Leo Nebbia, Dick Lukasik and Robert Vrablik all State Championship winners!

For 2020, Pine Belt Sportsman’s Club once again hosted the NJ State Championship. Much to the surprise of NJSSA Officers and for the first time in New Jersey skeet shooting history, battery powered remote controls were used in lieu of the traditional hardwired cords for our tournament. This year our State Champions won beautiful belt buckles.

The tournament started on Friday July 31st with the Doubles event, and Ben Galioto’s 97 earned him his third career Doubles Championship. Class winners were Joe Hall A1 with a 93, Tony Viel took B1, Robert Vrablik won C1 and James Luts won D1.

The weather on Saturday morning was perfect for the 12 gauge event, and Leo Nebbia shot a terrific 99 to win the 12 gauge championship. Leo’s skeet game has been solid all year. After a 20 year layoff Brian Ziegler came back and won A1 with a 97. Welcome back Brian! Dick Lukasik was in the hunt taking B1 with a 98, Robert Madosky won C1 with a 93 and Greg Khalaf won D1 with a 94. Nice shooting Greg!

On Saturday afternoon the weather remained perfect for the 28 gauge and Dick Lukasik hammered 99 targets to win his first state championship. The entire NJ Skeet fraternity couldn’t be happier, congratulations Dick! Class winners were Ben Galioto with a 98 in AA1, Leo Nebbia broke a nice 98 to take A1, Robert Vrablik broke a 96 to claim B1, Tony Veil took C1 with a 93 and Joe Madlinger broke a 93 to take D1.

The weather was hot and humid on Sunday morning, but this had no effect on Robert Vrablik and Dick Lucasik who both broke 98’s and made their way to the shoot-off field. After two stations Robert Vrablik was crowned 20 gauge champion and now has his name permanently etched in NJ skeet history! Class winners were Brian Ziegler, who took AA with a 97, Leo Nebbia won A class also with a 97, Greg Khalaf won C1 with a 91 and Joe Madlinger took D1 with an 89.

The final gun was the 410, and we literally had a wind storm come through Pine Belt for the little gun. Leo Nebbia, Ben Galioto and Jim Seiler (who also returned after a 20 year layoff) all shot 92’s and made their way to the shoot-off field. After three stations, Leo Nebbia won the 410 championship. Class winners were Ben Galioto A1, Michael Costello B1, Greg Khalaf C1 and Joe Madlinger D1.

This year, the HOA Title went to Leo Nebbia with a 386! Leo won a beautiful silver belt buckle—Leo won 3 State titles for the weekend, congratulations Leo! Dick Lukasik was one target off the pace earning him HOA Runner-Up. Class winners were Ben Galioto A1, Robert Vrablik B1, Clifford Schaffer C1 and Joe Madlinger D1.

After five years as your President, I’m going to step down and take a much needed rest. I would like to thank all of you for coming out and supporting our sport. It truly was a pleasure getting to know all of you. How about our referees, Mark Bricker, Sophia Galioto and Eric Bachmann - - you guys did a terrific job! I would like to thank our skeet administrator Kevin Dawkins for running our shoot. Finally, a special thank you to our biggest sponsor Robert Madosky, who has provided us with some very nice shooting shirts for two decades. Thank you Robert for your generosity!