Burning River 120 AAFTA Grand Prix Match July 18-20, 2025

N.O.A News Director
Jul 29
7 min read

(Match Report by Tyler Patner) July 29, 2025

Our fifth Burning River 120 has come and gone and proved to be our biggest yet. With 51 shooters in attendance, it was sure to be a fun filled weekend of Field Target. Thankfully, the weather obliged as well, and what was looking to be a possibly wet few days, turned into a beautiful weekend. As has become my custom with these match reports, I like to say my ‘Thank You’s’ to all of those that play a part in our festivities.

First, a special thank you to all 51 shooters that spent the weekend with us. It’s great to see our friends from all over the country, and we appreciate each and every one of you that attended. We had shooters from as far away as Oklahoma in attendance, which might mark our longest distance guest in Burning River history. Second, thank you to all of our club members that contribute their time, ingenuity and physical effort to make this match happen. Whether it’s building floating target stands, making lemonade for the shooters, or helping repaint targets between each day of shooting, I truly appreciate all of your effort and continual support. None of our matches happen without you all! And last, but certainly not least, Anne and Ashley Reily. The owners of the fantastic property that the club calls home. Thank you for your continued support and generosity, and sharing your home with us for a few weekends each year. I believe the property is one of the most alluring things about the club and part of the reason shooters enjoy it so much.

Now, let’s talk about some Field Target! As shooters arrived on Friday, they were greeted by beautiful weather, sunny skies and our lush green sight in range. We checked everyone in, and around 1:30PM we chronograph all pistol competitors. We purchased the new Athlon Rangecraft chronograph and I must say, it was a great investment. No issues all weekend with it, this thing just runs. And I can only recall two shots it did not pick up over the course of the weekend. Very impressive unit. With all 19 competitors checked in and chronographed, we held a short shooters meeting and headed into the woods.

The pistol course was 10 lanes with two targets per lane, for a 40 shot match. Our average target distance was just under 24 yards and our overall troyer rating was a 31.7T. There was not much wind back in the woods, but a few lanes with enough tree cover to create some tricky lighting. Overall, I would say that this was a moderately difficult pistol course. As shooters emerged, there were a number of high scores near the top that would result in shoot-off’s on Sunday. Steve Hockenberry and Dan Putz were tied for 1st and 2nd place, both shooting 37/40. Rick Cuccio and Brian Wagner were tied for 3rd and 4th, both shooting 36’s. And just behind them was Brandon Michaud with a 35. All respectable scores, well done! We will talk about the shoot-off’s when we get to Sunday.

Saturday morning rolled around and we had another gorgeous day in store. Temps were in the high 70’s/low 80’s and humidity was not too bad. Hunter PCP, along with our bum bag sitting Piston shooters would be in the woods, while everyone else took on the field. While heavy winds weren’t called for, there were still some tricky gusts to deal with throughout the day. A few cold lines for protests were heard in the woods, but once that was sorted out, things flowed smoothly. And thankfully in the field, we only had one cold line/protest for the day. Overall things went very smoothly, and I believe everyone enjoyed the courses.

The woods course was set to a 33.04T, with 18 targets over 40 yards. 13 of those targets were at or over 45 yards. And that wasn’t the only thing that was long about the course. The walk from lane 15, back to lane 1, is quite a jaunt. You see, we have around 25 lanes that can be used back in the woods, and parsing that selection down to 15 can make the course very short, or very long, and we opted for the long route. The field course was a 32.92T, with 16 of the 30 targets over 40 yards. Of those 16, 13 were at or over 45 yards. And since only a handful of the lanes are protected, wind was most certainly a factor on those longer shots. The wind on Saturday was more tricky than anything, seemingly shifting direction with little indication at the firing line. I found that reading the mirage beyond the target was the best indicator of direction, but even that failed me on one shot. Suffice it to say, it was a very present challenge for everyone.

