2025 marked the 9th Pyramyd Air Cup, and as I reflect on the previous competitions, I am continually amazed at how it has grown. What started as a rag-tag Field Target shoot, has prospered into one of the largest airgun events in the country. This is thanks, in no small part, to YOU, the shooters. You’ve continued to come spend your time and money with us, and for that, I am extremely grateful. And to all of the amazing vendors that came out to support the event, Thank You! There are too many to name, and the continued out-pouring of support, year-in, year-out, is incredible.
Speaking of gratitude, our fantastic staff deserves a heck of a lot of praise for keeping this year on track and running smoothly. Our Marketing Director, Emily Phillippi, is an organizational maven and has really brought the Cup many steps forward on that front. Everyone in attendance, from the competitors to the vendors and even the spectators, owes her a Thank You! Our Bench scoring team did another fantastic job this year. Of the many protests lodged on scores, there was one single point changed throughout the event. Well done! Our Tech Team did a phenomenal job of keeping Bench card changes on time, which is no easy task, on top of being on hand for competitors when they needed air, water or other assistance. Last but not least, I want to thank our President, Val Gamerman. His enthusiasm and continued commitment to the Cup never ceases to amaze me. He even jumped in and helped create our new scoring HUB without batting an eye. Additionally, he does a great job of just letting those of us in-charge at the event do our thing.
Complete Bench and Field Target Results can be viewed here
100 Yard Benchrest
We made a few changes to the Bench portion of the Cup this year. The most notable being the move from a single card for the Finals, to two cards. This change was largely inspired by conversations I have had over the years with Mike Niksch of Thomas Air. Trying to blend elements of the more traditional benchrest format, with this 100 yard format to give it more legitimacy and take out some of the luck factor that is associated with random bench draws/assignments.
This change was largely made possible by a schedule change that Emily was able to figure out, allowing us to run one card of bench per day, instead of running both cards in the same day as we have done in years past. By putting all of those shooters taking part in Field Target into the first two groups, we were able to get everyone to where they needed to be on time and without burning most of the first day on benchrest. Reducing the actual shooting time from 30 minutes per card, down to 25 minutes per card, helped us make this happen as well. We also went with some new stands for the targets this year, which made changing cards a bit faster.
A new sponsor also came on board and dramatically improved both the shooting experience AND the spectator experience this year. LongShot Camera’s set up a custom 48 camera system that allowed shooters and spectators to view their targets on their mobile devices or on 4 TVs we placed around the range in real time! Their app also has the ability for shooters to mark their targets that have been shot so they don’t accidentally double shoot them. This is a GAME CHANGING improvement in my opinion, and I know a lot of competitors agreed!
Thankfully, we were blessed with great weather for the competition days, and because we started fairly early in the morning, we made it most of the way through all four groups of bench before the wind peaked for the day. In fact, I would say that this year featured the LEAST amount of wind on the 100 yard range that we have ever seen. So as you would expect, there were some fantastically high scores in qualifying.
James Sharp, shooting his first 100 yard bench match, opened things up with an amazing 241 9x on the first day. Funny enough, looking at the top scores from each group, you can see a slow decline in scores from Group 1, to Group 4, most likely the result of the wind picking up as we get later into the morning. But, since each group is only playing against others in their group, this isn’t an actual issue, just a casual observation.
A few product related observations:
Of the 158 competitors that actually showed up and shot bench (there were over 170 signed up), there were 52 using FX rifles (32%), 29 using Skout rifles (18%), 24 using Karma rifles (15%) and 18 using RAW rifles (11%). Of course, there were plenty of other brands represented like RTI Arms, Daystate, BRK, Airgun Technologies, Benjamin, Air Venturi and Umarex.
When it comes to ammo, AEA led the way with 91 shooters (57%) running their pellets. Just shy of 30% were running JSB/FX pellets with 47 shooters. It is incredible to see how AEA has taken hold within this event. And while I don’t have the exact number since not everyone enters their caliber for their equipment, .30 caliber is still the dominant choice. From what I counted, upwards of 65% (maybe more) of shooters were running .30 cal.
