No. 2 WVU trailed No. 1 Kentucky by five points after smallbore on Saturday, Feb. 14 at the Bill McKenzie Mobile Rifle Range in Morgantown, West Virginia. By the time air rifle was over, the Mountaineers owned the match, the Great America Rifle Conference regular season title and a 4746-4741 victory over the nation’s top-ranked team.
It was WVU’s third consecutive GARC regular season championship and 17th overall, sealed by an air rifle performance that outscored the Wildcats by 10 points, 2389 to 2379. The Mountaineers placed four shooters in the top five on the aggregate leaderboard and finished the GARC conference season a perfect 5-0. It also marked WVU’s 13th victory over a ranked opponent this season.
Kentucky did well in smallbore, posting a 2362 to WVU’s 2357. The Wildcats’ edge was powered by junior Braden Peiser, who turned in one of the most remarkable individual performances in the history of NCAA rifle. Peiser fired a 599-46X in smallbore—a new NCAA record in the discipline—built on a perfect 200 in kneeling, a 200 in prone and a 199 in standing. He followed that with a 599-56X in air rifle to finish the day at 1198-102X, tying the NCAA aggregate record.
Peiser’s historic day was not enough. WVU’s air rifle depth was simply too much for the Wildcats to overcome.
West Virginia freshman Océanne Muller led the charge on the air rifle line, tying for the top score in the discipline with a 599-57X that matched her career best. Jacob Wisman matched her at 599-50X, a career-best mark of his own, while Ashlyn Blake fired a 598-45X that ranked fourth in the field. Lauri Syrja added a 597-53X to give the Mountaineers four of the top five air rifle scores on the day.
Junior Griffin Lake was WVU’s top aggregate finisher at 1188-91X, good for second on the overall leaderboard behind Peiser. Lake’s 592-40X in smallbore was the second-best mark in the field, and his 596-51X in air rifle anchored a consistent performance across both disciplines. Wisman’s career day put him third overall at 1187-78X, followed by Jennifer Kocher in fourth at 1186-82X after going 590-32X in smallbore and 596-50X in air rifle. Muller rounded out the top five at 1184-88X.
For Kentucky, Sofia Ceccarello was the second-highest Wildcat at 1184-85X, firing a 589-36X in smallbore and 595-49X in air rifle. Martin Voss finished at 1180-76X, highlighted by a perfect 200 in prone during smallbore, while Sam Adkins posted a 1179-80X. Adkins also shot a 200 in prone.
Kentucky head coach Harry Mullins praised Peiser’s performance in remarks to UKAthletics.com, calling his smallbore effort amazing to watch. Mullins noted that facing this kind of adversity on the road would be valuable experience for the Wildcats heading into the postseason, but said his team needs to do a better job of compartmentalizing and moving forward.
Kentucky vs. WVU Scorecard
See the full results of the match at ncaarifle.org.
Both programs now shift their focus to the NCAA rifle postseason. WVU will host an NCAA Qualifier at the Bill McKenzie Mobile Rifle Range on Saturday, Feb. 21, while Kentucky returns to Barker Hall to host a qualifier with Morehead State and Georgia Southern.
