Rising Stars Shine at Midwest

Tischauser, O’Glee, Kalishek Record First Major 3-Gun Wins

Stag Arms' Jesse Tischauser picked up his first major 3-gun win at the Midwest 3-Gun Championship.

By Chad Adams

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Three competitors picked up their first ever major 3-gun division wins here recently, while yet another up-and-comer continued his fast rise. Meanwhile, in Tactical Optics, U.S. AMU’s Daniel Horner continued his dominance.

Stag Arms’ Jesse Tischauser, Kyle O’Glee and Nick Kalishek each picked up their first major 3-gun win, while Kuan Watson picked up his second Heavy Metal win of 2012. For Horner, it was business as usual for the most dominate shooter in the game, who picked up another division win fresh off his 3GN Shoot-Off victory in Texas in April.

At a match famous in recent years for a deluge of torrential rain creating muddy conditions, this year’s Midwest 3-Gun featured perfect weather and extremely competitive races. Technical rifle shooting, small pistol steel and unique pistol-versus-shotgun steel target arrays, with square steel requiring pistol engagement, round steel requiring shotgun, made for an extremely challenging course of fire. Shotgun targets were required to be shot first, and a hit on pistol steel counted as a penalty for the shooter. The result was choked up shotguns, a little more aiming, and no doubt a few shooters running on the edge in an attempt to gain some valuable time.

“This was without a doubt the best Midwest 3-Gun Championships so far,” said Ken Flood, match director. “The course of fire was well balanced yet challenging. The weather was great, the competition tough, and everyone had a great time.”

Midwest 3-Gun was also part of 3-Gun Nation’s Divisional Points Series, with series points available for Divisional, Semi-Pro, Amateur, Lady and Junior races. Each division series winner will earn a check for $5,000 at the end of the season, courtesy of Hornady.

In Heavy Metal Optics, Tischauser edged out defending 3GN Heavy Metal Optics division champion Barry Dueck 760.89 to 751.62, picking up an all-important match win for the 2012 campaign.

SureFire's Barry Dueck, the defending 3GN Heavy Metal Optics Champion, finished 2nd at Midwest in HMO.

“I figured I'd give HMO a try to see if I would enjoy it,” Tischauser said. “Since Barry wasn't on the squad roster leading up to the match I figured I might mess around and steal 100 Divisional Series points while I was at it. Then I saw Barry at the match, which meant I was in for a long weekend. I wound up beating Barry by less than 10 points, which is basically a one-shot differential. So I'm going to have to cowboy up if I want to take Barry's spot as the Division Champion.”

In 2011, Tischauser had a breakout season, including a win at the 2011 Nordic Components Tactical Shotgun Championship, along with several top 10 finishes at major 3-gun events. Now in his second season with Stag Arms, the ever-confident Tischauser already expects to compete at the top.

“I only go to Missouri for two things, drinking beer and kicking ###,” Tischauser said. “We ran out of beer.”

Confidence aside, Tischauser is still one of the newer, up-and-coming 3-gun shooters, part of this new crop of 3-gun shooters quickly challenging the veterans of the sport.

“I'm a newbie compared to most of the guys near the top of the scoreboard,” Tischauser said. “Heck, the 2010 Midwest match was only the second major match I had ever shot. It feels pretty #### good to win the Division the first time I try it. I am going to work my ### off this year to make sure it happens more often.”

To win Midwest, Tischauser, who excels at shooting fast, was forced to slow down, with the small pistol steel and technical rifle shots requiring more precision than some other Outlaw 3-gun matches.

“The Midwest 3-Gun typically gets some rain, so they shoot a lot of small pistol steel and mid-range rifle steel rather than a lot of close range paper,” Tischauser said.  “In doing that the match puts more emphasis on accuracy over speed. My game is all about speed! I try to run fast and shoot even faster. I have been working hard on slowing down, seeing what I need to see, and making some precision shots when I need to. Winning this challenging match tells me my visual patience and match pace is getting closer to where it needs to be.”

In Open, Xrail’s Nick Kalishek (806.60) posted an impressive win over a trio of 3GN Pro Series veterans, outlasting Tony Holmes (802.90). Jerry Miculek (789.63) and James Darst (737.68).

“Nick Kalishek is a talented shooter who finally earned a win that he deserved to get a long time ago,” said Xrail’s Mark Roth. “It’s a tremendous testament to his ability to beat Jerry and Tony, who are undoubtedly two of the best in the business.”

In Tactical Iron, Kyle O’Glee (807.63) scored his first major victory over two 3GN Pro Series shooters in rising star Mike Chambers (782.70) and James Casanova (737.12).

“You know, it does feel good to win a major match, but I never go into a match anymore thinking of winning versus losing,” O’Glee said. “Any time I’ve ever tried to ‘win,’ I didn’t. I’m there to shoot now, doing that is winning for me. Heck, everyone started telling me ‘Good job’ at the team shoot-Off, and I was wondering why, then Mike Chambers told me I won Irons. I felt like the practice is finally paying off. I smiled, and was happy.”

For O’Glee, squadding and shooting with the best 3-gunners in the game is part of the allure of the sport—a common theme throughout one of the few sports where those vying to become the best can shoot alongside the biggest names in the game.

“Being around the likes of James Casanova, Kurt Miller, Jerry Miculek, Pat Kelley, and so many others like them is a win in itself for me,” O’Glee said. “Their attitude is just the best. I have very high regards for those guys who have consistently done well, ‘cause I know what time and effort they have put into this.”

O’Glee’s win was one three years in the making, beginning with his first major, progressing through increased practice and more matches, and finally the ultimate payoff in Missouri.

“I’ve been 3-gunning since Larue 2009, and really started practicing ‘for real’ in December 2010,” O’Glee said. “I built a range at my home and went to work! I was on Kurt Miller’s heels at Larue 2011 and DQ’d due to a slug on a popper … ouch. I won the High Plains Shooting Challenge Unmagnified Rimfire division 2011; pulled a 2^nd place finish in Tac Irons at Texas Multi-Gun 2012. I’ve always shot Irons division, I just love it!”

U.S. AMU's Daniel Horner continued his Midwest 3-Gun dominance with his sixth consecutive division win.

Finally, in Tactical Optics, U.S. AMU’s Daniel Horner won his sixth consecutive Midwest 3-Gun Championship in dominating fashion, winning five of nine stages en route to a 813.96 to 760.26 victory over second place Eric Miller.

FNH USA’s Dianna Liedorff, competing in Open, took High Lady honors.

For complete match results, go to http://midwest3gun.com/files/M3G_Champs_2012_Finals.xls.

Posted on 6/15/2012