By By CHRIST PROKOS
Staff Writer
Larry Corbett knew he had some work to do Sunday if he wanted to win the North Carolina Sporting Clays State Championship at Hunter’s Pointe in Washington.
Despite hitting 91 of 100 targets Saturday, Corbett found himself in third place behind Grant Rosser (95) and Mike Bateman (94) heading into Sunday’s final round of the main event.
Corbett, of Nashville in Nash County, prevailed by hitting 93 of 100 “birds” Sunday to take the top prize in the men’s in-state class with a 184 score. Washington’s Bateman came in second with a 180 score.
“I thought I shot fairly poorly on Saturday, so I had to make up for it Sunday,” Corbett said. “I like the larger shoots. With a one-day shoot or a 50-bird shoot, you get one shot and that’s it.”
Wayne Davis of Coatesville, Penn., won the overall title with a 187 score, edging Joe Cantey of Camden, S.C., who had a 186.
Corbett began the weekend by taking the top master-class score in a 100-bird preliminary event Friday with a 95. He also was able to edge Rosser and Scott Jones in the five-stand shoot over the weekend. All three hit 48 of 50 clays, forcing a sudden-death shootoff. Corbett hit his first three targets in the shootoff to secure the win.
Thirteen-year-old Braxton Oliver of Castalia followed in his grandfather’s footsteps by winning the sub-junior class for shooters 15 and under with a two-day total of 139 and the Class E title in the five-stand event with a 37.
“He was very proud of what he did,” Corbett said in reference to his grandson. “He said it was probably the best thing he ever accomplished.”
Joyce Medlen of Lakeview was able to capture the women’s in-state crown by shooting a 103 in the main event. She also was the top scorer in Class B of the 100-bird FITASC competition with an 80.
Howard Whitehurst of Williamston won the Class AA five-stand event with a 45.