Original subtitles

The 2026 Lancaster Archery Classic here

in Mannheim, Pennsylvania at the Spooky

Nook Sports Complex. Largest indoor

sports complex in the United States

hosting this tournament this year.

[music] And it is time for one of the

most exciting matches, classes that we

have in our shootup. Welcome to the

broadcast booth. I'm Greg White [music]

sitting alongside Matt Zernzac from the

pusharchery.com.

And Zernzac, here we go. Bear.

>> Let's go. Stripped down Olympic

recurves, [music] no sights, no

stabilizers, no release aids. Anything

could happen. Let's go. Men's Bear Bows

here. And we have seen a lot over the

last couple years, including Bearbow

Archers hitting the 12 ring. What's the

12 ring, you ask? We're going to get to

that, trust me. But let's take a look at

the format of the Lancaster Archery

Classic and where we get to here because

it's our shootup format. Tell us about

it. Top eight qualify here in men's bear

bow. uh ranked [music] were tied or

ranking ties were broken by 11s. It's a

bottom-up format. Number eight plays

number [music] seven. Winner goes on to

six and so on all the way until we get

to the top seed. It's going to be

amazing. Here we go. And of course, we

have the 12 ring in play. Tell us.

>> 12 ring is 1.5 cm. Nestled nicely right

between the seven and eight ring. High

risk, high reward. Uh there's a max of

136 points. You must call the 12 for it

to count. And you can use the 12 ring

[music] four times within your matches

at any time. Use them at your disposal.

Pretty incredible. And we have seen that

12 ring mess around with matches. You

may think it's over, but it's not. This

is Bear Bow and it's time to get these

athletes onto the field of play.

So, let's get to Rob Cough who's going

to bring out our athletes.

Ladies and gentlemen, our eight seed

Bearbo,

Marcus Axelson from Go Ginsburg, Sweden.

Marcus, let's give it up for Marcus.

[music]

This is what all our single string guys

are waiting on. The main event,

Bear Bose.

[cheering]

[applause]

Seventh seed was J is Judah Holmes from

Hobart, Tasmania. The Tasmanian Devil

will come.

Junah Holmes.

>> Welcome to the stage, Judah.

Congratulations on surviving the uh

eliminations.

>> Let's take a look at uh these athletes a

little bit [music] closer because uh you

know listen this is Bearbo. They come

>> from all over the world.

>> Yes. Marcus Axelson a awesome shooter

from Sweden has [music] been shooting

for six years. He's finished sixth in

World Championship Field. He's he's just

a really great time. three uh three

times in a row making the making the

finals at the Kings of Archery indoor

tournament. So, he's no stranger to

[music] high pressure indoor shooting.

Judah Holmes from Australia at the ripe

young age of 18 years old. He's only

been shooting [music] for 2 years and he

has tons of decorated medals from

Australia, including the [music] two

times in Australia target Championships.

He's in a fantastic shot. And after our

60 arrow qualification rounds, it was

Axelson who qualified all the way down

in 29th, but had such great elimination

matches, able to work his way into

eighth place. And with 884 total points,

so anything can happen. Marcus Axelson

did not have an easy route. None of

these guys had an easy route to the

stage. He knock had to knock out Levik

Roland, who was the Leo Invitational

champion. also high finisher at the

Kings of Archery. Uh and also John

Winker who has also been a finalist here

at the Lancaster Classic. Judah Holmes

also had a really tough road that we'll

talk about here in the next end.

>> Winker also a USA Archery National

Champion. So indoor champion in his own

right.

>> And you can see that Marcus Axelson is

shooting a three-spot target where Judah

is shooting a single spot target. So

there is a little bit of risk there.

This is Bear. We can have a little bit

of flyers in the sport. So, the three

spot target only awards points out to

the six ring where a single spot target

if you do have a bear bow blip.

>> Bear blip.

>> You like that? You like that?

>> That's [laughter] That's a t-shirt right

there.

>> I just like that bear blip right there.

That's a good example here. You know,

another inch further down and left and

that's going to score a zero here. And

Judah seems to be struggling with the

lighting here. We'll talk about bear in

a minute. Yeah, looks like he fixed he

made a adjustment on the plunger to move

it from the right to the left.

>> Really good recovery.

>> So 24. So with that sevens to start off

with. Only one point difference right

here.

>> I thought he was the tallest Bear bow

archer I've ever seen, but I'm not sure

I can reach you. How tall are you?

>> I'm 6' 7.

>> 6' 7. So with that setup, tell me about

your bow, cuz I don't know if they made

one that tall. So, it's a 27 in Gilo GF

long C77 limbs. Uh, so I have a 30 and

1/2 in draw length.

>> 30 and A2. All right. Well, first time

to the classic final stage.

>> First time to the classic and the stage.

So, I'm pretty keen.

>> And the stage. All right. Well, thank

you for coming out here,

Judah. We appreciate you coming all the

way from Australia. After one in, looks

like we have a 2524 lead for Marcus

Axelson of Sweden.

>> And for the 18-year-old from Australia,

two-time Australian target champion. And

uh look, he's in it because of the

dedication, the adrenaline. So, he likes

adrenaline.

>> Yes, he does. So, he's got the perfect

spot for it because

>> if uh if this seventh place seed can

march his way all the way up

>> to face our number one seed, it's going

to be quite quite a run.

>> Absolutely. So, let's talk about Bear

Bow here real quick. So, Bear Bow is a

stripped down Olympic recurve. Uh our

bows, you can see there's a ton of

interesting and creative weight systems

attached to the bows. Our bows have to

fit through a 12.2 cm ring. It's a metal

inspection gauge and that basically

prevents us from using long stabilizers

like they do in Olympic recurve or

compound open pro. Uh we are allowed to

have elevated rests and plungers and we

are also allowed to string walk. As you

can see Marcus here about an inch and a

half down the string to enable him to

sight down that arrow. Uh Judah Holmes

is making his crawl right now. Looks

like he's about an inch and a half crawl

to get a 20 yardd point on with the tip

of his arrow. You can see him sighting

down that arrow. He's placing the tip of

the arrow in the gold and then running

his shot. We'll talk a little bit more

about Judah shot. We just had him on our

podcast last week uh in preparation for

him coming over for this tournament and

just an amazing shooter as well as

Marcus Axelson is he's also a very very

great shooter. You can see he shoots

with two fingers on the string. He sets

up a normally with three and then that

ring finger slips off as he's coming

halfway through draw and he's holding

that bow weight with just two fingers.

Of course, bearable brought to you by

Delta McKenzie and Big Shot targets.

>> Now, you may ask yourself, okay, this

archer stands at 6'7. They're on an

elevated platform, but the one thing to

note is is that the target itself is

also on an elevated platform of the same

height, so it's not like he's having to

shoot down any lower. It's still going

to be his kind of normal sight picture.

>> Here's PJ to the classic final stage

before.

>> Nope.

>> Have you been to the classic before?

>> Yes.

>> Right.

Last year was your first time.

>> Yep. Yep.

>> And you decided to come back anyway.

>> Yeah. [laughter]

>> What's it mean in Sweden to be I mean

you got uh Lena Bjorklin, Eric Johnson.

What's it mean to be up here on the

Classic Finals stage in Bearbo?

>> That's probably why we have so many good

Bearbow archers because of Lena, Eric,

Uton, Lunar. We have a few.

>> Awesome. All right. Yes, we definitely

get a lot of folks from Sweden. We

appreciate them coming over.

After two ends, we got a tie match. 51

all.

Tell you what, the depth of bear in

Sweden is insane. We talked about Lena

Bjorkland. We talked about Eric Jansson,

Leo Person, Frederick Lmark, now Marcus

Axelson. [music] And Judah actually had

to face Frederick Lmark who is a top

tier Bearbo archer. He was on the stage

here at the Lancaster Classic and Judah

had to knock him out in his final match

to get here. And so now he's facing

another Swede in his first match out

here.

>> Judah has a really powerful shot. 30-in

draw.

>> Long hold on that one.

>> Little high.

Marcus with a great opening arrow here

>> in this end.

>> Two points now. You're

>> see a little shake there. The

adrenaline.

>> Oh, really solid arrow. Marcus is really

putting it together here. This match is

back and forth.

>> Judah needs a 10 here.

>> 11.

>> Oh, 11's 11, baby. 11 works.

>> 11's even better. He's giving a fist

bump back to his coach. His coach is Tom

Clum, Senior, a very renowned coach here

in the traditional bow hunting and bear

bow space. Uh we actually have an online

course called Solid Archery Mechanics

available on our website where it's over

8 hours of instruction on how to do

proper biomechanics with traditional

bows in bear bow. Uh he's just a top

tier coach. He went to uh the Olympic

training center to get his level four

MTS coaching certification and he's just

a legend in the traditional archery and

barow community.

