Ottumwa, IA – The Indian Hills Sports Shooting squad is set to open its 2021-22 campaign on Friday with a home dual meet vs. Southwestern Community College. The Warriors and Spartans will open up action at 4:00 PM at the Izaak Walton League of Ottumwa.
Head coach Jake Stalzer will carry 23 student-athletes on the roster this year with five returners and 18 newcomers. Two of those returners, Josh Meyer (Bettendord, IA/Bettendorf) and Brody Adam (Eldon, IA/Cardinal) were primary contributors throughout the 2020-21 season. "Both Josh and Brody are excellent shooters and are capable of putting up 95+/100 each time they go out on the field," Stalzer noted. "We will look to them for leadership of our young team this year."
Stalzer, who has guided the Warrior program since its inception in 2016, is high on his incoming freshman class for the upcoming year. "We have a great incoming class, our best by far to date in the past four years I truly believe." Stalzer pointed out three local products from Ottumwa High School who will look to contribute this year. Jaxton Elliott (Bloomfield, IA/Ottumwa), Zach Ross (Ottumwa, IA/Ottumwa), and Cole Van Nest (Ottumwa, IA/Ottumwa) guided the Bulldogs to a fourth-place overall finish at the high school state tournament of 162 teams last season. "We are definitely looking forward to their collegiate careers and hope they are able to build off the success they had in high school."
Other notable incoming freshmen include Nathan Dunsbegen (Knoxville, IA/Pella), Kolton Kopsieker (Ollie, IA/Pekin) and Dylan Mohr (Moulton, IA/Scotland County). "These three have looked great at practice so far this year and we're definitely looking forward to seeing if they can transition that into our competitions which I have confidence in that they'll be able to do so."
The Warriors open up the fall season with three consecutive home dual meets, including contests with Southeastern Community College on Sept. 24 and Northeast Iowa Community College on Sept. 25. The Warriors will also travel to Iowa Western Community College and Hawkeye Community College. The premiere event in the fall will come at The Cardinal Center in Marengo, OH for the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) Collegiate Nationals Oct. 7-10.
The Iowa SCTP Collegiate Skeet & Sport Shooting Clay Championships will be held April 9-10 followed by the Iowa SCTP Collegiate Trap Championships on April. 16.
"This year it looks like the team to beat in the East Division is Hawkeye," Stalzer noted. "I believe we are capable of keeping up with them this year as long as we are consistent. We have plenty of time to prepare and fine tune our skills before we meet with Hawkeye."
Friday's season-opener with Southwestern will have live coverage via the GoHillsTV Facebook Page.