CEDAR FALLS — The Solon Spartans Trapshooting team of five first-year and eight returning athletes started their 2023 season in the cold, blustery month of March and ended with sunny skies and warm temperatures of June. Throughout the regular season the team competed in the three disciplines of trapshooting known as singles, handicap, and doubles at local meets and concluded at the Iowa Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) Trap Championships in Cedar Falls.
The Iowa SCTP Trap Championships is one of the largest in the United States with 3,062 athletes ranging in age from fourth grade through high school demonstrating their skills and challenging each other over the course of six days, Tuesday, June 6 through Sunday, June 11. To further emphasize the magnitude of the event, a total of 4,857 entries in the three disciplines were recorded with over 784,000 targets thrown into the sky for the athletes to demonstrate their marksmanship.
Twelve of the Solon Spartan Trapshooting Team competed in the Iowa SCTP Trap Championship event with all members and spectators enjoying the warm weather and some athletes achieving their best scores of the season.
Varsity level athletes consists of those who are sophomore through senior years in high school. Of these, 1,058 men participated in the 200-target singles competition. Solon Spartans had four registered with Ian Ressler breaking 194, Ryan Bilskie hit 188, Gabe Nicholson blasted 170, and Carter Moen crushed 168.
Junior Varsity is made up of high school freshmen who also compete in a 200-target singles competition. The Solon Trapshooting team had six registered with Alannah Mahoney hitting 191 and taking third place among 108 freshmen women. For the men’s competition, Allen Shima shot 172, Ethan Ressler blasted 170, Caden Stull hit 166, Kacey Craig crushed 153, and Brayden Netolicky smashed 131 to compete against the 525 freshmen men who participated in this event.
Sixth through eighth graders compete at the Intermediate level in Singles with Solon’s Morgan Bleeker hitting 64 and Nathan Cross shooting 122.
In Senior Varsity 100-target Handicap competition, Ryan Bilskie shot 83, Ian Ressler hit 70, and Gabe Nicholson crushed 70 targets. In Junior Varsity Handicap Allen Shima hit 85, Ethan Ressler smashed 81, Alannah Mahoney shot 77, while Caden Stull blasted 65 targets.
For the Senior Varsity 100 target Doubles competition, Ian Ressler blasted 87 and Ryan Bilskie shot 82. On the Junior Varsity side, Caden Stull hit 78, Alannah Mahoney, Ethan Ressler and Allen Shima each shredded 68 clays.
Coaches Tim Ressler, Melissa Ressler, Eric Bilskie and Kevin Shima were all pleased with how quickly the newest team members developed their trapshooting skills and the leadership provided by the returning members throughout the season. The results at the Iowa SCTP Trap Championships demonstrated the hard work put in by all of the athletes and those who will return next year look forward to building upon the results and continued growth.
Brayden Netolicky, Allen Shima, Caden Stull, and Kacey Craig back up Alannah Mahoney on the Junior Varsity singles trap team at the 2023 Iowa SCTP Trap Championships in Cedar Falls.