>> So homes with a yep forgot to ask

>> after that. Oh, here's PJ.

>> Please run through your equipment setup

for us.

>> Well, it's pretty much the same as

Judah, although I have the medium limbs.

Glo 27 medium limbs.

Uh ber plunger. Um

D

um rest and he's on RX7

>> tab

sniper tab.

>> All right, good looking setup there.

Marcus

after two ends, we have a onepoint lead

for Judah Holmes. 7978

second.

>> You're going to shoot second. You're

going to shoot first.

will shoot second.

>> Okay. So, we know that Hol's going to

shoot first.

>> You're ready.

>> That's right. So, little little mess up

there. This is our fourth end

>> here. So, this end will be the last end

for this match.

>> And again, this is the eighth seed

shooting with the seventh seed. Whoever

>> wins is going to advance and shoot our

sixth seed.

>> Nine.

>> Good strong shot here. Opening this up

puts it at a 10-point lead. Marcus

shooting his first arrow here. Watch him

get back to full draw. Sight down that

arrow. About an inch and a half crawl.

Increased tension. Shot break. Beautiful

alignment. Oo, that's a 98 line. Let's

see if Judah can handle this

intense pressure here to knock down

another Swede. Backto back Swedes.

Wow, that's beautiful. Very powerful

shot break.

>> Let's watch Marcus' alignment here.

Comes into full draw.

And watch his hand flow right back out

out of his face here.

>> Great, great follow through. I love

watching him shoot.

>> Three-point game here. Judah just needs

to put together one more solid arrow.

>> Intense.

Oh yes, that's good. That was good. So

impressive that group.

>> And Marcus needs a 12 here. And the 12

is not called.

>> It's not enough.

You know, that's interesting that 12

call here. That is the coach's job.

>> All right,

>> let's hear from PJ. We got a close arrow

there, but it's looking like it will

probably be a win for Judah Holmes

>> by three points.

>> I love you, Judah.

Waiting for the final scores here.

Looks like a 107 105 is going to be our

final score there. Marcus Axelson's

going to go home eighth place. He's

going to take home $400. Give it up for

Marcus Axelson.

Judah Holmes is going to advance. He's

taking home $400 for eighth place.

Okay, our sixth seed is Ali Hicks. Ali

Hicks from Reading Great Brin. Second

time on stage. Let's give it up for

Ollie.

[music]

>> All right. So Ali Hicks coming in. By

the way,

>> in this Bearbo category, I I wanted to

mention there's only one shooter in this

whole mix from the United States.

>> Yes, it is. And that seems to be the

same trend as last year. We only had

one.

>> So, let me let me just break it. We're

in Lancaster. Well, this is the

Lancaster Archery Classic here in

Mannheim, Pennsylvania. We've had a

Swede. We have Australians. We now have

Great Britain. We have someone from

Japan from Italy. We have another one

from Great Britain, another shooter from

Sweden, and one person from the United

States. This is the international flare

that this tournament brings.

>> Let's talk about Oliver Hicks here. He's

from Great Britain. He's shooting a Mayo

riser with UCA Limbs. He's been only

shooting for six years. He has multiple

world records in the junior division.

Um, multi-time European champion and

world field [music] silver medalist. He

is a fantastic shot. And like Judah, I

got really excited for the Lancaster

Classic. So, I was interviewing all

these guys leading up to the classic on

my podcast. I also had him on my podcast

last week and he is a fantastic shot.

>> Sernzac, how old are you?

>> I am 40.

>> Oh, you're 40?

>> Yeah.

>> So, the combined age of these two

shooters right now is at 37 years old.

How old do you feel?

>> Yeah. Don't make me feel any older here.

So, Ali Hicks is renowned for his long

long holds as you can see here.

>> 10.

>> Okay. So, in the Bearbo community,

that's a great strong shot from Ali

coming out here. Let's see if the

lighting change here getting bumped to

the left stage does anything. No, it

didn't. And Judah answers with a 10.

Very solid 10 there.

>> No asterisk needed.

>> Here we go. Olly Hick. So, in the Bearbo

community, there's a couple different

ways to skin a cat, right? And there is

what we call triggered shooting versus

non-triggered shooting. So,

non-triggered shooting, we don't have

Olympic clickers. We also don't have a

release aid that breaks when you add

tension to a button. None. So, we kind

of get around these by creating our own

types of triggers because with Bear, you

draw back. You want to get the tip of

the arrow just like it, which is our

sight, and your subconscious brain just

wants to let the arrow go. So, to slow

us down and get through our shot

process, we can do some tricky things

like dropping our fingernail off the

edge of a grip or the edge of a bear

weight or the edge of our tab. And when

that fingernail pops off that edge,

that's our signal to shoot the shot. So

we can draw back and anchor, watch that

thing float, and both of these guys up

here right now are triggered shooters.

And we'll talk about their triggers

during their next end. We're going to

run out of time to get into that. But

great shooting opening up on this first

end of this awesome match of these young

men.

>> Kind of felt like if that was going to

be a 10 and we were going to tie it up,

this thing's going to go down to it. But

still 2729.

>> Hey, BJ Rock. Nobody's going to be able

to touch us. Olly,

how you doing?

>> Yeah, I'm good.

>> Second time, I think you said, on the

classic stage.

>> Second time here. First time on the

stage.

>> First time on stage. All right. How's it

feel?

>> Oh, it feels great.

>> Tell me about that riser cuz I've never

seen one like that before.

>> So, this is the Mayo My from the UK.

It's a 27 in riser. There's also a 25

and it just shoots amazing.

>> All right. run through the rest of your

gear for me while I'm here.

>> So, I've got Ukah limbs, rainbow

strings,

um by drop arrow rest, biter button,

Arcore Iron Bear bow grip, and for

arrows I've got the Eastern AC arrows

with bonox tab uh fair weather um tab

with brass pro plate.

>> All right, thank you for coming. Second

time here, first time on the classic

stage. Congratulations for achieving

that. Uh heading into our second end, we

have a two-point lead for Ali. 2927.

>> Okay.

Okay. For these guys, let's let's watch

Judah. Well, it looks like Oie's going

to shoot his first shot. So, Olive or

Oliver's uh trigger that he's using is

his thumb against the back plate of his

tab. So, it's he's not engaged with it

right now. He's going to come back to

full draw and anchor. And this is going

to be hard to see with the cameras, but

right now he's moving his thumbnail to

the back of his tab on his string hand,

and he's pressing his thumbnail against

the back of that tab. And when it pops

off, that's when he's going to shoot.

And it takes him a long time to get

through it. But that's a way for him to

separate from the aim. Now, Judah has

his ring finger extended down to that

bear bow weight on the front of his

grip. And when that finger slips off the

edge of that, that's when he fires that

shot.

>> Oh, yeah. We saw that.

>> Did you see that? Mhm.

>> So, these two guys are very good at the

triggered shooting here.

>> Very interesting bow. I mean, it it PJ's

right. The thing looks pretty pretty

wicked.

>> It's a very Bearbo uh specific design

here. Uh that's the my bow, my can

riser. It's a very interesting design.

>> Are those bows available in the US?

>> They are.

And so, uh, they have the what they call

the master's weight system, which is

that large gold color, bronze color

weight that inserts into the bottom of

the riser. And those come in different

materials, aluminum, steel, different

weights. They also have provisions of

stabilizer bushings all over the front

of that riser. As you can see, Oliver

has two additional disc weights on the

front of that riser.

>> Uh, just a really cool new entrance into

the Bear Bow, showing that this class is

growing, right? that more and more

manufacturers are making Bearbo specific

risers and weight equipment systems for

this class.

>> 10 or 11

out wide.

>> Okay, three points coming into our third

end here. Bear bow though. It's Bear

Bow. Even with this level, still close.

>> Judah coming from Austral,

Michael Fischer, Hugo Lob. Um, but yeah,

it's a lot of field oriented kind of

shooting. So, field archery. Um, yeah,

it's it's pretty good though. I like it.

>> How'd you hear about the classic in

Australia? Do you watch this at home

when you were there in the years past?

>> Oh, yeah. I've been watching this since

I started. I don't know if somebody's in

Bebo and hasn't heard about the classic,

they've got something wrong going on.

>> There you go. I like it.

All right. And number three, Ali Hicks

with a three-point lead, 5653.

>> So there you go, Zern. Zack, you didn't

really know, did you? You're worldwide.

>> You're world [laughter] known.

>> Yeah,

>> you're a big part of the reason why Bear

Bow is so popular here at the Lancaster

Archery Classic.

>> There's not enough room in this booth

for this head.

