Year Born: 1908
Year Died: 1994
Year Inducted: 1990
Fred A. (Fritz) Zweigart began shooting in 1928 in Pocatello, Idaho. For over 60 years he has competed at registered shoots as well as always being willing to support trapshooting by attending shoots of all kinds, or by donating time, work, materials, or money.
During his earlier shooting years Fritz was one of the dominant trapshooters in Idaho. He captured the Idaho State Doubles, Singles, Handicap, and All-Around Championships and lost several others in shoot-offs including one for the Handicap Championship after a score of 99 to his best trapshooting friend J.O. Cotant. He also lost the state doubles shoot-off to the great Guy Chiesman.
Fritz also won the Utah State All-Around Championship and fired 100 straight as part of a squad from Pocatello that shot 497×500 in 1933. That was a world record at the time ans is stood for a number of years.
As the war years came Fritz found that he had to devote more and more time to business. He was president of the Zweigart Meat Packing Company of Pocatello and his time to travel and shooting was drastically cut back. He still did all he could to support shooting in the local area and long with J.O. Cotant he was a driving force behind the development and continuations of a fine trapshooting tradition in Eastern Idaho. With Cotant as president, and Fritz as vice-president, the Pocatello Trap Club went through several location moves and sent many tough shooters to compete throughout the West and at the Grand American and Grand Pacific shoots.
After Cotant’s death in 1975, Fritz was president of Pocatello Gun Club for several more years and by that time had spent over 50 years introducing new shooters to trapshooting and then helping them develop their potential. During these years he had also done all of the many things that must be done at a gun club – from the small to the big jobs – hundreds of times. When you went to shoo at Pocatello you knew that if something broke down or needed to be done that Fritz Zweigart would be there.
Fritz lived with his wife of all these years in Chubbuck. His eyes lite up when you sat down and talked about the early years of trapshooting. He was one of the best during those days. A great shooter and great contributor to the sport of trapshooting. We welcome Fritz as a member of the Idaho Trapshooting Hall of Fame.
Life Time Target Report: