The local council Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship is sponsored by St. Patrick Knights of Columbus. This annual event is normally held in January.

2025 LOCAL COMPETITION CHAMPIONS ANNOUNCEMENT

Knights of Columbus Crown Free Throw Champions

11 (out of 35 participants) boys and girls from St. Charles County were named local champions of the 2025 Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship and have earned the right to compete at the district level. St. Patrick Council 10154 in Wentzville, MO sponsored the local competition at St. Patrick Gym, 701 S. Church St., Wentzville, MO 63385. All youngsters ages 9 to 14 were eligible to participate.

Local
Nine-year-old champions were Cate Roper in the girls’ bracket and Jameson Blair in the boys’ bracket. RaeLynn Herbers was the 10-year-old girls’ champion and Jacob Warlen was the winner of the 10-year-old boys’ division. In the 11-year-olds’ bracket, Zoey Cain was the girls’ champion and Crosby Dickherber was the boys’ champion. The twelve-year-old winner in the girls’ division was Isabelle Kuebler and the boys’ division was Malachi Nozea. The 13-year-old girls’ division was won by Zoey Moore and the boys’ division was won by Will Wilson III. Fourteen-year-old champions were Tucker Mechlin in the boys’ bracket and the girls’ bracket had no contestants. Each contestant was allowed 15 free throw attempts in the contests. Ties were settled by successive rounds of five free throws per contestant until a winner emerged.

Districts
The District Free Throw Championship was held at St. Pat's on Fri, Feb. 7 at 7 PM with participants shooting 25 free throws each. 11 medals were given out to winners. The 9-year-old girls' winner was Cate Roper. The 9-year-old boys' winner was Dane Meyer. The 10-year-old girls' winner was Avery Morris. The 10-year-old boys' winner was Jacob Warlen. The 11-year-old girls' winner was Zoey Cain. The 11-year-old boys' winner was Crosby Dickherber. The 12-year-old girls' winner was Allison Johnson. The 12-year-old boys' winner was Malachi Nozea. The 13-year-old girls' winner was Zoey Moore. The 13-year-old boys' winner was Will Wilson III. The 14-year-old girls' winner was vacant. The 14-year-old boys' winner was Tucker Mechlin. As of 02/07/25, the Regional Free Throw Championship is Sun, Feb 23 at St. Alban Roe at 1 PM.

Regionals
The Regional Free Throw Championship was held at St. Alban Roe on Sun, Feb. 23 at 1 PM with participants shooting 25 free throws each. 12 plaques were given out to winners, 4 of those winners were from the St. Patrick parish/council round. The 9-year-old girls' winner was Cate Roper. The 10-year-old boys' winner was Jacob Warlen. The 12-year-old boys' winner was Malachi Nozea. The 13-year-old boys' winner was Will Wilson III. These four winners will be competing against a maximum of six other regional winners at the State Championship. 

Statec

Save the Date
2026 Knights of Columbus Council
Free Throw Championship

Friday, January 23, 2025

6:00 p.m. registration
7:00 p.m. start shooting
St. Patrick Gym, 701 S. Church St., Wentzville, MO 63385
Boys and Girls 9 – 14 years old as of January 1, 2026 (proof of age required)

This is the annual local council K of C Free Throw Championship sponsored by St. Patrick Knights of Columbus. There is no cost to participate, and you do not have to be a member of St. Patrick to compete. Please bring a copy of a birth certificate or other proof of age to the event. Three warm-up shots will precede 15 consecutive free throw attempts.  Winners will receive a trophy and qualify for the District K of C Free Throw Championship.

Entry forms will be filled out at the event. If you have questions, please contact Trevor Roe at 636-614-8267 or basketballplayer1551@yahoo.com.

(High school-age athletes should check with their school athletic directors or state high school athletic associations for possible eligibility conflicts. Contestants may compete in just one council K of C Free Throw Championship each year.)

The Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship is sponsored annually, with winners progressing through local, district, regional, and state competitions. International champions are announced by the K of C international headquarters based on scores from the state-level competitions. All boys and girls 9 to 14 years old are eligible to participate and will compete in their respective age divisions. In previous years, more than 120,000 sharpshooters participated in over 3,600 local competitions.

All contestants on the local level are recognized for their participation in the event. Participants are required to furnish proof of age and written parental consent. For entry forms or additional information contact: Trevor Roe at 636-614-8267.

The Knights of Columbus is an international Catholic family fraternal service organization with over 1.8 million members in 15,000 local councils. Last year, Knights donated over 70 million volunteer hours and $170 million to charitable and benevolent causes, sponsoring projects to benefit their church, councils, communities, culture of life, families, and youth.

2024 RESULTS

State
This had to be the best showing from the St. Patrick council/church at the state level with seven from our parish's council competition shooting for the championship. All seven got either first or second place (out of about five competitors in each group), so very impressive. 9-year-old Grayson Linhardt, 12-year-old Will Wilson III, and 13-year-old Abigail White came in first and 10-year-old Zoey Cain, 11-year-old Harper Regan, 13-year-old Elijah Smith, and 14-year-old Alexus Buenemann came in second.

Regionals
An astounding 7 of 11 St. Patrick kids won the regional competition (out of about five competitors in each group). The seven winners from the group below were Grayson, Zoey, Harper, Will, Abigail, Elijah, and Alexus. 

Districts
It was an unbelievable showing from the St. Patrick competitors as they, once again, just had to face one competitor from the O'Fallon council/Assumption parish at the district round. St. Patrick had 11 of 12 possible kids shoot and Assumption had 8 of 12, and not one Assumption kid beat out the St. Patrick kid in free throws, so a clean sweep for our parish. 9-year-old RaeLynn Herbers and Grayson Linhardt, 10-year-old Zoey Cain and Jaxson Andres, 11-year-old Harper Regan and Malachi Nozea, 12-year-old Molly Scherr and Will Wilson III, 13-year-old Abigail White and Elijah Smith, and 14-year-old Alexus Buenemann moved on to regionals.