>> Oh, stop. By the way, Bearbo is brought

to you by Delta McKenzie and Big Shot

targets here, the venue, Darton, Black

Eagle, and True Ball Excel as we

continue to watch the youth and future

of Bearbo Archery execute at such a high

level here in Pennsylvania. And you

know, this is not our only Brit that's

going to be out here on the final stage.

We have Renee Becker coming out later,

who has been on the final stage before,

which we got a lot to talk about about

Renee. Uh, but these guys are just

putting on such a great show. There we

go. That's what Judah needed here.

Oliver opened up with a great 10.

>> Four-point game coming into the second

arrow of the third end.

>> I just love watching Oliver shoot. Now,

he runs intentionally lightweight. He's

down in the low 30 lb range on this

Bearbo, which most bears are running

between like 38 and 42 lb. And he runs a

really light weight because he's running

that tab sear process, that triggered

shot. He likes to hold. He enjoys it. I

tell I keep telling him like, "Man, I

don't know how you hold that long.

Doesn't it doesn't that create like

panic and shot anticipation?" He's like,

"Oh, no. I absolutely love whenever it's

a long hold." He loves being at full

draw. He just enjoys the process.

>> He must have good control over his mind.

>> Yes, he sure does.

I'm floating there. I wonder if he ever

shot

uh like Olympic type recurve because he

has a release that is just so typical of

what you would see in Olympic recurve,

right? I don't believe

>> explosion of the wrist.

>> He started in bear bow.

>> Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

>> He picked it up.

>> He's got some interesting coaching for

sure.

>> That's right.

>> Here's a strong arrow just like that.

Keeps it at a two-point game coming into

our last end. He keeps it within reach.

>> He keeps it within reach. That was a

clutch arrow.

>> Let's hear for these archers.

>> This is great shooting. Good execution.

>> It really is

>> from both. And look, you can see the

respect

left-handed, right-handed shooters

having to face each other.

>> Absolutely. And it's just so cool to see

this equipment difference. Like we have

the Gilo riser that Jud is using. You

have the new Myo My Can Riser that

Oliver shooting. And these two bows are

specifically designed for Bear archers

for weight precision provisions. It's

just such a cool time to be in Bear Bow.

What do you think the chances are in 10

years of these two coming back to this

stage and shooting against each other

and say, "Oh yeah, we've been friends

ever since 20 26 when we met." Right.

When we met, one's 18, one of them's 19

years old.

>> Yes.

>> And they both speak the same language,

more or less. [laughter]

>> That's right.

>> Australian and British English. That's

right.

>> Mortal. Here we go. Final end. We're

just rolling right into it. Two-point

game. 12 is called from Ali. If I know

him, he's not aiming at it. He's going

to aim for the center of the gold, but

just in case. This live feed brought to

you by True Ball Excel. And of course,

upper left hand part of your screen is

the Dead Center Archery Products

scoring.

>> Oh, look at that arrow. [laughter]

What a clutch arrow. Let's see what

Judah does. He needs to respond here.

See him pressing through that sear on

his weight there with his ring finger.

Oh, a little punchy there. Throws one

out to the seven. He's got to hope that

Oliver has a little hiccup here. It's

not over.

>> Which how Oliver shoots,

>> it's going to be very uncharacteristic

to have a hiccup into the blue, which is

what Judah needs here.

>> Oliver looking pretty steady, man. He's

looking steady, dude.

>> Just look at the target. I mean, his

target is impressive.

>> We got a 12 called here.

>> Why not?

>> He's going to have to He's going to

start have to start aiming at it. That's

a 1 and a2 cm white dot you see down

below. High risk, high reward.

>> Oh my goodness, man. That is so close.

>> Ali still has his 12,2's

going for a 12.

>> No. I mean, he's calling

for He's just going to put it right down

the pipe here.

>> Can you put this one away?

>> All right, that's still solid.

>> That's going to do it.

>> Another 12 called.

>> That's going to do it.

Let's see if he can go out. Go out with

a 12. Look at him smiling a little bit.

He's He wants that 12.

>> This crowd wants it, [laughter] too.

>> Let's go, Judah. Hit that 12.

>> Oh, two good goes at it, man.

>> Yeah, really good goes at a great

showing from the young kid from

Australia.

>> Well done.

All right, here's PJ.

>> Finish in seventh place. He's going to

take home $500 from us. Give it up for

Judah.

[applause]

[music]

Okay, our fifth seed,

Taki Bono from Tokyo, Japan,

shoots at Tokyo International

University. Here comes Taki Bono.

[music]

As the International Flare continues

here at the Lancaster Archery Classic

[music] 2026,

now we have a competitor jumping on to

the main stage from Japan. Yes, Tai

Chano from [music] Japan. 24 years

shooting, switched from Olympic archery

to Bearow. And when you see this guy

shoot his first arrow, you'll know why

he came from Olympic. You You'll

definitely know he came from Olympic.

All Japan National Champ. This dude is

awesome. I got to meet this guy. I've

never seen him shoot before until

[snorts] this year's classic. And man,

just what an awesome guy. Super nice,

really great guy. And I can't wait for

you guys to watch this guy rip a shot

because it is one of the most beautiful

bear bow shots you'll see. 36 years old.

how he got into uh when he started

archery because it looks cool. Why do

you stay in the sport? He wants to be

cool.

>> That's what [laughter] he said. That's

what he said.

>> What What motivates you to stay in the

sport?

>> I want to be cool. [laughter]

>> And for in my book, he's as cool as they

come, man. Look at this.

>> Archery, you could have picked

motorcycle racing.

>> And this is the first Asian Nation

representative here in the Bear Bow

class that we've seen on this final

stage. And look how beautiful that shot

is, Greg. dude just and he knocked out.

He did not have a easy road here. He had

to go through Matt Burgerer who was just

on fire this weekend in his last match.

Uh he took out Colby Cox and who else

did he take out? Wesley Fret just had a

really great showing here. And here he

is. Let's watch his shot. So it looks

like he has about a 1 and 3/4 in crawl.

Three fingers on the string.

See how he addresses and comes into his

anchor. Just very Olympic. And watch the

shot break. And you see how the bow kind

of falls away.

>> Definitely has a long strong background

in the Olympic archery

>> class. Oliver just doing his long hold.

Awesome shooting that he does here.

>> Long hold Hicks getting

>> long hold Hicks. Here we go.

>> 10.

>> And he's just beating up that gold.

Has a one-point lead coming into the

third arrow of first end.

See what Taichi can do.

>> Saddles up into anchor coming in from

below. Sighting down that arrow

using 23 diameter carbon arrows,

>> three flat shield cuts.

>> And on the other side, we have Oliver

Hicks using a skinny arrow. So with Bear

Bow, we're using the tip of the arrow.

So Oliver Hicks, that arrow is going to

be roughly nine ring to nine ring as

it's floating down there. Taichisero

using a 23 is going to be seven ring to

seven ring, eight ring to eight ring,

that kind of thing.

>> That's one way to get to 27 a piece.

Here's PJ.

>> How are you doing?

>> Doing good.

>> Would you pronounce your name for me?

>> Taiichi Bano.

>> Taiichi Bano. Okay. [screaming]

>> You got fans in here. I don't know if I

ever Have you shot the classic before?

>> No, it's for This is first time.

>> First time. I don't know if I ever

recall anyone from Japan coming here to

compete. Is there a big bear community

over there?

>> Yes. Maybe. Maybe.

>> Maybe. Okay.

>> Around 100 shooters. Yeah,

>> about 100 shooters. Well, welcome to the

Langster Archery Classic Finals. We're

glad you came to shoot with us.

Maybe we'll have a whole new contingent

from Japan.

>> Second, first. Looks like we got after

one end, we got a tie match. 2727.

>> Tai Chano 27 points. Oliver Hicks 27

points. Second end. Greg, you pumped?

>> Oh yeah, of course I am. And what's

interesting too about about Banel came

in in his first round. He shot a 109,

then a 113, and then was able to get

here at a 1818. So he's he got better as

he competed, right? So, his first

elimination match, as Greg was saying,

was a 109. His second elimination match

113. And to get here, he posted up a

118, which is monster.

>> Even though he was our fifth place

qualifier, that 118 is the second

highest elimination score.

>> Yeah, a good point.

>> Right. The only other one was a 121.

>> That's right.

>> So, he's got plenty of capability to do

it. It's just a matter of the timing of

tying it all together.

>> That's right.

>> We have two strong arrows here to start

off our second end. eight.

>> Oh, a little loose there in the eight

ring, which is crazy to say that this is

the level that Bearbo got, right?

>> Just a couple years ago, we were talking

to like, "Okay, that's a good solid

shot. Eight. Okay, no problem." Now,

we're like, "Ooh,

>> wow. An eight in the red." Really,

>> it's just been amazing to watch this

class grow,

>> not only in popularity, but also scores.

