By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition

Greg Mosier, a 19-year-old from West, is a member of the USA Olympic Shooting Team. Mosier is a trap shooter who has been coached by some of the best former Olympian trap shooters in the United States. Above, Mosier poses with his Perazzi gun at Waco Skeet and Trap Club. — Photo by Mindy Poehl

Feb. 16, 2006 - The Winter Olympics are under way in the cold mountain tops of Torino in Italy. But, don’t forget those who are busy training for the Summer Olympics.

Greg Mosier, a 19-year-old from West, is one of those people whom is training hard to compete in the 2012 Olympics, if not in the 2008 Olympics. Mosier is on the USA shooting team and he shoots Olympic trap. 

Mosier has been trap shooting since he was six years old and he has been shooting competitively for 11 years.

“My dad is the one who got me into shooting,” Mosier said. “I was in little league baseball and my dad said there had to be something better out there, where there weren’t so many arguments.”

Mosier said his father saw an ad in the newspaper for shooting, and that is how he and his older brother first became introduced to the world of trap shooting.

Mosier was involved with 4-H until he graduated from high school, and he won many shooting medals from competing on the 4-H shooting team.

As Mosier became a better shooter, he trained with shooting coaches. 

“The original three shooting coaches quit and I almost quit shooting four years ago,” Mosier said. “There were only six or seven people left who were training. Four years ago, we got a new coach and more guys joined.”

That new coach who helped transform Mosier into a top shooter is Bret Erickson of Buena Vista, Georgia, a four-time Olympian trap shooter. Erickson and Lance Bade, a 2004 Olympian from Colorado Springs, Colorado, are Mosier’s two main trainers.

“I train in St. Jo. It’s a secluded town that’s west of Gainesville,” Mosier explained. “I train once a week, from sun up to sun down. It has an Olympic trap range, which is almost unheard of in the U.S..”

Mosier noted that there are only 17 Olympic bunkers in the United States. Most shooting ranges are American trap ranges, which are much more easy. 

“Tiny little Italy has over 2,100 Olympic bunkers. It’s the original trap,” Mosier said.

One round of shooting has 25 targets. Olympic shooting has five rounds. When competing, the first day you shoot three rounds, the second day, two rounds are shot and the final day has one round of the top six or 10 shooters, Mosier explained.

Before Mosier was a member of the Olympic team, he said, “I didn’t know there was an Olympic shooting team. Shawn Dulohery of Columbus, Georgia [a 2004 Olympic shooter from Athens (Greece)] came and did a presentation,” Mosier said. “I asked about getting on the team. You have to be invited to join the team.”

Mosier competed in the state championship in Texas in July 2005, and out of 320 people he got the gold medal and was invited to the fall selection match in Colorado Springs.

“Winning the first place medal in College Station gave me a lot of attention,” Mosier stated. “I ended up winning first place overall.”

Mosier performed well at the fall selection match.

“The fall selection match was three days long. I had scores equal to the veteran’s scores,” Mosier explained. “I put on a good show and I guess they thought I’d be a good asset, so I was put on the Junior Olympic team.”

Once on the Junior Olympic team, just in the past year, Mosier visited Cairo, San Juan, Puerto Rico and San Juan, Brazil, but did not win any medals.

“I’ve never won an international medal. You’re going against some of the best people in the world. Lots of them have been shooting for 30 years,” Mosier said. “It all depends on how well you maintain stress and can live up to the pressure.”

But, when competing in the Junior Olympics back at Colorado Springs in October 2005, Mosier was doing well.

“I was used to training there. Out of 160 people, by the end of the second day, I was tied for second place. I went into the final with second place,” explained Mosier. “It was my first time in a big audience and things were done differently. I missed all but one of my last five shots and ended up with fourth place.”

Although Mosier ended up in fourth place, he said he was excited because he did not even anticipate on being in the finals.

“I want to get a chance to go to the Olympics. Now I might actually have a shot,” Mosier said. “I’m going to try for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, but my main goal is to go to London in 2012.”

Mosier will also try to attend and compete in the World Cup in Kerrville in late May.

“To be a good shooter you have to have a lot of confidence,” Mosier said; “be excited and feel like a champion.”