Fergus Falls Clay Busters compete at state clay target tournament

Fergus Falls sent both a team and Mylie Piekarski as an individual to the MSHSL state clay target tournament at the Minneapolis Gun Club in Prior Lake, putting the Otter Tail County program on Minnesota’s biggest scholastic shooting stage. The Fergus Falls Daily Journal said the Clay Busters competed as a team on June 29, with Piekarski also advancing individually.

The state meet drew 40 qualifying teams and 129 individual shooters statewide, including 103 in the Open Division and 26 in the Girls Division. Competition was scheduled for June 26, began at 9 a.m. and was expected to wrap up around 4 p.m. At state, every athlete shot 100 targets and competed in both team and individual events, a format that makes one standout round matter without erasing the team total.

Fergus Falls earned its place by finishing among the strongest teams in Section 5 with a score of 477. Proctor and Westbrook-Walnut Grove each followed at 476, leaving a tight qualifying race that showed how little separated the top section programs. For a 1A school listed by the MSHSL with the Otters nickname, maroon and gold colors and enrollment of 628, making the trip to Prior Lake showed the reach of a small-school program that can still produce state-level results.

The tournament also carried unusual scale. The Minnesota State High School Clay Target League says the event is the nation’s only clay target tournament recognized by a state high school athletic association, and its championship is the largest shooting event in the world, with nearly 7,000 student athletes and more than 20,000 spectators. The league puts safety first, then fun and marksmanship, which fits a sport where discipline and consistency decide who advances.

The state tournament began in 2014 and was canceled only once, in 2020, giving Fergus Falls a place in a competition that now has an established history. The 2026 field also featured returning names from around Minnesota, including Lakeville South senior Mitchell Kelvie in the Open Division and Benson senior Ava Klassen in the Girls Division, underscoring the level of competition the Clay Busters joined when they stepped onto the line.