It's just the what we watched and

witnessed this morning in the

eliminations is absolutely insane. like

the matches and the act absolute titans

of the sport that got knocked out. The

bench is has never been deeper here in

Bear Bow. And that is a great shot from

Taiichi.

>> That's how you make up that 98.

>> I just like saying his name.

>> Taichi.

>> Here we go. Ali Hicks needs a strong

arrow here. Put a 10 ring in there.

Ollie, keep it close.

>> Nine.

>> All right, that'll do. That's great. Tie

score

>> again. 10. Two different ways of getting

there. Beautiful. Here's BJ

>> equipment here. Tell me about your

setup.

>> Uh I'm using Formula XD with uh Axia for

limbs and ho uh weight. Yeah, variable

weight systems and Aqua grips sniper bop

plunger and black mamba T2 tab.

>> Yeah. What's your hours? Uh, Eastern

Super Drive 22 23. Yeah,

>> gotcha. All right, good looking setup

there.

After two ends,

it looks like we are still tied.

>> Yes, that is correct. 555. Let's hear it

for these guys. This is

>> I don't know what he's eating. Little

little [laughter] He better hurry.

>> Little snacking. Yeah, little snacking.

A real quick question uh on the carbon

arrow with bear bow is I don't remember

seeing that as very very common but Oh,

there's a little Yeah, just a bag of a

little cookie. Get one of those young

and skinny.

>> I'm hungry. You You've been stuck in

this booth all day.

>> What? Stuck? No.

>> Here we go. We got the cameraman turning

over the cookies. Let's go.

>> No, he's not. Is he not going to do

that?

>> Oh, there we go. The coach is going to

Oh, serene.

>> Oh, wonder if that's a UK brand.

>> Yeah. I'm like, I don't even [laughter]

heard that before.

>> Haven't you ever heard of Oreos, Ollie?

All right. Would you answer my question

about carbon arrows? Sorry. Go ahead.

So, is carbon arrows now pretty typical?

>> Oh, yeah. Okay. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Carbon arrows are very typical.

There's a lot of new entrance. Not new

entrance. There's always been larger

diameter carbon arrows in for Bear Bow,

but you know, 23 diameter arrows are

>> becoming pretty popular here in the

Bearow community. uh they're a little

tougher to tune to achieve a good solid

tune, but the more information that gets

out there, the more you know, podcasts

and YouTube channels that are promoting

the sport and the more you guys here at

the Lancaster Classic are promoting the

sport.

>> You know, we're seeing skinny diameter

arrows, large diameter arrows, people

are able to tune these rigs. And that's

part of why we're seeing this ceiling of

these scores continuing to rise, world

records continuing to be broke year over

year is because this information is just

getting out there and also it's just

it's like the 4-minute mile, right? Once

that gets broken and these guys are

showing what you can do with these

things, every year we come to the

classic, these Bearbow divisions are

putting on a more and more impressive

show.

>> And it doesn't seem like the Bearbo

community is gatekeeping any of their

information. It's always you can come to

this classing and that's why I try to

push as many people that have an

interest whether you're a traditional

bow hunter or you're somebody that's

kicking the tires of wanting to maybe

change classes from Olympic recurve or

compound

>> to come and play because we just we

share information. You can walk up to

any legend of the sport and they're

going to tell you how they do what they

do.

>> Here's PJ big swing in this match.

>> Targets up there. How you feeling?

>> It's feeling good. Like it's nice having

fun up here. like just enjoying my

experience.

>> You seem pretty loose. No nerves.

>> Nah, it's fine.

>> Nah, it's fine.

[laughter]

>> Another day at the office, he says.

Olly Hicks. Another day at the office.

>> Long hold.

>> Long hold.

>> Long Hicks [laughter]

>> getting after it, having a good time.

>> I love it.

>> I love it.

>> He got involved with archery from a

local scout group.

>> Yep.

>> Yep.

>> And uh you know, he just feels like that

he's has a lot of fun in archery and he

has more to achieve

>> like winning the Lancaster Classic.

Maybe

>> that a wouldn't be bad coming from the

six seed.

>> That's right. Last and final end here.

Let's see what these guys do.

>> There's still 12s at play.

>> 12s are still in play.

>> Piano has got nothing to lose when it

comes to that.

>> No.

>> Here we go.

>> First arrow, final end to see who moves

on to face our next contestant.

>> Oh, that's a great arrow. Look at that

target. Look at that target.

>> Yeah, it's crazy.

>> This dude is just hammering.

>> TaichiOo.

He has such a fun name to say. He is a

beautiful shot, man. The shot break.

Bang. So beautiful.

>> God dang.

>> I'm going to watch this broadcast over

and over again just to watch him

struggle.

>> Use it for some students.

>> I know. No kidding.

>> This is putting on a clinic. These guys

are putting on a clinic.

>> If you enjoy aiming though,

>> this guy, [laughter]

look at that.

>> He's got a compound aim. He does too.

>> Mhm. Looking good. Taichi Bano. He's an

11 here.

Full draw. Shot break

>> 10.

>> Oh, that's it. That's good. That's good.

Okay. Oliver needs to put it in the gold

to keep the pressure on.

>> Tai Chi.

>> He's not even looking at 12 though.

>> Nope.

>> Bano is not looking at it yet.

>> No, he's not. And this is important with

the coach. We talked about this during

Marcus Axelson. So, he So, it's going to

be out of reach. But

>> but he's going for it. He's going to see

if he can put on a show and at least

give some something to cheer for.

>> Make all the archers back home in Japan

proud of him. Man, what a great showing.

He really put on a great show.

>> Eight.

>> Oh, Lord. Okay, that's fine.

>> I mean, if he would not have needed that

12 and was aiming for the middle, I

mean, he would have posted up a solid

110 here. First time on the big stage.

110 is insanely respectable score here

for 4 to PJ

>> Taichi.

[applause]

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Okay, our fourth seed in Barbo,

Simone Barbari.

Simone Barbari from Martino, Italy.

Third time on the stage. Let's give it

up for Simone.

[music]

[music]

All right. So, Simony Barbieri comes in.

>> You know, I remember this from the last

time you was on the stage. You love

saying it. As much as [music] I liked

saying Chai Chibano, you like saying

Simone,

man. This dude, the Italian killer, man.

>> Well, you have to understand, too, that

the, uh, the company that provides our

timing and scoring system, uh, Incoian,

they Yeah, they like to beat me [music]

up over my pronunciation in Italian. The

33year-old here, only been shooting for

5 years. Barviier man. He's the Italian

killer. [music] He is amazing. He like

this archery highlights world games 2025

champion. But it the list goes on and

on. He has so many championships here.

He just placed extremely well. Won's

kings of archery. Uh memes. He's just

always at the podium. You anytime that

there's a bearboat competition, he's

there. Yeah. World Games European Field.

And you know when you ask somebody why

you started archery, there's so many

reasons why. A lot of it, you know. Oh,

I learned in high school. My dad brought

it into him. His simple explanation,

drugs were too expensive. [laughter]

>> Barbie, the cap to you, man.

>> This this dude is awesome. He like if

there's a Bearb competition around, you

can guarantee he's going to be in the

finals somewhere. And he's a hammer man.

I love watching him shoot. And he was a

favorite this year. He is ex shooting

this year and last year. He's been

shooting exceptionally well on the

Bearbo circuit and over there in Europe.

There's a lot of competitions and I

think that's why we're seeing so many of

these Europeans dominating the Lancaster

stage the last few years is because

they're traveling over here and they're

indoor season starts in August,

September, October. They have months

under their belt and this is really our

big opening one. We have

>> the Rushmore Rumble before this and

that's pretty much it,

>> right? These guys are tournament

hardened before they even come here and

they have tons of tournaments under

their belt before the end of January.

It's also kind of the culture with

archery in the United States is you and

tend to take this big break right from

September to like around New Year's

because it's hunting season. Hunting

season a lot of people who own archery

shops in the US they don't feel like

they want to have tournaments because

they feel like there won't be

participation where in Europe you don't

have as much of that. You have some but

not as much. So it's like hey let's just

keep exactly right. So Barbie here he's

just getting a feel for the stage

getting a feel for the lighting. His

first air was down the pipe. his left,

his second arrow was a touch left. So,

it's interesting what he's thinking

right now.

>> 10

>> and Oliver long hold fix uh you know

doing what he does.

>> Yeah, he's in the groove right now and

even though you move him off the spot,

the lighting here has been so

consistent. I don't think it's really

been much of a factor.

>> That's right.

