Ishikawa Holds Off Trio of Smith & Wesson Shooters For Steel Challenge Wheelgun Win

Ishikawa, seen here shooting the rimfire event, won the Iron Sight Revolver title.

PIRU, Calif. – In the closest match of the Steel Challenge, where just 1.26 seconds separated the first place shooter from the fourth, Seiichi Ishikawa held off three of Smith & Wesson’s best revolver shooters, Elliot Aysen, John Bagakis and David Olhasso, to take the Iron Sight Revolver title at the 2010 Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships in Piru, California.

Ishikawa, who did not win a single stage during the competition, shot a solid match from start to finish and posted a final, winning time of 119.59 seconds to edge out the second place Olhasso. Olhasso, who won three stages in the match, posted a final time of 120.05 seconds.

“It was a tough match so I was really pleased with the way I shot. With just 1.26 seconds between the top four shooters, it could have been anybody’s match,” said Ishikawa.

“I shot pretty steady throughout though I didn’t have any stage wins. I had just one rough stage and going into the final stage, Pendulum, I knew that I needed to get through it without any problems and though I shot it a little slower than I did in practice, overall my time was where I’d hoped it would be.”

Third place went to Bagakis, the three-time IRC champion, who won just one stage but finished with a time of 120.20 seconds.

Finishing fourth was Michel Tanita who also won three stages on his way to a final time of 120.85 seconds. Rounding out the top five was Aysen who won a single stage and ended with 131.01 seconds.

Among the lady shooters, Team Smith & Wesson’s Molly Smith, a junior shooter, edged out fellow S&W teammate Annette Aysen, wife of Elliot Aysen, to take the Women’s Iron Sight Revolver title. Smith posted a final time of 137.05 seconds to Aysen’s 140.70.

Claiming the Senior Iron Sight Revolver title was John Maxwell who shot the match in a time of 158.34 seconds.

The Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Championships were held August 19-21 in Piru, Calif. For more information on the Steel Challenge and the Steel Challenge Shooting Association, visit SteelChallenge.com, find us on Facebook or follow @SteelChallenge on Twitter.