The Ohio State rifle team will take on the world for the next three weekends in the Buckeye International Tournament.

Both college and independent teams will take part in the competition. Shooters take 160 shots at paper targets, with the goal of hitting a small dot – .008 inch in diameter – in the middle of the target. Shooters score 10 points for hitting the dot, and the scores decrease incrementally as the shots move farther from the dot.

OSU rifle coach Pat Cherry, in his 14th year with the Buckeyes, said his team has a fair chance at competing well in the Buckeye International.

“We have a strong team again this year, but it is still early,” he said.

There are two competitions, air rifle and smallbore rifle. Shooters take 40 shots with the air rifle and a total of 120 shots with the smallbore rifle – 40 each in a standing, a lying-down and a kneeling position.

This is OSU’s third competition this season. On Oct. 19, the Buckeyes placed third at the Boilermaker Invitational, and on Oct. 26 they lost to Kentucky.

“We have not done real well so far this season, but we should get better,” said senior Abhijeet Konduskar.

Konduskar leads the team in both competitions. He won the smallbore rifle and tied for first in the air rifle at the Boilermaker Invitational. Last year, Konduskar was named a second team All-American by the National Rifle Association.

Cherry was honored last year by the NRA when he received the Outstanding Service to Collegiate Shooting Sports Award.

Juniors Jessica Sears and John Stellwag return from last year’s team, which finished fifth in the Buckeye International and captured all the major team and individual awards at the Western Intercollegiate Rifle Conference championships.

At last year’s conference championships, Stellwag won the air rifle event, while Konduskar and Sears finished first and third in the smallbore rifle event. The team won the Swanson Trophy by having the highest score in the preliminary matches and also won the Russel Wiles Trophy for the highest scoring team. It was the fifth consecutive year OSU had won both trophies.

“It is typical for scores to drop off after taking the summer off. We will get back into the swing of things and return to our championship form,” Sears said.

“Nebraska should come in here with a strong team. They are one of the few schools that offer scholarships to the rifle team,” Cherry said.

OSU does not award athletic scholarships to the rifle team but has fielded a rifle team every year since 1924.

This is OSU’s last competition until January.

Konduskar said the team will keep working hard to get better.

“We have a couple of freshmen we are counting on to step it up after the quarter break. Our goal is to make the NCAA tournament,” he said.

The top eight teams and top 15 individuals in each competition are awarded a spot in the NCAA tournament.

The Buckeye International is at noon on the next three Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays – except for the Saturday of the OSU-Michigan football game – at the OSU shooting range in Converse Hall.