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Who's the best shot in the Lehigh Valley? This high school sharpshooter stakes a claim

Griffin Lake at Lake at Ontelaunee
Jay Bradley
/
LehighValleyNews.com
Griffin Lake at Lake at Ontelaunee Rod & Gun Club

EMMAUS, Pa. — For Griffin Lake, two years at the top of competitive rifle for Emmaus High School was just another day at the office.

Griffin, 17, an Emmaus High senior, competed at the top of the national level for junior athletes and twice won the state high school rifle championships for his high school.

Most recently, he won a bronze medal at the world championships in Cairo.

Now, Griffin plans to continue his push to the collegiate level—and possibly beyond.

Griffin got his first taste in the sport from hunting with his father, then started doing rifle competitively about six years ago, shooting and training at Ontelaunee Rod & Gun Club in New Tripoli for its junior rifle program.

He said he since has seen an explosive growth in the competitive rifle scene far beyond the Lehigh Valley.

In 2021 and 2022, Griffin took home the individual rifle state championship for Emmaus High School, with the Hornets winning the PIAA state team rifle championship in 2022, as well.

Despite his success with the school, Griffin said his real focus is the even bigger events.

This year, Griffin took home wins in 3-position smallbore at the Junior Olympic National Championships and at the Civilian Marksmanship Program regional, and later national championships.

After taking gold for the USA shooting National Junior Olympic Rifle Championships in Michigan, Griffin was selected to represent the United States in the International Shooting Sport Federation's world finals in Cairo.

"In the qualification match, I thought I wasn't doing good until I came off," Griffin said. "After the 13th shot in standing, the wind changed really bad, so I had to come off the line to wait for the wind to go back to the condition I had sighted it for.

"In that time I think I was in 10th, but I was off the line because of how bad the wind was. I saw my name slowly start going back up toward the top, which definitely made me a little bit nervous going back up and shooting.

"But once the wind changed, I went back up there and I shot this final seven shots I had to shoot, and I came off and I saw I was in second which surprised me. There was only two points above eighth place, which is the cut off."

By the close of the event in mid-October, Griffin walked away with the junior 3-position smallbore bronze medal after a tight Top 8 with competitors from China, Serbia and other parts of the world.

But Griffin said he still knows he could have done better—something emblematic of a sport where your real competition is more about improving your own score than outplaying an opponent.

"I got congratulated, but, I mean, I really don't care. It's just another competition for me out there having fun with friends that I've made," Griffin said.

"The main thing from that competition I can take away from it is that I've now competed at international events. So like with the national stuff, it makes it a lot easier just to focus and not have the pressure."

Griffin also placed 11th in the junior prone (laying down) event.

Griffin recently signed to study and compete at West Virginia University. Next year, he will join the Mountaineers as a Division I athlete for the school's rifle team, and plans to continue improving to reach the highest level of competition he can.

"The end goal is the Olympics," he said. "So everything that I'm doing now is to prepare me to be able to compete."

A supportive team at home and in Cairo

Of course, those close to him cheered him on back home.

"We woke up at 3 a.m. on a Saturday morning to watch his finals match live because it was six hours difference between here and Cairo," Griffin's father, Bill, said. "It was it was just surreal, but he's done great. It was still hard to believe as a parent that we were watching our son shoot finals in the world championships."

Griffin's fellow former Ontelaunee competitor, Cecelia Ossi, traveled with him to the world championships, and placed 22nd in the junior women's 3-position smallbore event there.

Ossi grew up in Hunterdon County, NJ, and now shoots for Nebraska University. She only started rifle during high school and said the Ontenaunee team was instrumental in getting her to where she is as an athlete.

"Without them, I could not have made that quick turnaround and gotten, you know, offers from the schools that I did in that short period of time," Ossi said. "They're just amazing people and they really gave their all to helping me pursue that dream of becoming a collegiate shooter. Even to this day, I go back there and I seek help from them all the time."

Lake practicing standing standing smallbore at Ontelaunee
Jay Bradley
/
LehighValleyNews.com
Lake practicing standing standing smallbore at Ontelaunee

She said it was a big help to be able to watch the high-level shooters in both the open and junior groups, and she also appreciated being able to see the different culture, saying it made her more appreciative of some things at home in the United States.

Griffin had never been out of the country prior to that trip and got to see some sights such as the Pyramids, in addition to traveling for competition.

Ossi and Griffin crossed paths occasionally throughout the week between competition and other activities in Egypt.

"It was nice to just know that I knew somebody because I'm not really familiar with the other shooters, and being able to just kind of talk to him about your matches and kind of hear his experience as well," Ossi said. "Just being able to kind of hear what he had to say and think about, like, your situation and how his matches went was helpful for me."

Ossi said she was glad they were able to go on the trip together because she got to see how much Griffin evolved since her time at Ontelaunee, when he was younger and she did not know him as well.

Tom Fister, the Ontelaunee coach, said he and his wife watched the recording of the event and said it was great to see his Ontelaunee shooters make it to the level representing the USA team.

Helping those around him grow

When Griffin started shooting at age 12, starting with the club-lent rifle, his father said he was shy.

Eventually, as he got better at Ontelaunee, Griffin met more people and grew a lot.

"This this program here, Tom and the team and the club one has really opened some doors for Griffin," his father said. "He's much more outgoing now. He's made friends literally all over the world doing this."

Lake with coach Tom Fister at Ontelaunee
Jay Bradley, LehighValleyNews.com
/
Lake with coach Tom Fister at Ontelaunee

Griffin's coaches say that ability to be more outgoing is going a long way toward helping other competitors at Ontelaunee and at Emmaus High School.

"He's doing an awesome job...keeping his head on his shoulders," Fister said. "He's actually helping out his teammates, and others from there. Without even asking he'll go lend a hand, which is neat, you know, given back to the sport like that."

Fister said Griffin likely is the highest scoring shooter the club has had, and will be the 10th member of the club to go to shoot collegiately during his time as coach.

"It's a fantastic resource having him around," Emmaus High School rifle team coach Michael Schuler said. "It really is kind of a different dynamic than a football player or basketball player. For the most part, high school, at their age group is kind of the top opportunity to go to the next level. Whereas our sport, rifle, there's a lot more you can do on your own."

Emmaus High School's rifle season begins this week and centers on prone-position shooting rather than the 3-position event in which Griffin has found his primary success.

Schuler said Griffin's presence is almost like having another coach available to help the other students on the roster, and brings a lot of real-world experience from the competitive scene to the group.

Griffin's high scores also brought a consistency on which the team could rely as its other shooters improved.

While Griffin's skill gave him the state championship wins the past two years and was a big part of the team's victory in states this last year, Schuler is optimistic for Emmaus' rifle program's future.

"I think it's gonna pay dividends for the next couple years," Schuler said. "I think we should have a really strong team for a while.

"Obviously, losing Griffin's going to hurt because who wouldn't be hurt by losing somebody of that caliber? But I think what he's done helping the younger students and setting us up for success is really going to lessen the blow a little bit."