>> Barbie has such a strong shot. Very

uncharacteristic. He's making a twist on

the plunger. He did a full twist and a

half it looked like on his plunger

>> to PJ once more.

Simone, welcome back to the classic

stage. Third time you said you've been

here. How did you finish the other

times?

>> The first time? Second or third? Third.

>> Third. Okay. Uh, how does it feel? Does

it get any easier? How's your nerves

feeling?

>> No, I'm not nervous.

>> No nerves.

>> Why not? Why would you? Well, welcome

back, Simone. We appreciate you coming

to the classic. Every year we always get

a lot of archers from Italy

and we appreciate that.

So, looks like after the first end,

we've got a 28 24 lead for Ali Hicks.

>> I suppose if you have weights like you

do in front of his bow,

>> you don't want to meet him in a dark

alley with that bow in his hand. Yeah,

that thing. [laughter] Uh, he's like,

"Yeah, whatever. Whatever's clever."

>> Yeah, that's right. He has he has some

uh very interesting Bearbo weights. You

know, Bearbo, we are a colorful bunch

and you know, the manufacturers make

awesome weights that really uh are

attractive to our personalities.

>> Reflect the individualistic. That's

right. By the way, Bear being brought to

you by Delta McKenzie. Big shot.

>> And of course, right here in the venue.

>> Here we go. 24 to 28. Four-point game.

Second end.

Oh, long haul hicks. Long hold hicks.

Long haul.

>> He's a trucker.

>> Yeah, he's a [laughter] trucker.

>> Here we go. Let's see what he does here.

>> Do opening up.

>> He's marching through the field and he

really long.

>> Looks good down the pipe. Left and

rights are looking good.

>> Yeah, but like like that was the first

time that I'm like, "Oo, like that was a

high nine." Like he's just been so

consistently in the middle.

>> He has been. You see a good look at

those bear bow weights there. the axe

handles.

>> Yesesh.

>> Yep.

>> I love

>> I want to drop that bow on my face.

>> Love Barbie's shot process here. Another

twist. Another full twist on the plunger

there right after that shot hit the

target. So, he's dialing it in.

>> He's shooting a good group, man. Look at

those arrow holes in that target. Next

time we see it, he's just going to once

he gets it shooting down the middle,

>> he's going to start racking up the

points here.

>> Couple eight so far this match for

Hicks. Yeah. And again, where the sport,

where this class has come for us to be

sitting here going, "Oo, waits."

>> There we go. Down the middle.

>> We know Olympic recurvers can, you know,

if if you're This is what you do. You're

Brady Ellison. You're Casey Coughfield.

You are 300 to 400 arrows per day.

>> Y

>> do we see that kind of arrow volume with

Bearow shooters as well or is it just

slightly?

>> I mean, we're we're doing this we're not

pros, right? We're not doing this

full-time. So, we're we're going to

league nights. We're training. But I

mean, these guys, the top of the class,

the guys that are consistently getting

up here on the stage and doing and

putting on the show that these guys are

putting on, you know, they're they're

training. They're training four or five

days a week, and they're putting in 150

to 250 arrows every time they're at the

range. So, I mean, it's this is a

difficult discipline in archery, and

these guys put the time in. And there he

is. He's found it. It took him two

almost two and a half full rotations on

that plunger to move from left to right.

And that's how important lighting is

here.

>> PJ

>> Simone, we like to tell folks about your

equipment. Tell me what you're shooting

today. And shooting with Gilo G1 sniper

rest

win limbs

AC arrows later. Not

exad.

Gotcha. All right.

Good setup there for Simone. And after

that end,

that was a clean looking end, but Ali

Hicks

maintains a three-point lead going into

our third and 5552.

So, let's talk about the road here that

Barbieri had to take to get here. And

also, we're going to look down [music]

this bracket tree for the eliminations

because it shows how deep the bench is

in Bear these days. Barbie had to take

out Zack Bissinger, the current men's

Bearbo world record holder. It was a

absolutely thrilling match there. Barbie

also had to take out Chris Kent Rodman

from Canada who was on the fe the final

stage who made that insane run last

year. I think he won like four or five

matches last year. Zack Bissinger, who

got knocked out here in the last end for

for Barbie to make it to the stage. He

went a headto-head against John Demer

and knocked him out to make it to

Barbie. And man, it's just unbelievable

how deep this bench actually is in Bear

Bow these days. Amazing. He's got a bit

of a mountain to climb.

>> 11. [laughter]

Look at that right there. Tie one arrow.

One arrow tied up. One arrow. Yes. This

is what we want. This is what the

viewers watching this live stream want.

Hold. Long hold Hicks. He's He's giving

it a go. Let's see what he's got here.

>> He's very capable of an 11 for an

answer.

10.

>> All right. That's very That's nice. The

stage bump seemed to open up his group

just a little bit here on the left stage

there for Oliver.

>> Yeah. And if you're the next if if if

Oliver Hicks advances,

>> you want as a next competitor, somebody

have an eye on what's going on. I

probably would move him off the side.

>> Just leave him there. Leave him there.

Oh, that's a great arrow. My goodness.

>> He's figured it out once he got that

left and right. I mean, look at his

target. His target is the elevation is

perfect.

>> It's just slightly left. He fixed it

after that first and second end. And

here we go. Now he's just pedal down

>> nine.

>> That's a great arrow from Oliver.

>> 82 there.

>> All eyes on the dead center scoring at

the top of your screen to see what

happens here.

>> Barbie area 10 would be a beautiful

thing. Or 11. That'd be nice too.

>> Whatever.

>> Seven.

>> Oh, drifted wide a little. That's

>> He looked a little baffled too after

that.

>> He's looking at his coach looking for

some feedback. What the heck happened is

what he's saying. Here's PJ.

>> Great Britain. We had Sweden, Japan,

Australia. Am I missing anybody so far

that we've had international melting

pot?

We appreciate everybody coming over for

the classic

from all over the world.

So, two points.

>> The last last end we saw a three-point

swing.

>> Oh,

>> the 10 got changed to an 11,

>> man.

>> Okay, so we got one point closer,

>> but we saw a three-point swing there in

the last end.

>> Mhm.

>> Coming out of the second end into the

third end. That first arrow of the third

end. Boom. A three-point swing. And

there we go. We tied it up in one arrow.

So, anything can happen. The 12 is

already called by Ali. Let's see what

Barbieri does here. You might as well

just have it on for the last three,

right? You might as well. Here we go.

Ali long hold. Hicks got the 12 called.

Is this a bluff or is he going to

[laughter]

>> It's a bluff.

>> Or is he going for it?

>> I don't think he has much time as good

as he shoots in Bearbo to play some

poker. He's going right down the middle.

>> 30 second shot clock.

>> That looks close. It does look like he

has it. That's a great opening arrow

here in the final end.

>> Let's go.

>> Nice aim here. Watch this shot break.

It's a beautiful thing. Yes.

>> Yes. For sure.

>> 11 liner.

>> Oh my.

>> Oh man.

This is what we want. What a

demonstration here.

>> Look at a little bit of nerves now.

>> Yeah, there's some shake there. You can

see this like his bungee from his arm

guard. Look at that shaking.

>> I can see it in his release, too.

>> Got to watch that float. Execute a shot.

[laughter]

>> Ali nerves.

>> Ali, look at that big big breath. I love

it.

>> Just one more. He's telling himself one

more.

>> Barbary here.

>> 10. Man, these guys.

This is a massive arrow.

>> Still

>> for the 19year-old.

>> Yes, it is.

>> He still has the 12 light on, which is

fine.

>> Yep. Right down the middle he goes.

>> Just in case.

>> There's some shake. Look, his float is

bigger than what it's been. Big arrow.

Okay, that's pretty solid. Here we go.

And 11. 11 will tie. Oh, yeah. 11 will

tie. Yep. Doing live math here for the

for the viewers here.

Here we go. Full draw. Oh, nice. He's

slow and steady. That was much slower

than his original tempo. Let's see what

he does here.

[laughter]

>> Couple millm the difference.

>> Man, what a demonstration.

>> We'll wait for the official score, but

it's

>> 112 to 11.

>> Wow.

>> Simone Barbieri. Incredible. Incredible

demonstration. These two guys, everyone,

everyone so far has just put on a show.

>> 111 112. I mean, these are solid scores.

When you are not on center stage at the

Lancaster Archery Classic, when you are

in the hall shooting, nobody's paying

attention to you now. All eyes on you.

And this is such a high level

>> 30s to to end this thing

>> to have to take a seat on one point

after that.

>> Oh my god.

>> Judges really closely looking at it. So,

let's take a listen.

>> Yeah. a look and see.

>> Okay, so judge is still looking at it.

>> Yeah, they're looking they're looking

looking at the scores going to give us

the sign. Are we all tied or is there a

winner?

