CLEMONS — Rodeo runs deep in Cooper Allen’s blood, and the soon-to-be seventh grader who lives on a cattle farm near Clemons is already making a name for himself in the sport, recently competing at the National Junior High Finals Rodeo light rifle shooting contest with hopes to be back in the future.

Allen is the son of 2004 Marshalltown High School graduate Aaron Allen and his wife Lesli, who hails from Oklahoma. Aaron grew up just outside of Marshalltown and eventually moved to the Sooner State to attend college on a rodeo scholarship and ended up living there for eight years after meeting Lesli before they eventually relocated back to Marshall County.

And while rodeo may not be as popular here as it is to the south, Aaron said the events held in Iowa actually tend to get more attention because they only happen during milestone annual events like town festivals or county fairs.

“In Oklahoma, it gets watered down because there’s so many of them, it’s not as big of a deal. Up here, you pull in and it’s that town’s week,” he said.

Cooper is the oldest of their five children and started roping and riding at a “super young” age, but Aaron noted that his son didn’t seem to immediately have an intense passion for rodeo, preferring golf and other activities — by contrast, his younger sister Charly is “obsessed” with it and doesn’t want to do anything else. In the past year, however, he came back to it and decided it was something he could be pretty good at if he put in the effort.

“He got stronger, and he felt more comfortable because when you’re team roping and doing those types of things, it’s really fast and you’re pulling a steer and there’s a lot of things going on,” Lesli said. “He’s 13 now, and he just kind of grew into his own a little bit, too.”

Cooper qualified for the national competition, which was held in the Des Moines area this year, in light rifle shooting and ultimately finished 80th in the country — as Aaron explained, it entails shooting a .22 at targets 50 yards away and freehand with no stabilization assistance.

“Fifty yards doesn’t seem like a lot until you’re freehand and the target’s about as big as a grapefruit, and your scope is kind of all over the place. So we really work on breathing, work on technique and all the things,” Aaron said. “They’ve been shooting since they were five or six years old. Obviously, safety’s a big concern for us, but it’s a very controlled environment and we start them off as young as we feel comfortable that they can do it.”

In his own words, Cooper reflected on how he’s grown as a competitive shooter when asked whether it takes a long time to perfect his craft.

“It does, and it doesn’t at the same time. You do need strength to hold a rifle, and I’ve been working on that,” he said. “It’s a fun sport.”

To qualify for nationals, he had to be in the top four in the state based on an average of three competitions — one in Marshalltown, another in Webster City and then the state finals. His father anticipates that Cooper will be back at nationals next year in the roping competition — hopefully flanked by his sister this time. And while he isn’t sure yet, Cooper hasn’t ruled out attempting to follow in dad’s footsteps and take his talents to the college level someday.

For his parents, it’s been a joy to see Cooper take an interest in something that means so much to both of them, and the skills they learn also have real life applications on the farm.

“It’s fun to see the kids out there doing the things they learned with rodeo to get cattle in and to rope calves. There’s practical uses of it too,” Aaron said. “And that’s where we told Cooper, like, if you don’t want to rodeo, we’re fine with that if you want to golf or do something else. That’s perfectly good, but you’re gonna know how to ride and you’re gonna know how to rope because at the end of the day when the family’s getting cattle in or getting this done or that done, you need to be able to contribute.”

Aaron is a weekend warrior who still participates in amateur rodeos across the state himself, and he can’t wait to see what Cooper, Charly and their three younger siblings do in the sport.

“Cooper will do well. His roping’s really looking good, and we’re excited for him. It’ll be up to him how far he wants to push it,” Aaron said.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.