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Buntain wins second national shooting championship
By Scott Nuzum
Herald-Tribune
FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Stephen Buntain won his second national championship in as many years when he came out on top in air rifle competition at Grand Island, Neb., June 23-26.
Buntain won the national championship in small bore rifle last year. The year before that, he earned the right to go to the national finals in another discipline, but declined to take the trip. This year, he competed in air rifle.
Buntain also helped a four-person team from Kansas place second in team competition behind the team from Nebraska.
The recent graduate of Fort Scott High School won state-level competition to earn the right to go to nationals. He advanced in a different event from last year because rules state that qualifiers in one discipline can not return again in that same one.
"At the state match, I felt very confident," Buntain said. "I knew I wanted to win that because I felt I had a good chance at nationals if I could win state. But I was unsure about the silhouettes in the standing match because I'd never done that before. And these other competitors, they're all great. Each state sent their best."
At nationals, Buntain took first place in the three-position event and assumed the overall lead, which he never relinquished.
"That's prone, kneeling and standing," Buntain said in describing the event.
Though Buntain was aware that the level of competition was high, when he saw he was in the lead, he gained confidence in his chances to come out on top overall.
"I was looking at the results from past years," Buntain said, "and I was shooting right along with those. But this could have been one of those years where the competition was just outstanding. But after the first day of competition, I felt pretty confident."
The second day, Buntain had to shoot at four standing targets. He placed fifth in that event. On day three, he shot at silhouette targets and placed second.
"Satisfied," is how Buntain said he felt when things were said and done. "Before the competition began, I felt like I was being looked to do well because after nationals last year, the expectations for me from other people and myself were greater.
"After the final award ceremony, I'd achieved what I wanted to. Last year, I didn't place first in any of the individual events, so that was one of my goals this year."
Buntain put in hours of practice in order to compete at this level. The only thing that got in the way of his training was the fact that he's also a good tennis player. When he qualified for this year's Kansas Class 4A State Tournament, he lost some training time with his rifle.
"I practiced just about every day," Buntain said. "I wish I could have practiced more, but with my extended tennis season, I didn't have as much time as I would have liked. But I suppose I put in an hour to an hour-and-a-half every night."
Buntain's future in shooting competitions is somewhat limited as not may colleges offer the sport, although the NCAA does sanction competition. He may have to wait until after college to resume competing.
"I'm going to Kansas State but they don't have a rifle team," Buntain said. "And as far as I know, they don't have a rifle club. They have one for shotguns, but that's not what I'm interested in. But there is the (National Rifle Association); I could get into that."
"I think there's a place near Manhattan that has a decent range. But I don't know where I'd store the guns. I might have to wait until after college to do the NRA."
The other members of the Kansas team that took second place were Jason Eslick of Andover, Shanee Gideon of Paxico and Katie Taylor of Valley Center.
"They all did great," Buntain said. "We placed second in every event and were second as a team. It was a good year for Kansas."
Stephen and his father, Gary, also wished to thank several people and organizations who helped. Phil Pavey provided a scuba tank to use to refill the cylinders for the air rifle. The Kansas chapter of Quail Unlimited made donations that allowed the competitors to get more reliable air rifles.