As scores came in, shooters were treated to fried chicken, mac-n-cheese, potatoes and a delicious broccoli salad. Across the board, things were tight at the top. From the woods, Steve Hockenberry and Doug Cunningham emerged with 55’s, tied for the top spot. With Greg Vaughan just one shot behind them. And Jeff Paddock came out leading Matt Uhler by just one shot, on a 43. From the field, Tyler Patner came away dropping just two shots, with Lucas Marusiak just behind him having missed 3. Bill Rabbitt was down 5 on the day, so again, tight near the top. In Open PCP, Brandon Michaud held a two shot lead over Rick Vaeth, shooting a 53. And in Hunter Piston, Eric Brewer and Al Duster ended the day tied on 42.

We wrapped up the day with a few raffle items that were graciously donated by Pyramyd Air. Turning our attention to Sunday, there was a threat of overnight rain in the forecast which had everyone on edge. Thankfully, the rain was mild and largely held off overnight, leading to a fairly clear outlook by mid-morning. While it was overcast for a large majority of the day on Sunday, that did drop temps a few degrees, which was welcome by all. It was a near perfect summer day for Northeast Ohio, not too hot, not overwhelmingly sunny, but it was extremely humid.

There was definitely some wind whispering through the woods early in the morning, and much like Saturday, tricky is a good word to describe it. Things ran very smoothly on both courses for the day, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. As shooters made their way back into the clubhouse after the shooting had concluded, it was clear that we would have some additional shoot-offs to determine placements in a few of the rifle divisions. So we began to lay out targets in our open field sight in range to decide the fates of those tied for top spots.

From the woods, Tyler Patner came out with a commanding lead over the rest of the WFTF PCP division, posting a 57 on the day and a 115 overall. Bill Rabbitt leapfrogged over Lucas to secure second place, making 109 shots on the weekend. Brandon Michaud added to his lead in Open PCP, taking top honors with a 105. But Rick Vaeth and Ron Guiliano were tied for 2nd, both posting 98’s, so a shoot-off would decide 2nd in Open PCP. And Eric Brewer held strong on the day, finishing with a 44, bringing his total to 86 and giving him a 6 shot lead over second place.

From the field, things proved to be as tight as they were the day before. In Hunter PCP, Doug and Steve maintained their tie, finishing on 106’s, ensuring another shoot-off. Greg Vaughan claimed 3rd place outright, just one shot behind them with a 105. In our combined piston division, Jeff Paddock finished off with a 4 shot lead over the rest of the ground dwelling springer shooters. Mark Welker managed to jump Matt Uhler, finishing second with an 85.

We began our shoot-offs with the 3rd place Hunter Pistol showdown between Brian Wagner and Rick Cuccio. Both shooters failed to take the 1”, 29(ish) yard target down on their first attempt. In round two, Rick was able to steady his nerves and figure out the wind to take the target down, while Brian was unable to find the kill zone. Rick secured 3rd place. Onto the 1st/2nd place match-up between Steve Hockenberry and Dan Putz. This one was fairly quick, with Steve finding the kill and Dan unable to match. Shoot-off number one went Steve’s way. But remember, he had another for the Hunter PCP title as well.

Next we moved on to 2nd and 3rd place in Open PCP, between Rick Vaeth and Ron Guiliano. A 1” target around 30 yards, followed by a 1.5” target near 50 was a tough test in the wind. Both shooters were able to take down the close target, but failed to take down the long one. So they went after the long one a second time, with Ron finding the kill zone and Rick unable to match. Ron took second place. Finally, Steve returned to the line with his rifle to face his travel partner Doug in a shoot-off for the Hunter PCP title. Much like his pistol shoot-off, Steve made quick work of it, dropping both targets, with Doug unable to match on the long target. Steve doubled up, Hunter PCP and Hunter Pistol champion, well done!

Shooters returned to the clubhouse for a pizza lunch, and awards followed. I need to call out Bill Rabbitt and Tim Baylor on the awards, because they always out-do themselves. I’d like to think we have some of the coolest trophies/awards around, and their efforts make them really stand out. And to the rest of our members that stuck around and helped us tear things down after the weekend, thank you guys for your help. I said it before, I will say it again, it takes a village and we have a great group that makes things run as smoothly as they do. And thanks again to those that continue to attend the match and support our club. The growth in attendance we saw this year was very encouraging, and I know we are looking forward to doing it again in 2026!

Until then, shoot safe and we will see you on the lanes.