Feb 9, 2017 4 min read

CANONSBURG – As anyone who has played contact sports knows, concussions have become a major issue as doctors have learned more about their long-term effects on the brain.

For Avella High School senior Wade Richards, multiple concussions suffered playing while soccer caused him to reconsider his sport of choice.

While the concussions were regrettable, they also led him down a different athletic path.

Faced with starting over in a different and non-contact sport, Richards chose competitive rifle. Thursday, after shooting competitively for only two years, Richards’ decision paid off with a medal at the WPIAL Individual Rifle Championships at the Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen’s Club.

Richards fired a 200-17X with six center shots to finish seventh overall and earn a spot in the upcoming state tournament. The top 15 placewinners advance to compete against other top shooters from across the state.

Richards was the top local placewinner, edging defending champion Jessica Baker of Trinity, who finished eighth with a score of 200-17X and five center shots.

“It has huge meaning, especially shooting five days a week the past six or seven months,” Richards said of leading all local shooters. “You always want to win. But it’s cool to be in the top 15.”

At this point, it’s good for Richards to be competing in anything. He suffered five concussions while playing soccer for Beidling Soccer Club, causing him to give up the sport.

“I was a soccer player for a long time and I had a D-1 scholarship to Pitt, but then I got my fifth concussion, so I called it quits,” the Hickory resident said. “Frazier-Simplex (rifle club) was down the road, so I tried that out and here I am.”

Richards was able to take some of what made him a good soccer player and translate that to the rifle range.

“Dedication,” he said when asked what the two have in common. “I practiced six nights a week for soccer and I practice this every night.”

Of course, the serenity and focus needed on the rifle range doesn’t make up for the competitiveness of battling another player for the ball on the soccer pitch.

Though scores are kept in rifle, most of the time, you don’t know what kind of scores are being posted by those shooting around you. But it’s still a competition.

“It makes up for it, but soccer always has a place in my heart,” Richards said. “I was doing that for six or seven years.”

Richards and Baker weren’t the lone local qualifiers for the state tournament.

Baker fired the lone perfect score a year ago to win her WPIAL title as a junior. This year, it was another junior who won, Hempfield’s Jordan Miller.

She edged Alea Atkinson of Woodland Hills for the title. Both fired 100-19X with five center shots, but Miller’s second target was better.

Waynesburg’s Hunter Wasson finished ninth with a 200-17X and 4 center shots, while teammate Emilee Tuttle was 12th with a 200-16X-4CS.

West Greene advanced Noah Lemley, who finished 11th with a 200-16X-5CS.

McGuffey also advanced a pair of shooters as sophomores Julia Corrick and Kyle Dertrich both advanced. Corrick was 14th with a 200-16X-3CS, while Dietrich was 15th with a 200-15X-6CS.

Wasson and Dietrich were two of five WPIAL shooters who were given Dave Cramer Awards for not dropping a point during a regular-season match. … Miller had finished seventh in the WPIAL last season. … Sarah Hritz of Trinity just missed qualifying for the state tournament, shooting 200-15X-3C to finish 17th.

Definitely,

The scores are getting a lot better. It’s better coaching. The scores are starting to jump.

I came in late. I’ve only been at this for two years.

I was the seventh relay. I had no idea. I just knew I had to be in the 200s with a high X count.

I played for Beidling.

I had to go to Washington to join a