HALL OF FAME REVISITED

2020 2021 HALL OF FAME

INDUCTEES BY KARLA HARRISON

As the world becomes healthier and lives have slowly returned to “normal” it is now business as usual for some gun clubs and that includes the World Shooting and Recreational Complex and the Trapshooting Hall of Fame near Sparta, Illinois.

The celebration of the 2020 Hall of Fame inductees was put on hold due to the pandemic but its back on the calendar to be held on August 10, 2021. Willis Corbett, Mike Fisher, Robert (Bob) Malmstedt and Jennifer Rutger will officially be welcomed into the elite group of shooting greats. No additional 2021 inductees will be added.

Tickets for advance reservations are for sale at $65 each. Contact Laurie Penford at www.traphof.org All tickets must be picked up by NOON on Tuesday, August 10 at the HOF Museum. A social hour prior to the banquet will be held in the Events Center at the WSRC. Induction ceremonies will follow the meal.

WILLIS CORBETT

2020-2021 has had other challenges in addition to the COVID crisis with racial unrest and cries for diversity rising to prominence. It is fitting that incoming inductee, Willis Corbitt led the march to include fellow minority shooters into the ranks of the Amateur Trapshooting Association (ATA). He was the first of his race to receive an ATA life membership, opening up opportunities to compete at clubs that had previously been closed to him and other shooters of color.

Corbett went on to work with Winchester-Olin, the National Rifle Association and major corporations to further benefit trapshooting. As a field representative for WinchesterOlin, his friendship with John Olin was the beginning of many associations with other businessmen including Harvey Firestone (Firestone Tire) and Jimmy Plinton of Trans World Airlines (TWA) plus other celebrities and political dignitaries thus opening doors for both men and women of color. In 1968, Corbett represented Winchester Rifles on a big game African safari sponsored by TWA. Articles written about that hunt appeared in various publications (including Ebony Magazine) and put a spotlight on African-American hunters.

His association with the Missouri Department of Conservation led to developing new opportunities for youth shooters. As one of the founders (2006) and past president for the Missouri Youth Shooting Sports Association, MYSSA continues to promote youth involvement in various shooting sports.

Corbett’s connection with the Busch family eventually brought in large sponsorships for many events including the Budweiser Handicap at the Grand American. According to past ATA President, Tom Arvis, “Willis was the first link between the ATA and Budweiser.” That support to the Grand has continued from a local distributor in southern Illinois.

In 2011, Willis Corbett was the 39th member inducted into the Missouri Trapshooters Association Hall of Fame. He and his wife, Jo reside in St. Louis, Missouri.

MIKE FISHER

A young quail hunter from north Missouri got his first experience at trapshooting at a local meat shoot. But when he became acquainted with a fellow student during his university years, his introduction to trap changed his casual pastime into a passion that has taken him across the country and beyond.

Mike Fisher’s study buddy just happened to be the son of a Missouri State Handicap Champion. After some coaching and practice, Fisher began registering ATA targets in 1971.

Over the years, clubs such as the

Alamogordo Trap Club in New Mexico and the Metro Gun Club in Angleton, Texas, plus tournaments at the Missouri Trap Association, Kansas Trap Association, and the Grand have propelled Fisher into the record books. In 1987, he broke 300/300 on the same day and then bested that in 1990 by breaking 400/400 all in one day. He led the nation with a Doubles average of .9906 in 2001.

A member of the All-American Team 12 times since 1985, he has also been a Texas State Team member 12 times. He was the Missouri State Team co-captain in 1978 and a team member in 1977.

His work relocated him from Texas to Australia in 1988 but he made sure to pack his trap guns and continued his winning scores down under. Early the following year, he claimed three National titles at the Australian/New Zealand equivalent of the Grand American (only the third American to do so). Before returning to the States, Fisher combined his computer programming skills with his love of trapshooting and created the first software to be used by the Australia Clay Target Association. He was awarded the prestigious Eley Newton Tomas Award for his gift of the software program.

Today, Mike and his wife, Meryl (an Australian native) are retired and live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX area.

ROBERT MALMSTEDT

Never doubt how far hard work can take you, just ask incoming inductee Robert (Bob) Malmstedt. His career as a heavy equipment mechanic within the steel industry has both benefitted and restricted his lifelong love of shooting.

He grew up within a family who enjoyed hunting, fishing and shooting. During his high school years, the Somerset County (NJ) Junior Rifle Club planted a passion for competition that would later return. The first eight years after entering the workforce, there was no time to shoot, but he missed it. A trip to the Winchester Public Range renewed his determination to perfect his scores.

Friends encouraged him to join the ATA and from there the rest is history! He will be adding a third Hall of Fame plaque to his trophy case, alongside memberships in the Eastern States HOF and the New Jersey HOF. While Malmstedt has won many championships, he considers his most prized awards to be his two Grand American rings. He won the 2011 Clay Target Championship and claimed the 2015 High-All-Around honor.

Bob isn’t hard to pick out of a crowd. Wearing his signature “bucket hat” he is usually among his squad mates who shoot together nearly every weekend. It was at a winter league that Bob garnered the best prize of his life. He offered some coaching advice to a lady shooter named Kate. For over the past 20 years they have been life partners and squad mates.

It was fitting that Dieter Krieghoff delivered the news of Malmstedt’s upcoming HOF induction. For over the past 30 years, Malmstedt has been a dedicated K-80 shooter.

JENNIFER RUTGER

Jennifer Rutger has championship blood in her veins. She will soon add the Trapshooting Hall of Fame to her list of inductions, following inclusions in the Florida (1991) and Texas (2019) Halls of Fame. Her parents are both members of the Florida HOF, Ron in 1997 and Jeanine in 1995.

Jeanine Rutger was the first woman to reach the 27-yard line in her home state of Illinois. Jennifer followed in her mother’s footsteps when she won the Florida State Handicap (at age 16) and took her place on the long yardage line. At the time, she was the youngest female in ATA history to be on the 27-yard line. While that record has since been broken, she considers that to be one of her greatest shooting achievements.

Just three years after first registering ATA targets, she earned a spot on the All-American Sub Junior Team. In 1989, she was a 2nd team All-American Junior. To date, Rutger has achieved All-American status over 32 times.

Regardless of her state of residence (Florida, Louisiana, California, Texas), Rutger has won a U-Haul full of trophies. Since 1986, she has competed in satellite grands, zone tournaments and state shoots across the country.

One constant in all her travels and shooting has been her family. Her third child, Delaney made the trip to the Grand in Vandalia just three weeks before being born. Over the years, her oldest daughter Lacy, and son Charlie, along with their grandparents, have served as her support team. Her family is set to expand with the birth of her first grandchild in October, 2021. n