Wentworth Institute of Technology: Athletics > Varsity Sports

The Program at a Glance

Rifle, perhaps Wentworth’s oldest sport, has been a competitive program since its inception in the 1920’s. In recent history, the program has won numerous Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference (MAC) championships, including titles in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, and 2004. Rifle is categorized into two separate competitions — smallbore and air rifle. Both genres are open to both men and women, while there is an additional air rifleteam that is open only to women. Both squads have fared very well during the past few seasons.

The sport of intercollegiate rifle is unique in that members of all three NCAA divisions (I, II, III) compete as one division. Of all shooting sports, air rifle and small bore rifle enjoy the well-deserved popularity as some of the purest athletic endeavors in which the performance is measured without subjective or personal bias.

Although competition event might appear boring to a casual spectator, for a knowledgeable devotee, the sport of precision shooting opens up the unquenched desire for self-confidence, consistency and precision, and an opportunity to conquer the toughest opponent any individual can face - oneself.

The 2008-09 rifle season was a successful one, in that the mixed air rifle team qualified for the MAC Championships and lost a close match to Penn State, 2206-2134. In that match, sophmore Kirstin Torento (Higganum, Conn.) shot a 550 which was the 14th best score out of 41 air rifle shooters competing throughout the championship. As a team the mixed team competed in the "expert" division with the shooters compiling a 9-6 record in smallbore and a 10-4 mark in air rifle. The women's air rifle team competed in the "marksman" division.

From both the mixed team and the women's team, the Leopards lose just three shooters to graduation. Torento and classmate Angela Ngo (Chelmsford, Mass.) should anchor the mixed team along with Pete L'Hereux (Wallingford, Conn.) and Kyle Lawson (Holyoke, Mass.), both of whom had fine freshman campaigns. Shauna Murphy (Winthrop, Mass.) returns to the women's air rifle team, looking to improve on her solid freshman campaign, a season that saw her compete at the MAC Championships as an individual and finish a very respectable 32nd.

Notable Shooters

Warren G. Cochrane '81 became the first-ever Wentworth rifle shooter to be inducted into the Wentworth Athletics Hall of Fame when he was a part of the Class of 2006. Matt Savage ’06 established himself as one of the premier shooters in the history of the program, as he helped the smallbore discipline win MAC titles in 2003 and 2004 and the air rifle team win a MAC title in 2003. At the 2003 event, he placed 13th overall, which was the highest finish by a Wentworth shooter since 1989. Stan Nobles ’07 enjoyed an outstanding career for Wentworth, which included earning a bronze medal from the National Rifle Association at the annual Bean Pot Invitational. Torento has made her mark in just two seasons, establishing several school records and competing on the Randle Women's National Team at the 2008 NRA Outdoor Rifle & Pistol Championships during the summer of 2008.

Schedule

Wentworth belongs to the Mid-Atlantic Rifle Conference, which has each of its 16 participating colleges compete in at least six “shoulder-to-shoulder” matches each season. Wentworth competes in either shoulder-to-shoulder matches, or in postal matches, where scores sent to the opponent for comparison.

Meet the Coaching Staff

The Wentworth rifle team is coached by Gary Woodworth and George Pantazelos. Both of whom are accomplished shooters who joined the Leopard staff in the fall of 2007.