>> Look at these archers to advance Barbie.

>> It's a win. It's a win.

>> It's a win for

Oh, great showing from Barbie, man.

Congrats. What a great showing from the

Italian. So Oliver Hicks from sixth

place seed now with a couple victories

under his belt is going to meet our lone

American in the field. Let's get to PJ.

>> Okay.

All right. It's time for our third seed,

Robbie Wesson Wesinger from De Moine,

Iowa.

Known Rob a long time, but it's his

first time on stage here at the classic.

>> [music]

>> All right. So, here comes the 27year-old

Robbie Weisinger. Took a year off from

shooting, went to uh become a

firefighter, [music]

now back at it. He picked up the bow

again here this winter and now [music]

he is hammering. He has put on a great

demonstration. He's been shooting for 14

years. World Field 3D Championship team.

Robbie is just [music] an incredible

shooter. Shoots at the same club as Zach

Bissinger, the current men's Bearbow

World Record holder. And uh those guys

[music] just go back and forth. This

classic score 578. Unbelievable with the

Bear Bow. Man, he was shooting so strong

this weekend and still is [music]

obviously he's here on the final stage.

>> That was the initial qualification round

660. He was the number one seed after

adding the scores for the three

elimination matches. That's where he is.

99 points total for the weekend. And he

comes out of the gate hot in a

firecracker.

>> That's right.

>> Going to go for it.

>> Nine.

>> Okay.

>> Shooting a three spot [music] target.

>> Not scared.

>> Not scared at all. Gonna keep that 12

called for this. He's just gonna burn up

his twelves here right off the bat.

Oliver Hicks now so deep. So many

arrows.

>> Nine.

>> Keeping that blood sugar up. That's

right.

>> With his cookies.

>> Mhm.

>> Oh yeah. He's turning that 12 off. Good

idea. Good. You didn't want to waste it.

That 12 was called just in case the

lighting caused him to hit low.

>> Oh yeah, that's a good strategy. Just

come out. You're going to shoot your

strong scout arrow if you happen to hit

a 12. Okay, great. It's called. No big

deal.

>> Looks like he's hanging a little right

here with this lighting. See if he makes

an adjustment on this plunger. I don't

see him reaching forward. So, he's going

to just run with it. Oliver Hicks here.

Now, we talked about this where he was

struggling here with the left side

stage. Robbie took your advice.

>> He left him [laughter] there.

>> No.

>> Here we go. Two nines. Very solid

opening here in this match.

>> By the way, the winner of this match is

guaranteeing themselves a podium finish.

>> So, a lot on the line for both of these

archers.

>> Okay. you wonder. So, another way we can

adjust our left and rights is by

adjusting our string blur. If we don't

want to touch our plunger, you can move

that string blur and chase your impacts.

>> Okay, so he might have overcorrected by

moving his string blur a little bit

after those first two arrows and then he

went the opposite direction there.

>> Nine.

>> Oh, that's a great group from Oliver.

He's going to keep the pedal down here.

He's shooting so strong. So, two-point

advantage right off rip. Here's PJ. some

intense elimination matches to get here.

Robbie, welcome back to the classic

final stage. How's it feel?

>> It's uh pretty incredible. You guys put

on a heck of a show.

>> We appreciate that. Run through your

setup for us, Robbie.

>> So, I'm shooting the original Exceed and

Axial Limbs designed by the greatest

recurve engineer of our time, Douglas

Denton. Also designed by Douglas. We can

clap for that.

>> Clap for

>> Doug Denton. Great.

>> Doug Denton, baby. So, he also designed

this Ramrods weight. This is new. Um,

should be coming around the Vegas time.

Uh, Ramrods weights, AE plunger, AE

rest, uh, gas bow strings, [music] Wler

winter cutlery, slings, and a Jagger

grip that Yaka and I designed.

And arrows. We're shooting uh, Eastn

Superdrive 23s.

All right. Congratulations for making it

back here, Robbie.

Robbie killed a giant deer last month

and I'm super jealous of that. But he

lives in Iowa and I live in

Pennsylvania, so you got to factor that

in.

Of course, it's the NASP program and bow

hunting that got Robbie into the sport

initially.

And um you know, he says, "What made

motivates you to stay in the sport is a

question that we ask these guys before

they come out and pursuit of

perfection." And I love bow hunting.

>> There you go.

>> He's a great kid. He's one of the nicest

people you meet in a great shot.

>> He's 27. He's a kid.

>> That's right.

>> Really? [laughter]

>> Take it easy, Gramps.

>> Yeah. Right.

>> You're exactly right. Especially with

Ollie out here at at

>> 19 years old.

>> Continuing to just elevate his game in

front of us.

>> That's right. That's so great. What a

great shot here to open up our second

end. Robbie here just running his

process. Robbie's really big on positive

affirmations, like the soft skill side

of archery, right? Our hard skill side

being technical, understanding bow tune,

getting on the practice range, shooting

your bow, but we all know there's a

whole mental side of the sport that you

can do um to try to build up your your

game, build up your self-image, build up

your confidence. And he was back there

just sitting by himself. Everyone was

warming up and he's just reading out of

his notebook of his positive

affirmations.

>> Um just a really cool guy.

It's so important, isn't it? That soft

science and getting your mind right.

>> That's right. I mean,

>> your bow's going to do what your bow's

going to do.

>> 10, man.

>> You know, if you're a lot of bow torque

on that one, but great shot.

>> If you're shooting bear bow,

>> at some point you have to ask yourself,

if I put this piece of equipment

>> in Brady Ellison's hand, right?

>> Yep.

>> Would he shoot better than I did?

>> Yeah. Right.

>> Right. Good question.

>> If the answer is yes, then you know it's

just you got something mental to work

on. I mean, styled in This is definitely

a very mental sport, but because of the

crawling, because of putting the bow out

of tune for different distances, if

you're shooting 3D or field, you know,

it's a very highly technical sport.

>> Man, let me ask you a question since I'm

not the most educated on the plunger. If

you're adjusting the plunger to get the

arrow left and right, is it also not

affecting the tune?

>> It does. It is affecting the tune.

So there is going to be a limit left and

right limit of like hey if I turn this

thing too much

>> it's going to basically I'm going to

tune right yeah right out of the arrow

spine basically

>> but here in indoor it's 20 yards we're

just trying to move it an inch or two

left and right it's not that big of a

change now in field archery some guys

are setting they're using their whole

range of their plunger because in field

archery we're having to shoot from 5 m

all the way out to 55 m you know so

you're you're using your whole crawl

down that string you're using a whole

width of your cab. And so you're really

d-tuning your bow and those arrow

impacts, you start tuning your bow at

20, 30 yards, it'll start climbing up

your target left and right. So you're

actually having to use the full range of

your plunger to get your [music] impacts

down the middle. If you're not familiar

with field archery, it's just another

game that we play. And it's multiple

targets, can be 24 or 28 targets set in,

say, you know, a woods environment. You

shoot up, you can shoot down. The

targets are set at very specific

distances. Think golf or sporting

>> clays. That's kind of how I like to

talk. And it is so much fun. And it's

the hardest discipline in question

because it's not just shooting. It's

thinking, right?

>> It's it's a thinking archer sport,

>> especially with bear bow. I mean, I

think about one target facing the sun in

one angle, turning around for the next

target, and trying to figure that out in

three to four arrows depending on

>> That's right.

>> You know, if you're say USA Archery or

World Archery or NFAA, that's crazy.

Here we go. Robbie needs to recover. Oh,

another

>> He did not call the 12.

>> He did not. He was not going for it.

Just hit a little low. He looks

perplexed at the moment why he hit so

low.

>> Here we go. Oliver Hicks just needs to

keep the pedal down and keep shooting

the groups he's been shooting.

Just such an impressive young dude.

>> I mean, long hold Hicks, right? Just so

steady.

>> Look at him like through these whole all

these matches.

>> Just the mental discipline he has to

work through that tab sear every single

time. He will not shoot the arrow until

his fingernail pops off that back of

that tab.

>> He's so disciplined. 10.

>> That's a great shot from Robbie. He

really needed that.

>> Close to 11.

>> Oliver Hicks here.

Third and final arrow. Got a nice little

group down there.

No score on the screen at the moment.

8 seconds left on the clock. Six, five,

four,

>> 11.

>> Oh, man. 3 seconds left. Strokes and 11.

>> He burned clock at the front end cuz he

was breathing, but

>> Exactly.

>> All right, Robbie's a little loose here.

>> Get a score update in a minute.

>> Man, Oliver Hicks shooting so strong.

>> Bearbo, let's hear it for these archers.

So we expect the 25 for Robbie totaling

76,

>> but that 30 totaling 85 for Hicks.

