great state shoot the whole team had this year,” Newton trap co-coach Brent DeKoning said. “We had many personal bests, including 25s, 50s, some 75s, 99s and a 100 straight.”

The state trap meet competition took place from June 7 to June 13. The rest of the varsity team members who helped Newton place second were seniors Henry Jensen and Ethan Machin.

Newton also was second in the reserve high point team competition with 972 out of 1,000. That group included Dryden DeKoning, Wade, Arrowood, Jensen and Landon Main.

“Myself and the other coaches are so excited for the upcoming shooters and season,” Coach DeKoning said.

The Newton trap team coaches are Brent DeKoning, Teresa Arrowood, Brad Arrowood, Ed Machin and Blake DeKoning.

The varsity team members include Dryden DeKoning, Lane Arrowood, Wade, Jensen, Ethan Machin, Libby Templeman, Caden Manning and Faith Frasher. The junior varsity features Main, Hayden Winchell, Tyler Machin, Ephirum Peterson and Skye Koenen.

This also was the first year Newton participated in the intermediate competition, which includes shooters in sixth through eighth grade. Those team members are Hailey Dickerson, Cheyenne Frasher, Ben Leonard, Andrew Machin, Ella Machin, Carter Maki, Avery Meyer, Brilea Moffitt and Gavin Smead.

In the intermediate state competition, Leonard led the way with a fourth-place finish. He scored a 188.

Newton also participated in skeet and sporting clays at the state level.

The state skeet competition took place at the New Pioneer Gun Club in Waukee on June 23-27. The team of Dryden DeKoning, Lane Arrowood and Tucker Wade finished 15th with DeKoning leading the way in 39th.

“Skeet and sporting clays are something we don’t do a lot of practicing on because we don’t have the facility to do so without driving to Pella,” Coach Brent DeKoning said. “Our first squad of Lane, Dryden and Tucker still did well considering.”

The sporting clays state competition was at the Highland Hideaway Hunting near Riverside on June 18-20. The squad finished 11th there with Lane Arrowood leading the way in 18th.

In the men’s division for HOA (high overall), Dryden DeKoning placed 16th, Lane Arrowood was 26th and Tucker Wade finished 33rd. The HOA is five disciplines, including 16-yard trap, handicaps, doubles, sporting clays and skeet.

In addition to the state competitions, three seniors on the Newton trap team will be extending their careers to the collegiate level.

Dryden DeKoning and Lane Arrowood will both compete for William Penn University in Oskaloosa and Tucker Wade will take his talents to Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo.