On Oct. 24, Sedona Red Rock High School senior Cody Kirkham and member of the St. John Vianney Catholic Parish, won his first ever Overall Arizona State Championship in the Bordertown Championship for shooting.
While Kirkham had won two U.S. National Champions in 2016 and 2018, he had yet to win the Arizona State Champion.
Contestants came from Norway, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and Canada, as well as states from coast to coast in the U.S. to compete in this run and gun cowboy action shoot.
In day one of shooting six out of the 12 stages, Kirkham trailed former age National and World Champion Oklahoma Dee by 4 seconds after shooting 144 rounds out of two single-action revolvers, a lever-action rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun.
Kirkham brushed off his performance in the previous day and shot much better in the second round.
After trailing by four seconds in the first day, Kirkham came back to win the Bordertown Championship and the Overall State Championship Title by six seconds.
“He started out with a couple of bad stages, but he came back in the second day for an amazing performance,”
Kirkham’s father Greg Kirkham said.
Greg Kirkham, a former principal of West Sedona School and Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Cottonwood, placed 12th out of the 320 shooters.
Greg Kirkham advanced to the semi-finals of the top 16 — one contestant away from facing his son in the finals.
Cody Kirkham also won the warmup match known as the Bordertown Blast, the Men’s Top 16 head-to-head shoot off and the Fastest Pistols Award, shooting two revolvers with 10 shots in 2.99 seconds.
For Kirkham, one of his inspirations is 19-year-old rifleman and friend Matt Black, a three-time overall World Champion.
In 2014, Kirkham finished second to Black in Bordertown’s junior division while placing fourth overall.
“Matt is one of the guys that I have always tried to keep up with because of all the hard work he puts in,” Kirkham said. “He has been competing since he was 5 years old and is a great shooter regardless of if it is cowboy style shooting or not.”
For Kirkham, a replica of a lever-action 1873 Winchester is his weapon of choice, but he also uses two Ruger Vaqueros all in .38 caliber and a 12-gauge side-by-side shotgun by SKB.
“I own a Beretta that I use as a backup gun but typically I have always used the 1873 or a variation of it,” Kirkham said.
While Kirkham has not been practicing as much lately due to other obligations, he shoots thousands of rounds with his dad every other week.
“We typically shoot 3,000 rounds per practice, but we have not had as much time lately,” Greg Kirkham said. “With Cody in high school and my daughter Jessica at the University of Arizona, we have not had as many opportunities.”
Next up for Cody Kirkham is the Winter Range at the Ben Avery Shooting Facility in Phoenix on Monday, Feb. 18.
Last year, Kirkham finished first overall with a 201.34 total time, 15 seconds faster than the runner-up.
