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Season Three

Top Shot S3

General information
Host

Colby Donaldson

Country

United States United States

Language

English

Season information
Number of contestants

16

Teams
Winner

Dustin Ellermann

Production and broadcasting
Production company

Pilgrim Films & Television

Channel

History Channel

Run

August 9, 2011–October 25, 2011

Status

Concluded

"The challenges are not only going to be rigorous, they'll be downright torturous. In Season Three, the gloves are coming off."
Colby Donaldson[src]

Season Three of Top Shot premiered on August 9, 2011 and concluded on October 25, 2011. The season contained 13 episodes which aired on Tuesday nights. The winner of the season was self-taught shooter Dustin Ellermann, who was originally from the Blue Team.

Season Three was released on DVD in the U.S., with the subtitle of The Gauntlet, on April 24, 2012.

Production[]

History Channel requested auditions for a third season. Potential contestants were required to fill an application form and send an audition video. After the audition process, 50 contestants were selected and auditioned personally. Finally, the sixteen contestants were selected.

The third season of Top Shot was filmed over the course of 35 days, in Santa Clarita, California. The season premiered on August 9, and concluded on October 25, 2011.

The entire season was released on DVD on April 24, 2012.

Rules[]

The rules of Season Three were similar to those of the previous seasons, retaining the same rules for the Team Challenges, Practice Sessions, Individual Challenges, and Elimination Challenges. However, in the beginning, a Preliminary Challenge took place; those who became victorious joined the Blue Team, while the unvictorious joined the Red Team. During the individual portion of the competition, instead of being given the chance to vote for anybody not immune, such as in Season Two, the three worst performers of each challenge were eligible to be nominated for elimination.

This is the first season in which an individual of the Green Team withdrew themselves from the competition, and according to rules, the individual eliminated before him took his place in the Elimination Challenge that he would have competed in, for a chance of reentering the competition.

Contestants[]

Season Three contestants

The sixteen people chosen for Season Three.

"Every single marksman that shows up on Season Three has something to prove."
―Colby Donaldson[src]

For Season Three, just like Season One and Season Two, sixteen contestants were chosen for the show after the producers viewed their audition videos and read their application forms. However, for the first time, the contestants were announced to the public before the first episode of the season was aired, with a slight introduction of each in Season Two's "Behind the Bullet". The contestants chosen to compete were:


Contestant Original Team Merged Team Eliminated
Amanda Hardin Amanda Hardin
33, Birmingham, AL
Red Team 16th Place
Sara Ahrens Sara Ahrens
38, Roscoe, IL
Blue Team 15th Place
Drew Shprintz Drew Shprintz
27, Boca Raton, FL
Red Team 14th Place
Mark Schneider Mark Schneider
45, Tierra Verde, FL
Red Team 13th Place
Jarrett Grimes Jarrett Grimes
42, Atlanta, GA
Blue Team 12th Place
Paul Marinaccio Paul Marinaccio
31, Fairfield, NJ
Blue Team 11th Place
Billy Rogers Billy Rogers
33, Calabasas, CA
Blue Team 10th Place
Michael Marelli Michael Marelli
28, Long Island, NY
Red Team 9th Place
Cliff Walsh Cliff Walsh
40, St. Petersburg, FL
Red Team 8th Place
Jake Zweig Jake Zweig
39, Barrington, NH
Blue Team Green Team 7th Place
Phil Morden Phil Morden
25, Milford, MI
Red Team 6th Place
Alex Charvat Alex Charvat
38, Conifer, CO
Blue Team 5th Place
Chris Collins Chris Collins
26, Collinsville, OK
Red Team 4th Place
Gary Quesenberry Gary Quesenberry
40, Cleveland, OH
Red Team 3rd Place
Mike Hughes Mike Hughes
38, Maple Falls, WA
Blue Team 2nd place
Dustin Ellermann Dustin Ellermann
28, Zavala, TX
Blue Team Winner


Episodes[]

