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A reluctant champion

By Les Winkeler, The Southern

Wednesday, August 13, 2008 9:18 AM CDT

SPARTA - It's been a year, but Nick Galata still shakes his head when he thinks back to that fateful day last August.

Galata, 27, of Valley City, Ohio, stunned the trapshooting world last August. He had only been shooting about six months, but Galata won The Grand American Handicap -- using a borrowed shotgun no less.

He used his brother's gun, a gun he had been shooting for about a month.

"I just don't know, I just got lucky, and that's about it," Galata said quietly after coming off the trap line Monday.

"It was silly. It was just one of those days where everything went right. I kept my head down."

Silly or not, Galata earned the title last season. This year when he returned to the World Shooting and Recreational Complex, Event No. 2 at the Grand American was named the Nick Galata Handicap.

"That's kind of crazy," he said. "There are so many good shooters, and then they name something after me.

Still a relative newcomer to the sport, Galata still isn't sure he understands the gravity of his accomplishment.

"I don't know, it's tough to say," he said. "It's just been a tough year. People wait their entire lives. I just got lucky and did it."

Galata has spent most of the past year trying to get acclimated to a new gun.

After winning The Grand American with his brother's gun last year, Galata bought a Krieghoff K-80. He hasn't been able to regain his championship form with the new gun.

"The biggest problem has been getting this gun to fit me," he said. "I just have to get used to this gun. They say it takes a couple thousand rounds."

Although Galata may be something of a reluctant defending champion, he said The Grand American championship led to a few changes in his life.

"People come up to me," he said. "People have been real good to me. A lot of people have helped me this year."

Winning the title led to a relationship with Remington ammunition.

With The Grand American coming up on Friday, Galata said he is feeling no pressure to repeat.

"What do I have to lose?" he said. "There is nothing to lose the way I've been shooting. I'll just try to break as many as I can."

les.winkeler@thesouthern.com / 351-5088