Most high school-aged boys and girls busy themselves in their scholastic careers with sports, music and/or typical school clubs and extracurricular activities.

But Marcus Rosenstiel, a junior student at Marian Catholic High School, has a unique hobby that is just as challenging and demanding as the traditional competition seen on local fields, courts and stages.

Rosenstiel is currently ranked in the top of the country for trap shooting, being the 2020 Pennsylvania Junior State Skeet Champion, a title he claimed for his shooting expertise with a .12-gauge Browning Citori 725 shotgun.

Marcus, 16, the son of Marcus Sr. and Amy Rosenstiel of Beech Mountain, near Hazleton, has developed a passion for trap and skeet shooting ever since his was an eighth grader at the Freeland junior high school of the Hazleton Area School District.

Trap shooting is the discipline of competitive clay pigeon shooting, using shotguns to shoot at clay targets that are launched from a single “house” or machine, generally away from the shooter.

“I never touched a shotgun before but I joined the club; thought it would be fun, and I fell in love with it,” Marcus said.

The club’s activities includes basic trap, skeet and sporting clay shooting but, more importantly, stresses firearms safety during their practice sessions that take place at the White Tail Preserve in Sugarloaf.

Learning his focus

Marcus didn’t know what to expect when he left the Hazleton district upon enrolling at Marian for his freshman year.

Despite the club being based in the Hazleton school district, he received support on both sides, continuing to be welcomed by the club, as well as getting the support of the Marian administration.

“When I came here (to Marian), everyone was so supportive of me. I really appreciated that because I really enjoyed trap shooting and the support I received enabled me to pursue it,” Marcus said.

Joe Gans, the head coach for the Hazleton Area Trap and Skeet Club, helped Marcus develop skills needed to allow him to competitively shoot for the club and in competitions throughout the country. Incidentally, Gans recognized that the young shooter possesses “cross dominance” in that he is generally a righty but has left-eye dominance, necessitating him to shoot left handed rather than with his dominant hand.

At first, Marcus was resistant to follow his coaches advise to shoot with his non-dominant hand, but when he made the switch he saw his scores dramatically increase.

Heading to competition

The young shooter was recently in San Antonio, Texas, to compete in the World trap and skeet competitions against shooters from around the country and throughout Europe and other nations.

For Marcus, the journey that started with the Cougars Trap & Skeet Club has provided him not only excitement, but opportunity to pursue his marksman ambitions.

He explained, “As a freshman, I made significant progress, and unlike when I was in eighth grade and lacking concentration, I was able to focus more.”

That year, Marcus participated in the state shooting competition held in Elysburg, and finished with a score of 94 (hits) out of 100 traps, moving on to the state skeet competition in Shenacoi.

When the shooting season ended, he kept a keen eye on his targets by participating in charity shoots and gun club competitions and occasional shooting sessions with his father.

Aiming high

Confidence set in for Marcus as he sought the presidency of the Cougar club. Although he wasn’t elected to the post, he was named sergeant-at-arms, a post, he said, “helped me to reinforce the rules of gun safety.”

Last fall, Marcus reached new milestones of his young shooting career, finishing with the highest point total in his club, including a first place finish in skeet shooting and a second place spot as a trap shooter.

When the spring rolled around, he hit 99 of 100 traps in the state competition, placing top 5 in the state for both trap and skeet which placed him on the All State Trap and All State Skeet Teams, and allowed him to advance to the national competition in Marengo, Ohio, where he finished in the top 100 in the country out of about 4,000 competitors. The trip to San Antonio followed, at the World Skeet Shoot.

Having recently been elected president of the Cougar club, Marcus aspires to a shooting career after graduation. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, he visited a couple colleges which he hopes will be interested in his talent.

In the meantime, Marcus will continue shooting 100-200 targets a week in shooting sessions.

“It’s hard, and demands a lot of focus. It’s a lot harder than what people think and takes a lot of experience. For me, the future means a lot of time, practice and effort and we will see where that takes me. I am grateful for the support of my parents and Coach Gans that has allowed me to improve in my shooting.”