That's a big swing, especially with how

tight Oliver has been shooting. You

know, Robbie did not have [music] an

easy road here. He had to knock out Joel

Turner of Shot IQ in his final match.

Robbie also had to knock out Grayson

Partllo,

>> which is incredible.

>> Mhm.

>> Uh just a support, right? Like this is

the first time you be legitimized or you

guys legitimized.

>> Pretty incredible watching Olly Hicks

and this run that the sixth place. Yes,

>> it's very challenging, but thank you for

that. Thank you, Rob. Thank you everyone

at Lancaster. We loved it. We had a

great time.

>> All right. Thank you, Matt Yaka. Yes, we

appreciate the support for Longo.

Definitely had a big turnout this year.

I believe it was 10 and something

turned out for that.

And we certainly love seeing them all

here.

>> Here we go. 85-74.

>> That was totally

>> And

of course, brought to you by Delta

McKenzie and Big Shot targets.

>> Bearbo sponsors. Thank you. Thank you.

>> Yep.

>> Putting on the show.

>> You can see from our dead center scoring

85-74.

And really Hicks just jumped on the gas,

found another gear, and started to pull

away.

>> Ollie Hicks with 85. Robbie Weissing 74.

>> Once again, we're up to our third place

qualifier. So Olly Hicks came in number

six. Robbie is sitting at third. And so

the winner of this match guarantees

themselves a podium finish here at the

2026 Lancaster Archery Classic. But

there are a couple of powerhouse airboat

shooters.

>> There's a couple better dogs coming out.

>> They're hanging over in the practice

range right now waiting to be called

into the Olympic Hall.

>> Can't wait to see them.

>> Can't wait to see them.

>> Olympic Hall of course supported by

Darden Black Eagle and True Ball Excel.

That scoring brought to you by Dead

Center. And this feed being brought to

you by True Ball Excel. There we go.

Oliver Hicks full draw. First arrow of

the final end. 10point

lead.

>> Oh yeah,

>> quite a bit of movement there.

>> Lot of movement there.

This is a little bit of an opening for

Robbie here.

>> Can't capitalize on it.

>> Y close the gap by a point.

>> Robbie's going, by the way, 12. That's

Robbiey's 12 that you see.

>> Yeah, that's Robbiey's 12.

>> Mhm.

>> Oliver's 12 is the one you see just to

his right.

>> Uh right over PJ's shoulder. Yep.

>> Full draw. Pushing through that tabs

here.

Shot break. There we go. Right down the

middle.

>> Good shot here.

>> Let's see if Robbie's going to shoot. He

gets it fired quickly

>> and it No, not going to get it done.

Just to the left.

>> Just to the left.

>> 12.

>> Well, all right. Hicks has called a 12.

>> Yes, he has.

This is interesting to call that 12. But

yeah, he's probably feeling the nerves

here. Final arrow just in case he shoots

a little low. He's going to be aiming

for the middle here.

>> 11point game coming into the final

arrow. He just needs to put it down the

middle.

>> Just under seven.

>> That was such an interesting I mean,

maybe he just maybe he just had enough

of the lead. He's like, you know what?

Why not?

>> Plus, he's shooting a single spot, so he

doesn't have the the threat of missing

it down low. And

>> maybe he's just practicing for later.

Yeah, that's interesting. That's such a

great strategy.

>> Kind of what? Like smart compound.

>> That's smart. He had enough lead to be

able to do that. Yep. That's cool.

>> So Weisinger comes in as your number

three seed and he falls as many have to

Olly Hicks.

The Titan killer from Great Britain

having his way

>> and now guaranteeing himself a podium.

>> Rob CPO

is Renee Becker from Veteran Serve Great

Britain.

Ray [music] Becker from Bet

Great Britain. Second time on stage.

Let's give him a hand.

Here

he is,

Renee Becker. No stranger to the final

stage. We remember him. We remember his

awesome Captain America homemade Bearbo

weight.

>> That's right. He's the man. That's

right.

>> And fun fact, guess who traveled from

the UK over together? Guess who's

rooming together? Oliver Hicks and Renee

Becker.

>> Oh, you don't say.

>> Oh, roommates here.

>> There we go.

>> Team sponsor from UKA. Shooting for 10

years. National indoor champion back in

the UK. [music] Renee Becker is a killer

on the indoor stage.

>> She's out of the famed Kloppill Archery

Club.

>> Like I like I know what I'm talking

about.

>> Yeah. I don't have any idea.

>> I just like the name. That's awesome.

Yep. Also sponsored by Ukah Merlin

Archery, Rainbow Strings SS Wings, IFA

World Indoor Champion, National Indoor

Champion back in the UK. Shooting a

three-spot target. He's a very

intelligent engineer. We had him on the

podcast back in December. uh designs all

of his equipment. Um designs [music] all

of his funky bear bow weights that you

see. He designed and manufactured his

own plunger, his own rest, his own tab,

his bear bow weights, his tiller bolts.

Like this dude makes pretty much

everything but the riser and limbs.

Let's see if he's got any intimidation.

So this guy, you'll watch him. He's so

diligent. He's the last person off the

line. He uses every second of the clock

when he's shooting elimination matches.

Everyone's off the line. He's literally

loading up his third arrow and there's

no one on the line.

>> Mhm.

>> He's so diligent. Little hitch there.

>> Feeling a little bit of that pan

>> and it didn't matter. Look at him pull

through that. Good for you, Renee. That

was an awesome arrow. Oh, that was

great. Olly Hicks back on the right

stage.

See if it feels like home to him.

>> Good move to move him off that spot. Two

matches agree 100%.

>> Oh, feels like home. No big deal. Right

down the middle again. Renee Becker

super diligent. We remember the winks

and blinks,

>> making sure everything's aligned

properly.

>> Boom.

>> Nine.

>> Good shot.

>> I probably asked you this question. So

that's more of an alignment thing, not

an eye dominance thing.

>> So that's a good question. I don't know

what the purpose of the winks are, what

he's checking, if he's actually checking

something, looking at string blur, um

looking at alignment. I'm thinking that

it's just kind of get a thingous

process. That's right.

>> Oh,

tied up after two.

>> Here we go. Super disciplined shot

process.

>> Nine.

>> Okay. And a little liner there

on our dead center scoring. For a

moment, it had eight. It does have the

eight asterisks. Yep, there it is.

>> That'll be checked by a judge.

>> Ali going up against this countrymen.

>> Oh, look at that group, dude. Look at

that group. The right stage is home to

him. He's feeling at home to be like,

"Good move." Good move off my spot.

Thanks, Renee. Thanks, buddy. Here's PJ.

>> Back to the classic final stage. How's

it feel to be back here?

>> Uh, just as nervous as ever.

>> Just as nervous as ever.

>> Yeah. Do you get to shoot against Olli

much?

>> Uh, funny enough, I've only shot with

him like twice this year. Maybe twice in

one whole year.

>> Okay. So, you're not finding a comfort

level in the two of you being up here?

>> Yeah. No, we've been avoiding each

other. [laughter]

>> All right. Well, Renee, we appreciate

you coming over and competing with us.

Looks like after the first

>> and of course this Bear Bow shoot up

finals being brought to you by Delta

McKenzie and Big Shot Targets.

And we have uh the Battle of Britain.

>> Battle of Britain. Here we are. Is that

a thing? It is now.

>> It's so late.

>> It is now. Renee Becker had to take out

Jeremiah Jones, another top bear bow

competitor to get here in his final

match of eliminations. And that was an

awesome match as well to watch. And now

he's going up against his countryman,

his roommate, his travel companion, and

his competitor from Great Britain,

Oliver Hicks,

running the Maybo, My Can Bear Bow

Riser, and shooting it quite well, I

must say.

>> You could say that many times fast.

>> Yes, there it is. Another gold for

Oliver

Renee there with the winks and blinks.

What I also find interesting is where

he's actually centered on his stage. If

you look at his feet position again,

he's way over right side justified.

Yeah.

>> Hicks standing in the middle of the

platform.

>> Yep.

>> Lined up straight with the target, but

uh yeah, you can see that Becker got his

own process doing his own thing.

>> Absolutely.

>> Oh no. 12 called

>> Hicks. Hit the button after the fact.

>> Hurry. Maybe no one noticed. [laughter]

Hurry, hurry, turn around. Just clapping

there.

>> Here we go, Renee. Full draw.

>> Oh, little hitch there. Oh, getting

tension back in the system there. He had

a little bleed of tension. Saw that on

his front bow arm. Then you saw a push

again right towards the target. Got back

into his process and just put it right

in the 10 ring. That was awesome.

>> Utilizing the whole clock. That's right.

30 second shot clock. Every time that

your competitor's arrow impacts the

target, your clock starts. There's 12

seconds on the clock for Hicks.

