The University of Kentucky rifle team opened the 2000-01 campaign with a solid 6162-6038 win over Ohio State University on Saturday, Oct. 14, in Lexington.

The Cats posted a score of 4614 in smallbore, while accumulating 1548 points in the air rifle competition. UK freshman Bradley Wheeldon led the Wildcats with a first-place combined individual score of 1559. Fellow freshman James Nash tallied 1555 total points for second-place honors. Nash edged out Wheeldon in the smallbore standings 1168-1166, but Wheeldon made up the deficit by outscoring Nash 393-387 in the air rifle portion of the competition.

Ohio State’s Abhijeet Konduskar scored a perfect 400 in the prone portion of the smallbore competition while finishing third overall with 1548 points. Konduskar posted the day’s second-best score of 390 in air rifle, behind Wheeldon’s 393 and just ahead of UK sophomore Crystal Hamilton’s 388.

“We wanted to be a little higher but it’s a good start,” Coach Harry Mullins said. “The freshmen did very well in their first collegiate match. I’m very excited about our newcomers. I feel that with a little hard work we can reach our goal in our next match.”

The Wildcats return to action Saturday, Oct. 21, in the MARC vs. OVC Invitational in Cincinnati.