Robb Harper, of Jamestown, makes the trip every year and will do so again this week to compete as well as cheer on a team from Greene County Fish and Game.
“It’s a big deal for these kids,” Harper said, “and it’s really competitive.”
The Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) will hold its competition Monday. The 137th Ohio State Tournament, an event first held in 1886, starts Tuesday and ends Sunday.
Mike Blair, who leads the Greene County team, will have close to 15 kids, from ages 11-18, competing in the event. He said Dave Schock, who died in 2022, started the program 27 years ago. Blair’s son was among the many kids who were coached by Schock. The annual youth tournament is now named after him.
One of the team’s top shooters is Braden Shoup, of Tipp City. He made the All-Ohio Sub-Junior team this year.
The state tournament that follows will bring as many as 1,500 shooters from 30 states to Marengo. It’s the biggest trapshooting event in the country after the Grand American World Trapshooting Championships in Sparta, Ill.
“Ohio is probably the best trapshooting state in the country,” Harper said. “I think most people would say that, and the people that travel here and see the Cardinal Center say it is one of the nicest facilities in the country for sure.”
Harper has been shooting since the 1980s. He has registered almost 100,000 targets in his lifetime. He practices at the Wright-Patterson Rod & Gun Club and at a private facility in Bowersville. The Middletown Sportsmen’s Club is another option for local trapshooters.
Harper broke all 100 targets one year at the competition along with two other competitors. He said other than the day his daughter was born, “that was the biggest day of my life.”
There will be different competitions each day at the state tournament.
“There’s singles with everyone standing at the 16-yard line,” Harper said. “There’s handicap where you move from somewhere between the 20- and the 27-yard line, depending on your ability and your past scores. That’s how you get a handicap. Then there’s also doubles. They do just about all three disciplines every day. We just shoot the whole week. Then there’s the high all-around (score) and the high overall (score),. The overalls are on the last 400 targets. The all-around is on 1,000 targets for the week. Those are big trophies.”
About the Author
