Wisconsin’s own Champion of Champions

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Trapshooter Robert James (R.J.) Gropp (14 years old), Berlin, is the first Sub-Junior Trapshooter from Wisconsin to win the Champion of Champions event at the 2020 Grand American World Trapshooting Championship, which was held at the Missouri State Trapshooting Complex in Linn Creek, MO.

Trap & Field, the official ATA (amateur Trapshooting Association) magazine, notified Gropp their research of shooters records confirmed he is the only Sub-Junior Wisconsinite to win the Champion of Champions championship since its start in 1984.

only the most recent 2020 State Singles Championship Winners and Canadian Provinces Singles Championship winners can compete in the Champion of Champions Event. The Champion of Champion event started in 1923 and was for men only. Around 1976 women were allowed to enter the event. Then in 1984 other categories were added: Sub-Junior, Junior, Junior Gold, Lady 1, Lady 2, Sub-Veteran, Veteran and Senior Veteran.

R.J. got his chance to participate in the Champion of Champions Event by winning the 2020 Wisconsin State Shoot Sub-Junior singles category with a score of 195 of 200. The Wisconsin State Shoot takes place in July at the Wisconsin State Association WTA Shooting Complex and Learning center in Rome, WI, where hundreds of trapshooters from Wisconsin and surrounding states participate. After winning the Wisconsin State Shoot R.J. traveled to the 2020 Grand American World Trapshooting Championships held in Linn Creek, MO for the Champion of Champions Event.

At the event, R.J. shot a perfect 100, however, two other shooters also had scores of 100. The three way tie was carried over to the next day event, where R.J. shot another 100 of 100, and his opponents each shot 99’s. Thereby giving R.J. the Champion of Champions Championship and Wisconsin its first Sub-Junior Champion of Champions.

According to AIM (Academics, Integrity, Marksmanship) the official youth program of the ATA (Amateur Trapshooting Association) R.J. is ranked number four in the nation. In the Sub-Junior Category (ages 12-14) in Singles with a 97.71 percent and ranked sixth in the nation in Composite Scores (singles, doubles, handicap).

At the AIM Grand
National Singles Champion-ship at the Grand American World Trapshooting Cham-pionship at Linn Creek, MO he won the class AAA Singles Championship with the score of 197 of 200, and has been named to the AIM 2021 All Start Team - Sub-Junior Category and Captain of the Sub-Junior 2021 Wisconsin All State Team.

R.J. went on to win the 2020 Wisconsin state High School Singles SCTP (Scholastic Clay Target Program) at the WTA Home grounds in Rome, WI with a perfect 100 of 100.

Trapshooting “a life time sport” is the fastest growing high school sport and enjoyed by hundreds of high school students (both boys and girls across the USA.

R.J. is a freshman at Berlin High School and shoots in the Kettle Moraine Trapshooting Conference (Northern Division) and with the Berlin Target Terminators, a youth group sponsored by the Berlin Conservation Club and others.

R.J. lives with his parents Jeff and Kim Gropp in rural Berlin.

The information compiled for this article comes from the records of Tap & Field Research Team, Wisconsin SCTP Records, Shootscore Board.com, Aim 4 ATA.com, the Records of ATA Trapshooting which are maintained and retained by Trap & Field, official magazine of the Amateur Trapshooting Association, WTA Wisconsin Trapshooting Association, MTA Missouri Trapshooting Association.

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  • Robert James R.J. Gropp
    Robert James R.J. Gropp