Local conservation officer Greg Oldakowski was part of a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' conservation officers brought home the "warden's jug" team trophy for the eighth year in a row following the 44th annual Basil Irwin Game Wardens Memorial Pistol Match held recently in Elkader, Iowa.
The team also included Aaron Kahre, Kevin Neitzke, Thor Nelson, Sam Hunter and Greg Abraham. Abraham also won the Basil Irwin Individual Cup for the 26th time and 11th year in a row.
Officers from Iowa and Wisconsin also participated in the event.
Basil Irwin was a Minnesota game warden in the Sandstone area for decades. In 1967 he challenged some Wisconsin wardens to a team pistol match. The inaugural event was called the "Minnesota-Wisconsin Wardens Pistol Match," but renamed "The Basil Irwin Memorial Game Warden Pistol Shoot" after Irwin's death in 1970.
Since then, natural resources enforcement officers from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have participated in the event.