Another thing to point out is that we were moving 25% of each group into the finals. This worked out to 10 shooters from Group 1, 9 shooters in Group 2, and 11 shooters each from Groups 3 and 4. And at the conclusion of our second day of shooting, the finalists had been determined and they would arrive on Saturday morning to find their starting bench assignments for the first finals card.
The wind was calm for the short sight in period before the finals, and like a switch being flipped, as the timer started you could see wind flags begin to move around with more unpredictability. After a quick target change between cards 1 and 2, and shooters moving to their second bench, card 2 got underway with a pretty steady, but light wind. Obviously, we didn’t know in real time who won, but looking at the scores, there were only a handful of the finalists that improved between cards 1 and 2.
Complete results can be seen at the link below, along with shooter equipment. You’ll note that in the Group stages, qualifiers for the finals will have a place number assigned. Also, of note, the equipment listed is largely as it was provided to us, so spelling and some of the data may not be perfect.
Congratulations to all of our place winners on some phenomenal performances!
Gunslynger
The gunslynger is the best spectator event at the Cup. It’s a speed silhouette competition featuring 1/10th scale silhouettes at distances of 10, 25, 40, and 55 yards. Competitors are set into a march madness style bracket and go head-to-head with the winner advancing to the next round. We have two divisions, Springer and Mag-Fed PCP.
In the Springer division, 2024 Champion Cameron Kerndt made fairly quick work of his first two rounds to advance to the semi-finals, against another one of last year’s stand-out competitors, Ryan Spanagel. It’s important to note that we give springer shooters 6 minutes to knock down as many targets as they can. Many shooters do not complete all 20 targets within this time limit, but Ryan and Cameron both showed that they had the speed and precision required to complete the full lane.
On the other side of the draw, Keith Jensen and Nathan Thomas both advanced to the semi-final round. Nathan is another shooter that is no stranger to the money rounds in the Springer gunslynger competition. He showed his prowess by knocking all 20 of his targets down against Keith in just 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Interestingly, in the other semi-final matchup, Ryan was able to finish within seconds of Nathan’s time to defeat Cameron and secure his spot in the final.
Cameron and Keith squared off in the 3rd place match (playing for a $500 prize). This was a see-saw match that ended up coming down to the final target, with Cameron able to secure 3rd place in very dramatic fashion. Turning to the final, Nathan and Ryan were on pace to beat their prior round times, but the wind kicked up and led to some misses on both sides. But coming in at a time of 4 minutes and 7 seconds, Ryan was able to knock his final target down and claim the $1500 prize! Congratulations!
We then turned the PCP side of the event, and this is where things typically get very fast! With around 50 shooters, it would be a few rounds before the real barn burners started. In the first quarter of the draw, Patrick Schmitz was clearly the man to beat, advancing to the semi-finals. He would meet Wes Crisp in the semi-final match, who defeatured past top-performers Nic Gregoris and John Bagakis en-route to his semi-final spot.
On the other side of the draw, Dan Carpenter earned his way into the Semi’s with a win over Alex Hatfield, who is always a favorite in the speed competition. And in the final quarter, Thayne Simmons topped last years champ Adam Migel and Chris Jenkins to secure his spot in the final 4.
In the matchup between Dan and Thayne, a stroke of bad luck hit as Dan forgot to turn his Skout on before the start of the match. This cost him precious time and while he nearly caught up to Thayne, it was too much to overcome. Thayne secured his spot in the finals. On the other side, Wes Crisp cruised past Patrick Schmitz to earn his way into the final. In the third place match, Dan redeemed himself in great fashion, defeating Patrick in just 45 seconds to stamp his name on the $500 prize.
As the anticipation mounted for the final between Wes and Thayne, everyone had their stop-watches and timers ready to see just how fast this would go. Not to be outdone by the 3rd place match, Wes managed to clear all 20 targets in just 41 seconds! Congrats to Wes on his win and claiming the $1500 prize!
Field Target
We had a full 120 competitors signed for this year’s FT match with some last minute drop-outs bringing us to the 110 range. We have a great mix of experienced FT shooters, and newcomers which makes for a very relaxed and friendly environment on the lanes. These are long days, with some shooters in 4-person squads, taking up to 6 hours to complete the 60 shot course.
