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Everett High School rifle coach Ethan Cessna says it's too hard to compare the sport he coaches to other scholastic endeavors when it comes to competition.
"There is no playbook. There is no game-plan," said Cessna, who is in his first year at the helm of a a program that is only eight years old itself. "Other high school sports … it's physical. This sport is so mental."
And this year's version of the Warrior rifle team has that approach down pat as it has gone 12-0 on its way to another PIAA State Championship Small Boor Tournament, this one in DuBois today where Cessna's team will try to defend its title.
"I was in the middle of practice (Thursday), simulating what we want to do (today)," Cessna said. "We beat our scores from last year by about 15 points by dooing that. I am confident on what we can do and so are they."
Everett is hoping to finish off a season in which it has broken a school record four different times. Led by the likes of juniors Luke Brambley and Camden Donahoe, along with junior Laurel Kuhne, senior Allison Klavuhn and sophomore alternate Stephen Cessna, the Warriors had averaged a team score of 585.6 in its first seven wins of the campaign.
"Our kids have been under this pressure before. I think that would be an advantage," said Cessna, whose team will compete at the DuBois Rifle & Pistol Club.
The event started Thursday and winds up today. Last year, Everett competed on a Saturday and knew when it was on its way home from Meyersdale that it had won. Not so this year.
"We will shoot at 11 a.m., go in and get our score, then we will have to wait for other teams to compete," said Cessna, who won't find out until Sunday. "Last year we knew right there, right then and we got to take the trophy home."
Though Cessna stressed the team aspect, his top scorers, Brambley and Donahoe, have finished Nos. 1-2 all season long.
"I worked with them before they were in high school. The dynamics between them is great," Cessna said. "They feed off each other competitively."
The tournament is open to 15 teams. Individual championships will also be held as well in both small boor and the air portion of the program. Brambley, Donahoe, Kuhne and Klavuhn will shoot with Stephen Cessna as the alternate. Stephen Cessna will also compete solo in the air program.