Bradford edged Smethport 187-174 in a Thursday trap-shooting match that turned into a showcase for precision and nerves. Bradford’s top eight featured Gunnar Manning’s perfect 25 and a string of 23s from Alex Graham, Brysyn Geist, Colton Redington, Landon Blauser, Lillian Millet, and Ryder Nichols, with Derek Cullen adding a 24. Smethport’s leaders included Elizabeth Slade with a 24 alongside Holden Smith, Simon Slade, and Owen Szuba, each chipping in big efforts. The scoreboard tells the headline, but the score only hints at how tight and electric this local rivalry felt on the line.
The moment belonged to Gunnar Manning, who ran a flawless 25 that set the tone for Bradford early on. A perfect round in trap shooting is a confidence grenade, and Manning’s clean card seemed to lift the whole squad. Derek Cullen’s 24 kept pressure on the visitors and gave Bradford a cushion when a few targets went wide later in the match.
Bradford’s depth was the story more than any single superstar. Alex Graham, Brysyn Geist, Colton Redington, Landon Blauser, Lillian Millet, and Ryder Nichols each posted 23s, and that steady string of solid rounds is what ultimately separated the hosts from Smethport. When a team can count on reliable marks like that through the order, small mistakes by the other side become costly very fast.
Smethport didn’t fold; they answered with clutch shooting of their own. Elizabeth Slade led the visitors with a 24 and was followed by Holden Smith at 23, while Simon Slade and Owen Szuba each contributed 22s. Travis Carpenter and Tyler Frey chipped in 21s, and Kaden Pattakos gave Smethport another consistent card to keep the match within reach until the last targets.
Trap is a game of rhythm and recovery, and both teams showed they could do more than one thing well. Bradford’s ability to string together multiple 23s after Manning’s perfect round kept Smethport constantly chasing. Smethport responded with timely hits and never allowed the gap to balloon, making every miss feel crucial for both sides.
On a local stage, these matches mean more than the numbers. Family, friends, and community ties packed the line with a small-but-intense energy, and you could feel the rivalry in every exchange between coaches and shooters. That environment sharpens shooters or snaps them; here, most of the kids looked like they were having the kind of pressure that makes a competitor better.
Coaching decisions and line order matter in moments like these, and Bradford’s setup put shooters in positions to thrive after big rounds. When Manning finished his 25, the follow-up rounds were about protecting the lead and building consistency, and Bradford executed that plan. Smethport’s effort was keyed to staying aggressive and forcing errors, which almost flipped the script in the final stages.
Individual numbers tell a clean story, but the match had plenty of small dramas you don’t see on the score sheet. A missed bird early in a round that would have been simple, a late clutch hit to keep a streak alive, and a coach’s quiet hand on a shooter’s shoulder all threaded through the afternoon. Those little moments are why local matches like Bradford versus Smethport stick in people’s memories for seasons to come.
For Bradford, the win is a reminder that balance across the lineup beats flashes of brilliance alone, while Smethport leaves knowing they were a handful of targets away from a different result. The scoreboard reads 187-174 and lists names that earned every clay they shattered: Gunnar Manning, Derek Cullen, Alex Graham, Brysyn Geist, Colton Redington, Landon Blauser, Lillian Millet, Ryder Nichols for Bradford, and Elizabeth Slade, Holden Smith, Simon Slade, Owen Szuba, Travis Carpenter, Tyler Frey, Kaden Pattakos for Smethport. The rivalry stays alive and the next match already feels like the one that will settle the bragging rights.