Image
Number
Name
Weapons
Experts
Eliminated
The Gauntlet 1 The Gauntlet Smith & Wesson 500 Magnum
LaRue Tactical OBR
Winchester Model 1873
Jim Finch Amanda Hardin
Down and Dirty 2 Down and Dirty AK-47
Smith & Wesson M&P .45
Craig Sawyer Sara Ahrens
Slug it Out 3 Slug it Out Benelli M4 Super 90
Glock 34
Taran Butler Drew Shprintz
Bulldog gatling gun 4 The Bulldog Gatling Remington 1875
1877 Bulldog gatling gun
Spencer Hoglund
Garry James
Mark Schneider
Throwdown Showdown 5 Throwdown Showdown Hotchkiss mountain gun
Rock
Throwing knife
Tomahawk
Jack Dagger
Rick Pohlers
Jarrett Grimes
Turn the Corner 6 Turn the Corner Vltor TS3
CornerShot
Jeff Gonzales Paul Marinaccio
Tricked Out 7 Tricked Out Schofield 5-Inch Barrel Pinkerton Model
Smith & Wesson 686
Volquartsen .22 Semi-Auto rifle
Jerry Miculek Billy Rogers
Michael Marelli
Ramp it Up 8 Ramp It Up Recurve bow Chris Palmer Cliff Walsh
Stacked 9 Stacked McMillan Tac-50 rifle
Walther P38
Craig Sawyer Mike Hughes
Odd Man Out 10 Odd Man Out Infinity Sight Tracker .40 pistol
Sako TRG rifle
Taran Butler
Mike Voigt
Jake Zweig
Phil Morden
Wheel of Fire 11 Wheel of Fire SP89
Steyr SPP
Matt Burkett Alex Charvat
S3 Finale 12 Season 3 Finale AK-47
Benelli M4 Super 90
Glock 34
Infinity Sight Tracker .40 pistol
LaRue Tactical OBR
Recurve bow
Remington 1875
Rocks
Smith & Wesson 500 Magnum
Smith & Wesson 686
SP89
Vltor TS3
Volquartsen .22 Semi-Auto rifle
Winchester Model 1873
none Chris Collins
Gary Quesenberry
Mike Hughes
Winner
Dustin Ellermann

Elimination[]

# Contestants Episodes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1 Dustin WIN NOM WIN WIN SAFE SAFE WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN BTM2 WIN WINNER
2 Mike WIN SAFE WIN WIN NOM SAFE WIN WIN OUT IN NOM WIN WIN OUT
3 Gary SAFE WIN SAFE SAFE WIN WIN SAFE SAFE NOM SAFE SAFE WIN OUT
4 Chris SAFE WIN SAFE SAFE WIN WIN SAFE NOM SAFE WIN WIN OUT
5 Alex WIN SAFE WIN WIN SAFE SAFE WIN WIN WIN WIN OUT
6 Phil SAFE WIN SAFE SAFE WIN WIN SAFE SAFE WIN OUT
7 Jake WIN SAFE WIN WIN SAFE NOM WIN WIN WIN LEFT
8 Cliff SAFE WIN NOM SAFE WIN WIN NOM OUT
9 Michael SAFE WIN SAFE NOM WIN WIN OUT
10 Billy WIN SAFE WIN WIN SAFE SAFE LEFT
11 Paul WIN SAFE WIN WIN SAFE OUT
12 Jarrett WIN SAFE WIN WIN OUT
13 Mark NOM WIN SAFE OUT
14 Drew SAFE WIN OUT
15 Sara WIN OUT
16 Amanda OUT
     The player's team (episodes 1–8) won the challenge.
     The player(s) won individually in the challenge.
     The player's team lost the challenge, but the player was not nominated for elimination (episodes 1–8); or the player did not finish a challenge at the top or bottom of the group (episodes 9–10).
     The player was nominated for elimination, but won an elimination challenge (episodes 1–8); or the player finished a challenge at the bottom of the group, but won a tiebreaker (episodes 9–10).
     The player lost an elimination challenge and was eliminated. (In episodes 9 and 10, every challenge ended in one or more automatic eliminations.)
     The player voluntarily withdrew from the competition.
     The player won a challenge to re-enter the competition.
     The player won the $100,000 grand prize.

Broadcasting[]

On July 11, 2011, the first commercial for Season Three was aired. At 10/9c on August 9, 2011, the season premiere, titled "The Gauntlet", was broadcasted. It was aired on the History Channel until its conclusion on October 25, 2011. The third season was filmed over a period of 35 days in Santa Clarita, California.

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