When eight young athletes from the Scholastic Shooting Sports Foundation walked into Camp Atterbury for the 2025 NRA World Shooting Championship, they weren’t just newcomers—they were unknowns entering a pressure cooker loaded with talent from around the world.
Across four days in Indiana this past October, 166 shooters moved through a gauntlet of 12 demanding stages, all using provided firearms and ammunition instead of the familiar setups they rely on in competition. The atmosphere swung between high-stakes intensity and raw personality, the kind of blend where precision meets attitude, and the SSSF athletes carved out their own presence with striking composure.
This year marked a new chapter for the SSSF contingent. Thanks to Federal Ammunition, six Top Gun athletes had their entry fees covered, a first for the program. Two more athletes joined independently, rounding out a group built on results from the SSSF Top Gun Challenge—the gauntlet combining SCTP shotgun disciplines with SASP pistol and rifle speed events. For most, this championship was uncharted territory. It didn’t matter. They showed up sharp.
Leading the charge was Wisconsin’s Connor Knapp, an SASP athlete competing for the University of Arizona and a pro-level shooter backed by SSSF Blue Diamond Sponsor Ruger, which also supports SASP as a Founding Partner. In a stacked field, Knapp landed in 15th place overall, the highest finish among the SSSF athletes and a statement performance for a first-timer.
The breakout story, though, came from Wisconsin’s Sydnee Young of the Muskego Warriors. The only woman representing SSSF didn’t flinch in an arena dominated by veteran pros. Young finished as the 4th overall woman and seized the top spot as Woman Amateur by nearly 100 points. She outshot every woman in Sporting Clays and FITASC—including the pros—and topped amateur women in NRA America’s Rifle Challenge Level One, IDPA and Cowboy Action. Her consistency was undeniable, finishing top five among amateur women in all 12 stages.
Florida’s Jesse Grant, representing the Central Florida Rifle and Pistol SASP team, arrived as the youngest of the squad, turning 16 just in time for the competition. Grant delivered a stunning 5th-place amateur finish with wins in the NRA ARC Two-Gun and USPSA stages, plus a 3rd-place run in IDPA and 5th in Cowboy Action.
Missouri contributed a powerful one-two punch. Jackson Schmidt—fresh off winning the SSSF Top Gun title—placed 9th among amateurs. Shooting for the Ballisticrats SASP and the Saint Louis Interceptors SCTP teams, Schmidt topped the amateur field in Cowboy Action, took 2nd in USPSA and claimed 4th in FITASC. His teammate James McElroy wasn’t far behind, landing 15th among amateurs and dominating the IDPA stage with a first-place finish.
Tennessee’s Tanner Gibson, representing the William Blount Shooting Team and the 2024 SSSF Top Gun winner and 2025 runner-up, added his own steady mark with a 27th-place amateur finish and a 2nd-place amateur performance on the IDPA stage.
Their collective performance sparked praise from across the event.
As SSSF President and Executive Director Rick Leach put it, “Looking at just the junior amateur athletes, our SSSF athletes finished first through 6th. Although our athletes did well in the competition, as a youth development program, we are even more excited about how they represented SSSF and our programs. I received calls from several people involved in the event, including adult pro competitors. They wanted to tell me what great young adults our athletes were. They said they were a joy to talk and compete with and that the future of shooting sports is in good hands if our athletes are the example of future competitors.”
The momentum won’t slow anytime soon. SSSF has already confirmed with Federal Ammunition that Top Gun Challenge winners will again receive support for the 2026 NRA World Shooting Championship, set for September 29 to October 3 at Camp Atterbury. The next wave is already loading in.
Learn more about SSSF and the NRA World Shooting Championship.
