In the Spring of 2017, the Sullivan County Shooting Team sent a team of four to the USA Shooting Junior Olympic competition held in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Jesse Stump, Dane Carpenter, Trevor Evelhair, and Mick Wertz. The competition consisted of 136 competitors. The boys did extremely well, with Mick Wertz finishing in the finals in second place, earning a Silver medal. This finish earned Mick a place on the USA Shooting Junior Olympic Team.

The team then traveled to Colorado Springs in July for the USA Shooting National Championships. The team consisted of Jesse Stump, Dane Carpenter, Trevor Evelhair, Mick Wertz, Mia Evelhair and Emily Pfleegor. The team once again had a good showing. With Mick’s combined scores from the Junior Olympics and the Nationals, he ended up competing in the finals for a chance to shoot at the Junior World Championships in Moscow, Russia. He placed 6th in the finals.

The next competition held in Colorado Springs was the Scholastic Clay Targets Program, International/National Championships. The team of Jesse Stump, Dane Carpenter and Mick Wertz earned a Silver medal for the team event, and Trevor Evelhair earned “High Gun” overall. This earned Trevor a position on the SCTP’s USA Shooting Developmental Team.

In September of 2017, Mick Wertz and Trevor Evelhair traveled to Tillar, Arkansas for Fall Selection. Mick won a Bronze medal, which earned him a position on the USA Shooting’s Open World Cup Team and a trip to compete in Guadalajara, Mexico in March of 2018.

At the World Cup in Guadalajara, Wertz finished 10th out of 58 shooters in the Men’s Open Trap competition. Mick then went on to compete in a new Olympic event, Trap Mixed Team, with one woman and one man. Mick’s teammate was Aeriel Skinner from California. Mick and Aeriel shot against 20 other teams and finished in a shoot-off with a team from Australia for 6th place to take part in the finals. After winning the shoot off, they competed in the finals against five other teams. Aeriel and Mick earned a Bronze medal in the Mixed Team Event for the USA.

Mick is now eligible to begin his run at the 2020 Olympics to be held in Tokyo, Japan. A fundraiser is being held to aid in his efforts. A chicken dinner will be held on April 21, 2018, at the Lairdsville Volunteer Fire Company Hall. The dinner will consist of half a chicken, baked beans, macaroni & cheese, coleslaw, a dinner roll and a dessert. This event is dine-in or take-out. It will be held from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. There will also be a Chinese Raffle and 50/50 drawings. For more information or to purchase advance tickets, please call 570-584-5983 or 570-546-0347.