Now in their sixth year, the Waterloo Lead Heads youth trapshooting squad really hit the mark last week.

The Lead Heads, coached by A.J. Wessel, won the Junior Class A team title in the 2014 AIM Grand National Youth Trapshooting Championship, which concluded last Tuesday at the World Shooting & Recreational Complex in Sparta.

Wessel’s team, which consisted of Kyle Leckrone, Brittany Mehner, Cooper Secker, Megan Vogt and Ryan Nabers,  finished with 981 total points through all events, easily taking the Class A trophy.

Nabers, a soon-to-be senior at Valmeyer High School, placed third overall as an individual in Junior Class A with a score of 199.

The AIM event took place Aug. 2-5. Any AIM member, individual or team can participate in the national championship, Amateur Trapshooting Association spokesperson Troy Kueker said, and youth shooters from all over the United States and Canada competed in this year’s event.

“Overall event participation was up 24 percent from last year’s event, making 2014 the largest AIM Grand Championship yet,” Kueker said.

 The Lead Heads competed against several full squads and a few individuals during the championship.

“They are a great bunch of kids,” Kueker said.

Participants had the opportunity to shoot singles, handicap and doubles events as well as other special games that are not typical of registered trapshooting. They were given the opportunity to shoot in several handgun, rifle and shotgun challenges at the complex using different scenarios than normal registered trapshooting.

The amateur shooting event took place in conjunction with the 115th Grand American Trapshooting Tournament that began last Wednesday at the World Shooting Complex. The tournament ends Aug. 16.

Read more on the Lead Heads’ victory, including comments from their coach, in next week’s paper.