MMA Rifle Teams Earn 2nd and 3rd Place Honors in Season Debut

Missouri Military Academy’s Army JROTC rifle team opened its competitive season strong on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, traveling to Webb City for the first match of the year. The team garnered impressive results across both veteran and rookie divisions.

MMA fielded two veteran teams and two rookie teams for the competition. The Academy’s #1 veteran team — Cadets Duane Thompson, John Trippe, Robert Shepard, and Thomas Fitzsimmons — placed third overall out of 43 teams with a combined score of 2055. Individually, Cadet Thompson placed 10th, Cadet Shepard 14th, and Cadet Trippe 17th among 172 shooters.

In the rookie division, MMA’s #1 rookie team — Cadets Carter Cole, Federico Cordero, Ryan Derstein, and YiChen Chen — earned a second-place finish with a combined score of 1945. Cadet Cole placed 1st overall, Cadet Cordero 2nd, and Cadet Derstein 9th out of 67 rookie competitors, showing exceptional promise for the season ahead.

CPT Joseph Balvanz, USA (Ret), JROTC Senior Army Instructor and rifle team coach, praised the cadets’ discipline and composure throughout the long competition day.

“The experience of shooting our first match was invaluable for their personal development,” Balvanz said. “Shooting for record at another range adds another layer of pressure, and the cadets stepped up to the plate.”

The team now prepares for its next challenge at the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) qualifier, hosted by St. Louis University High School (SLUH) on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. A top-10 national ranking at this event will earn the cadets an opportunity to compete at Ft. Benning, Georgia, at a pre-Olympic training facility in March.

MMA congratulates all competing cadets and looks forward to supporting them as they continue their season!