Deal

PETROLIA — Brandon Deal beat him, then he joined him.

Deal, 24, a Karns City High and Slippery Rock University graduate, got to know Warren resident Taylor Hansen through trapshooting competition.

"I've always competed individually and he (Hansen) has a good shot," Deal said. "Still, I was able to beat him most of the time."

Hansen remembered that. His father, Alan Hansen, is coach of a Warren trapshooting team that competes in the Amateur Trapshooting Association's AIM program. AIM stands for academics, integrity and marksmanship.

When the elder Hansen needed a shooter to round out his team, his son suggested Deal.

"I got a call from their coach, who I had never met, asking me to come shoot for them," said Deal, a Petrolia resident. "I didn't know anything about team trapshooting, but it looked like it'd be fun, so I jumped on it."

Deal was one of five shooters comprising the Warren team — joining Warren residents Hansen, Colby Case, T.J. Gustafson and Colton Black — that went on to win the AIM state championship held in Elysburg in June.

Deal, who graduated from SRU with a creative writing degree in May, was the high scorer among collegiate shooters with a tally of 199 out of 200.

Warren finished second in the national team competition at Sparta, Ill. Deal won the national title in the college division, again hitting 199 of 200.

He was 50 for 50 in a shootoff for the title.

"That will probably be the last time I'll ever shoot with those guys," Deal said. "They're all good guys and I told them I'd be willing to help them out any way I can if they need me.

"Since I graduated from college this year, I'm ineligible for the collegiate division next year."

Deal started trapshooting at age 9. He competes at the North Butler Hunting and Fishing Club, and was selected for the Junior All-American Trapshooting team in 2004.

"I got a chance to try out for the Olympics back then," he said.

"I'll keep doing this as long as I can," he added. "I've seen a guy at competitions who is 90 years old and still doing it. If you can hold the gun up, you can still shoot."

Deal competes in the Butler County league during the summer.

"Most shooters I've come across are wonderful people. That's what makes this so much fun," he said.