Pike County’s Evan Craig Captures World Shooting Championship

At just 19-years-old, New Hartford farmer Evan Craig has already spent more than half his life competing with firearms.

Over those years, he’s placed in several regional and national competitions, and most recently, he can add world champion to his growing list of accomplishments.

Evan recently captured first place in the Standard Junior category at the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) Shotgun World Shoot in Greece, competing against some of the best practical shooters from around the globe.

For Evan, the victory marked the culmination of years of competition that began when he was still a child.

“I got my start with guns when I was seven and shot my first deer,” he told the Tribune. “When I was eight, my dad introduced me to competitive shooting, and I started shooting the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) Rimfire Challenge, which is speed shooting steel targets with .22 pistols and rifles.”

Evan’s father, Scott Craig, also shot semi-competitively when Evan was born, but stopped in order to focus on his family and their farm.

“When Evan showed interest in shooting, they were headed back to the range,” Evan’s mother, Tabitha Craig, explained. “It has been amazing watching him grow into the sport. To begin with, he was so small that he had to work extra hard to adapt to the large equipment. As he has gotten older and much bigger, all the training has just helped everything fall into place.”

By age nine, Evan moved into 3-gun competition, using a pistol, rifle, and shotgun. He’s continued competing in 3-gun ever since.

“He has been a top ten finisher at major 3-gun matches for a few years now,” Tabitha answered when they realized that Evan had the potential to move beyond regional competitions. “The Shotgun World Shoot in 2023 was held in Thailand, and we thought he was good enough to go, but the logistics didn’t work out. So we had a little better plan going into this year.”

In 2023, he first learned about IPSC shotgun competition, but it was not until 2025, when qualifiers began for the USA Shotgun World Shoot team, that he had an opportunity to compete seriously in the format.

Practical shotgun competition combines shooting ability with speed, movement, memory, and strategy.

IPSC matches are divided into short, medium and long stages, with competitors given only a limited opportunity to study each course before shooting.

“At IPSC matches, you cannot walk onto the stage until the five-minute walkthrough starts,” Evan explained. “You and your whole squad of up to 12 people get only five minutes to memorize where the targets are, figure out where to reload, and get a good plan on how to be the most effective with your footwork. Then comes the shooting. You wait for your turn, load your gun, and get ready. When the timer goes off, you start the course of fire.”

Evan’s path to Team USA took him across the country.

He competed in four of five qualifying matches, traveling to Texas, Minnesota, Kansas and Nebraska. Shooters earned points based on their percentage of the winning score at each event, with each competitor’s best three performances counted toward the national rankings.

Evan finished third in the United States in the Standard Division standings, earning a position on the Overall Standard USA team.

That sent him to Corinth, Greece, near the gateway to the Peloponnese, and onto the largest stage of his young shooting career.

Over 50 countries were represented at the World Shoot, and Evan said one of the most fascinating parts of the competition was seeing the different approaches used by shooters from around the world.

“Some broke the stages into sections, while others just flowed through it in a continuous motion,” he said. “There was a large variety of different gear, loading strategies, warm-ups, and even snacks. Shooting against the best of the best was one of the greatest experiences of my life because even though it was super tough competition, everyone was nice and helped each other out.”

Despite the friendly atmosphere among competitors, he said the pressure of representing the United States was something entirely different from what he had experienced before.

“Shooting on the world stage brought another level of stress that I didn’t even realize I had,” he explained. “It was not until I walked off the last stage of the match on day six that all of the stress went away.”

In the Standard Division, competitors use semi-automatic, tube-fed shotguns. The division featured 261 overall competitors, including 11 shooters in the Junior category.

His battle for the junior world title could hardly have been closer.

He finished with 1,667.9 match points. Second place finished with 1,665.3, while third place recorded 1,664.9.

Evan also finished second among the United States Standard team shooters and 13th overall out of all 261 competitors in the division.

On the last day of competition, he knew the junior championship remained in doubt.

“There was a stage where I left a little bit on the table, so I knew it was going to be a tight race for the junior title,” he said. “But I just kept shooting my game and tried not to let it get in my head.”

When the final scores were posted, Evan saw his name at the top.

“It was a relief when I saw the scores,” he said. “I realized I had won the world title, and all of my hard work had paid off.”

The victory meant more to Evan than simply earning an individual championship.

“I was happy to have placed first for my family, friends and myself, but also for my country,” he said. “The USA not only won more medals than any other country, but the most gold as well.”

It’s easy to see the team brought home so much hardware after seeing Evan finish a stage in under six seconds, something only 46 of the 847 competitors at the event accomplished.

Evan told the Tribune that he didn’t realize at the time how rare the performance had been until the Range Officer keeping score congratulated him.

“When I shot the stage, I had no idea that less than 50 people would do it in under six seconds,” he said. “But it is always a good feeling when the Range Officer gives you a compliment like, ‘Welcome to the 5 club.’”

But demands on the family farm don’t pause for international competitions. Something Evan and the Craig family are well aware of.

“Sometimes it is hard to get to major matches because most are held in the spring and fall,” Tabitha added. “So sometimes we wait until the last minute, if it’s raining or something prevents us from being in the field, we will make a quick trip while the rest of the family holds down the farm. The World Shoot was right in the middle of harvest season, so we were down a couple hands while they [their daughter Emma, Evan, and Kylie] were overseas, but we all worked together and made it happen.”

Evan credits much of his success to the people who have supported him throughout his shooting career. His father, who has served as both his coach and primary sponsor since Evan was seven-years-old. He also thanked his mother, Tabitha, and his wife, Kylie, for supporting his pursuit of the world championship. Kylie is also an accomplished competitive shooter.

He also credited fellow competitor and friend Varick Beise of Minnesota, who finished second overall and was the top junior shooter in the Open Division.

“Varick is great to train with,” Evan said. “He is great competition and helps me push my speed in training.”

Evan also thanked CMMG and Athlon Optics for assisting with travel expenses, along with family members who kept the farm operating while he, his wife and his sister were away for approximately two weeks.

“I also want to thank the community for supporting my journey throughout my shooting sports career,” Evan said.

That support is important because Evan’s life away from competitive shooting remains firmly rooted in Pike County. A native of New Hartford, Evan attended Bowling Green R-I School through seventh grade before completing his education through the Abeka Homeschool Program.

His accomplishments extend beyond shooting and agriculture. According to Tabitha, Evan has always been eager to help others and frequently accompanied his father on calls with the local volunteer fire department when he was younger. Now old enough to serve, Evan has become a volunteer firefighter himself.

“He has always been the person who is always in a great mood with a smile on his face and a kind word to say,” she said.

Evan plans to remain on his family farm, where he grew up and continues to work.

And even after reaching the top of his sport at the junior level, he doesn’t plan to slow down.

“I plan on competitively shooting for as long as I can, and I’m hoping for my wife and I to shoot at the 6th Shotgun World Shoot depending on when it is!”

His experience overseas also left him with a greater appreciation for opportunities available to competitive shooters in the United States.

“We are so fortunate to have the rights that we have regarding firearms in this country and to not take it for granted,” he said. “Some countries used certain equipment for the first time at this match because it’s outlawed in their countries.”

And after two weeks of international competition, Evan came home with one additional piece of advice for anyone considering a trip to Greece.

“Make sure that you bring seasoning for your food!”