CEDAR FALLS — The Solon Spartans Trapshooting team of six first year and ten returning athletes started their 2024 season in the cold, blustery month of March and ended with the 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 over 3,100 athletes ranging in age from fourth grade through high school demonstrating their skills and challenging each other over the course of seven days Monday, June 3 through Sunday, June 9. The state shoot in Cedar Falls added an extra day this year to accommodate the growth of the sport. To further emphasize the magnitude of the event, a total of 4,857 entries in the three disciplines were recorded with over 780,000 targets thrown into the sky for the athletes to demonstrate their marksmanship.
All sixteen of the Solon Spartan Trapshooting Team members competed in the Iowa SCTP Trap Championship event with some athletes achieving their best scores of the season.
Varsity level athletes consist of those who are sophomore through senior years in high school. Of these, 1,031 men participated in the 200-target singles competition. Solon Spartans had seven registered with Ethan Ressler breaking 187 targets, Kacey Craig hitting 180, Gabe Nicholson blasting 174, Caden Stull hitting 164, Allen Shima shooting 160, Carter Moen crushing 137 and Brayden Netolicky smashing 135. Alannah Mahoney hit 181 targets in the women’s varsity competition.
Junior Varsity is made up of high school freshmen or upperclassmen who are shooting for their first year and they also compete in a 200-target singles competition. The Solon Trapshooting team had two in the JV division, Jack Rekers shot 143 targets and Morgan Bleeker hit 113.
Sixth through eighth graders compete at the Intermediate level in Singles. Leading our intermediate squad was Nathan Cross shooting 161 targets in his second year of shooting at state trap. First year competing members included Arthur Martin hitting 155 targets, Connor Mahoney smashing 140, Dylan Dunnwald shooting 137, Lincoln DeWild crushing 134 and Jeremiah Bartlett breaking 130 targets.
In Senior Varsity 100-target Handicap competition, Alannah Mahoney shot 80, Kacey Craig hit 77, Allen Shima broke 76, Ethan Ressler smashed 72, Gabe Nicholson crushed 71, and Caden Stull shot 69 targets.
Connor Mahoney hit 69 targets for an intermediate handicap score.
For the Senior Varsity 100 target Doubles competition, Ethan Ressler blasted 88, Kacey Craig shot 81, Allen Shima hit 80, Alannah Mahoney smashed 74, Caden Stull and Jack Rekers hit 60 targets. In the intermediate division, Connor Mahoney shot 64 and Dylan Dunnwald hit 59 targets.
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. With growing interest in the sport of trapshooting, coaches are exploring the possibility of competing in the fall. If you have interest in joining the Solon Spartan Trapshooting Team, our coaching staff or helping financially with sponsorships, please contact [email protected].
-30-

Gallery • 2 Photos

Submitted photo

(From left) Kacey Craig, Caden Stull, Allen Shima, Ethan Ressler, and Alannah Mahoney competed in the varsity level at the 2024 SCTP Trap Championships earlier this month in Cedar Falls.