The 2005 South Carolina State Championship

The South Carolina State Championship was held 9 April in Columbia, SC and hosted by the Point Blank Pistol Club. Linda Chico was the statistician and Herb Jensen was the match director. These 2 always are a great combination when it comes to any match! The match totaled out at 175 competitors with some of the best in each division and a total of 12 Grand Masters!

Myself, Travis and Steve Collins decided to take the big Army truck on this trip. It was only about 350 miles for us but it felt like ALL DAY! It was horrible weather on the way up Friday which didn't help us in the least. This was also our first time at this location and it sure did show. We were lost coming and going. I didn't think we were ever going to get the range and once we got there I didn't think we were ever going to make it home!

We made it out to the range rather late in the evening on Friday and were only able to look at about 3 or 4 stages. They decided to lock up the gates at about 5:00 or 6:00 to get ready for registration at the hotel. I remember there was one stage in particular I wanted to look at and hoped I would have time to see it in the morning. The match was a total of 8 stages which doesn't sound like much but they were pretty nice. The difficulty level on the stages was pretty high as well.

On Saturday morning we got to the range early to try and see the remaining stages. We were able to see what we needed to see before the match and began getting our gear ready. When we arrived at our first stage, the squad formed and we got things underway. Chris Tilley and I were gunning in out for the Open title for most of the match. It remained close for the first few stages. After about the first 4 stages or so I had a 30 point lead. I was rather pleased with this lead as I thought my shooting to this point wasn't some of my best. Well, this is a competition and anything can happen! I made a huge mistake that I thought wasn't even possible for me to make anymore. There was a stage where you can see multiple targets from various ports, some of which you have already shot from previous ports. Well. Yep, you guessed it. I shot some targets twice and others not at all! Not only that, I literally stopped in the middle of the stage as I didn't know what to do next. I now know what people mean when they say, "the buzzer went off and I lost my game plan". This was the stage that I really wanted to look at the night before and didn't have time. There is no excuse for my mistake though. I had ample opportunity to get my game plan together and I just screwed up. It is a mistake that cost me this state match and I promise I will not make it again! I would much rather have learned from it here than at the Nationals or World Shoot

Travis Tomasie shot in my squad and didn't really know what the other top Limited GM's were doing. I kept telling him he was shooting well for such a difficult match. One stage in particular sticks in my mind. It was nothing but partials and a couple of fast swingers! TT walked away from the stage nearly perfect with irons and I come up with a dot and have a miss! How does that work?!?! He is getting better and better each match and I look forward to seeing him take the Limited and the Lim-10 National titles this year in Barry, IL.






Results Open:

1. Chris Tilley 100%
2. Max Michel 97.30
3. Brad Balsley 90.26

Results Limited:
1. Travis Tomasie 100%
2. Eddie Gammons 91.76
3. Mike Seeklander 89.81

We had a great time during the match. It was not very much fun for me, as I had the brain screw up but I learned from it and will always have that experience with me for the rest of my career. I always say, no matter how much you watch other people screw up, you don't learn from it until it bites YOU in the A$$. Linda and Herb did an amazing job and the match staff was great as well. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication!

Until next time,
Max Michel, Jr.