Each course featured 15 lanes, with two targets per lane. Each shooter takes two shots at each target. Both courses feature a number of lanes in an open field section where the wind can be very tricky, along with a lot of wooded lanes where lighting plays a major factor on your ability to range accurately. Shooters that can decipher both the wind and lighting challenges, while keeping their cool through the pressure of standing and kneeling typically are at the top.
The blue course was a bit tougher between the two, featuring 14 targets over 40 yards at an average distance of 36.8 yards. The Troyer of 33.07T puts it on the higher side of the legal difficulty scale, but with plenty of reasonable targets that most shooters should have been able to take down. On the yellow course, there were 12 targets over 40 yards at an average distance of 34.6 yards. Yellow worked out to a 31.04T on the Troyer difficulty scale.
After the first day of shooting, the top shooters had established themselves in most divisions. Brian Van Liew was on top in Open PCP. Matt Uhler was in complete control in WFTF Piston. Barbara Pellegrino had the top spot in Hunter PCP well in hand, and her husband Tony held a one shot lead in Hunter Piston. In WFTF PCP, 2024 champ Lauren Parsons held a one point lead over Lucas Marusiak.
Day two arrived with a pretty cool and calm vibe in the air. Typically the final day of FT matches are a bit more tense, but everyone seemed to be in good, relaxed spirits. Things went smoothly for most of the day, with only a few stoppages to take care of a dead target here and there.
As shooters arrived at their final lanes, it seemed that some of the tight races had grown even tighter, and a few others were no longer so close. As things came to a close and scores were turned in, it looked like Tony Pellegrino had some equipment issues, and ultimately fell back into 3rd place, with Brian Wagner coming from behind to claim the title in Hunter Piston. Matt Uhler maintained his stranglehold on the WFTF Piston division, posting a 49 on day two, for a 100/120 overall.
In Open PCP, Brian Van Liew increased his lead on the field, taking the top spot with a 110/120. He was six shots ahead of Rick Vaeth in 2nd place. In Hunter PCP, Barb Pellegrino threw down the top score for the day with an impressive 58 on the yellow course. She finished on 113/120, holding a 5 shot lead over Greg Vaughan. WFTF PCP offered the closest contest, with Lucas and Lauren ending up tied at 114/120. That means we would have a shoot-off to determine our winner.
We set up a two target shoot-off on the 100 yard range, featuring a mid-20’s target with a ¾” kill zone and a longer 1 ½” target near 50 yards. Lucas and Lauren made themselves comfortable, and both cleanly dropped the close target. Then they both missed the long target, as the wind picked up and I suspect, surprised them both. They went after the long target, from the sitting position, again. This time, they both found the mark, dropping the target despite the winds best efforts to throw them off.
They rose from sitting, and got settled into the kneeling position. Taking aim on the close target, it was clear that Lucas was content to let Lauren take her shot, wanting to see her result before settling in for his shot. Lauren’s pellet just missed the kill zone on the small ¾” kill zone and Lucas settled in to the scope. He later described what was a calm and steady scope view, as “bouncing everywhere” but despite this, he managed to steel himself and drop the target to claim victory.
Well done to all of our winners and place finishers!
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The banquet was catered by Hunt Chef, with some delicious chicken offerings and a myriad of sides. Drinks flowed, raffle tickets were purchased, and everyone was able to relax and enjoy themselves. As the raffle bowls began to overflow, we handed out our awards and announced our champions. Then we gave away the raffle prizes, around 30 of them, that featured some incredible items. Thank you again to our amazing sponsors, it really makes a huge difference for the event to have the continued industry support that we do.
All in all, it was a fantastic evening to cap off a great competition!
That’s a wrap for the 2025 Pyramyd AIR Cup. It was a whirlwind, but we made it! All I can say is that I hope everyone enjoyed themselves irrespective of your performance and that you will join us again in 2026. The Cup is a huge undertaking for us, and one we take on without much outside help. To our staff, I thank you for your tireless effort and commitment to this event. To our sponsors, we greatly appreciate everything you do for this event, the industry and our airgun community. And to the competitors, thank you again for spending your time and money with us, your continued support is what keeps this event going and pushes us to improve with each year.
Thank you all!
Tyler Patner
– Match Director