>> 10 N.

>> Plenty of time. There we go. Good solid

arrow.

>> Mhm.

>> But the door is open. That low arrow

in that 12 ring without the call. Really

left the door open here. 10-point game.

Renee throws a 10 here. That would be

what he needs coming to close out this

second end.

11.

>> That's what he did right there. 11 say

every time I say that just throw an 11.

>> It's like the [laughter] commentator's

curse in reverse.

>> I love you.

>> Rene, tell us about your bow you're

shooting here. I especially want to talk

about those weights, but tell us

everything.

>> Uh, I'm shooting a Win-win CXT riser.

Uh, ukulele. These are my own weights,

my own rest, my own plunger. Uh,

shooting a rainbow strings string.

Bonox Eastern AC um Eastern ACC arrows.

>> Gotcha.

>> All right. So, you make your own

weights.

>> Yeah.

>> All right.

Always cool to see different setups

folks have in Bearbo.

And we had a switch after that end.

Renee Becker takes a one-point lead.

5655.

Two ends down, two to go.

before our finals match. Give it up for

these guys.

[applause]

>> So, the cool thing about Rene's rig

there, you can look at those at the

lower end and how his bearbow weights

are designed. The bear bow has to fit

through a 12.2 cm aluminum ring, the

inspection gauge, and you can see how

his bottom weights are slightly offset

vertically. And basically what you can

do is you can slide that up that lower

limb and as soon as you hit those

weights, you can start fishing it

forward and backwards to get over that.

And it's just a way to get around the

rules. You got just got to fit through

the ring. And if whatever you got to do

to get that bow to balance just exactly

how you like it.

>> Do you know if he makes these components

for just himself?

>> None of this stuff is for sale. And I

love his plunger. I would buy one of his

plungers cuz he added these thumb screws

this year compared to last year uh to

where that whole plunger is fully

disassembble. Uh you can maintain it

from a maintenance perspective all

without any tools.

>> Amazing.

>> Super cool. Super cool. And last year,

Renee, I don't know if you remember this

story, uh, but it's kind of adding to

the lore of Becker, uh, he had his

luggage get lost on the way over here,

and he had to use a borrowed bow

>> in his qualification round, and he still

made the cut.

>> And then his actual bow showed up that

night. He had to go and get it,

>> get it all tuned up, ready to rock, and

then he went through eliminations and

made it to the final stage with his bow.

>> Pretty incredible.

>> Tubo Becker.

>> Tubbo. See a full draw.

>> No,

>> that looked good. That looked good. No

loss of tension in his shot process

there. He's just shooting pretty strong

here now. 19-year-old

Hicks

from Reading.

>> Nine.

>> Nine. There we go. One-point lead for

Oliver here. Final arrow of the third

end.

Renee would do

really well here with a 10 or 11. Put

some pressure on Oie coming into the

last end.

>> Nine.

>> Okay, that's a good solid error.

12 is called

>> 12.

>> I don't know about

>> he hasn't he hasn't used a 12 yet this

round.

>> Yeah.

>> Right. So So this is his last arrow and

he's probably going to call it for the

whole

>> last end, right? Use all four of them.

>> Mhm.

>> All four right at the end.

>> Eight.

>> Okay. 8181 coming into the final end.

>> That was a big opportunity for Hicks,

too.

>> Yep.

>> Yes.

>> Absolutely.

>> This is what you like. Again,

>> the winner of this match goes to shoot

against our number one qualifier. The

loser of this match, still podium, by

the way, and still going to earn

themselves $2,000.

>> Yeah, man.

>> The winner of Bearbo, $8,000.

So great. And that just goes to show you

how popular this class is getting that

the prize money is also increasing at

this great.

>> It's right in a line with Olympic

recurve at this point.

>> It's amazing.

>> Yeah. The only payout larger in this

tournament is open pro category.

>> It's amazing. which is coming up after

this. But $20,000

from Lancaster Archery Classic to the

winner of that one, but yeah, Bearbo has

just been awesome.

>> Limited crowd here today because of the

weather moving in. Very uncharacteristic

of the Bearbo vibe here, right? This is

such a party here normally. Basically

what happened was typically we have we

would have had long bow women's bear bow

and to wrap up the evening Saturday

evening this men's bear bow final this

place would have been standing room only

going absolutely nuts but we have

>> 14 in of snow starting to drop any

minute now.

>> Yeah, exactly here. And as you move down

south it's going to get worse. Ice is

projected. So a lot of people come from

all over the United States and so those

that were driving up north are like

>> we got to get out of here. Yeah, we got

to get out of here before this snow

rolls in.

>> Oh, yes. Yes. That's a great arrow from

Oliver here to open up our final end.

>> And that 12 is Oliver. So, knock back 12

just for a reminder.

>> He still has the 12 on,

>> but he's using it as a just in case.

>> Just in case.

>> Little Bojitsu there.

>> Right side eight. Oliver. This is a good

position for Oliver to be in.

>> He's been shooting so strong all night.

Now the three-point advantage

to move on.

>> Oh, that looks clean. That looks so

clean, Greg.

>> Oh my gosh, what an arrow.

>> Renee here needs to do something pretty

drastic with the groups that all he's

been producing tonight.

>> Nine. Okay,

now up to four.

Another 10 will do it. Oh, please

get this dagger.

>> Draw

>> nine.

>> Oh, you heard the arrow slap. That looks

like a bounce out. Nine.

>> 3D archers know about the glance out.

>> It's going to be out of reach with a 12

if the scores hold where they're at

right now.

>> And of course, he called it. He called

it.

Cool to go for it. He's probably going

for it.

>> Nothing to lose.

>> Nothing to lose.

>> Ooh,

ran out of time.

>> Looking at the judge. Did he get it in

time? No. Judge

>> get it in time. Oh [groaning]

man.

>> [laughter]

>> ran out of time.

>> Ah, so that's at least it was out of

reach, right? That would have been that

would have been a heartache if it wasn't

reach. Yeah. And would he hit the 12th?

Yeah. But it's okay.

>> They're going to call that they're going

to call that a miss. That's going to be

a zero points for him.

>> So here, look at the clock. Yeah,

definitely. That's perfect. Good review

from the crew.

>> Yeah, NFL New York reviewed it and you

can see clear. Oh, sorry. Yeah,

beautiful.

There it is.

>> Delay a game penalty. They threw the

flag. I think they got to move back five

yards.

>> Great replay. Great replay.

>> Great showing from Renee Becker. I love

watching him out on this final stage and

watching him do what he does. Great

showing from Renee Becker. Even better

for our number six seed who now moves to

the number two spot. Here's Rob Cobble.

>> Time to introduce our first seed. Our

number one qualifier, Eric Eric Johnson

from Avesta, Sweden needs no

introduction.

Let's give Eric a big hand. Number

[applause and music]

one qualifier

2024 [music]

classic runner up.

Congratulations, Eric.

[music]

Eric Johnson. I mean, come on.

>> A who

>> exactly?

>> Uh Eric Johnson from Sweden. Team

sponsor Gillow. been shooting at the

highest of high level in Bearbo for 37

years. Five-time Field World Cup gold

and many, [music] many more

championships, gold medals. I mean, you

can't even list him off. This guy is an

absolute legend in the Bearbo community,

[music]

and I love watching him shoot. I

actually got to shoot my qualification

round right next to him. We're on the

same bail shooting side by side all

afternoon on on Thursday, and it's just

a joy to shoot with him. He's just as

nice of a guy as he is a fantastic

Bearbo archer. Dropping an arrow

[laughter] off the stage there. Maybe a

little bit of nerves, but here he goes.

He's no stranger to this. He's been here

at the stage many times. And uh you

know, he's calling the 12. Going to

shoot a strong scout arrow just in case

it does hit the 12.

>> Here we go. I like that strategy.

>> Wait a second.

>> And so Eric has an awesome shot process.

You will see so many flinches. It's just

part of his shot process. This is not

something to feel concerned about. It's

not something saying, "Oo, Eric's really

feeling the pressure up here." He does

it every time he shoots the bow. He'll

hitch. He'll hiccup. And sometimes he

lets it down. He let down every single

end in qualification. And he won't shoot

that arrow unless it's right. And he has

the potential to shoot some monster

monster scores. So, let's see. If my

calculations correct, this is going to

be match number six for Hicks

>> nine.

So that means for Hicks, he shot five

matches.

>> Yeah.

>> We have 12 arrows per.

>> Yeah.

>> So he's at 60. So he's already shot

>> a qualific another qualification round.

>> That's right.

>> But he's comfortable out here. Yeah.

>> Right. So now it's like a do you want to

come in low seated and get comfortable

out here instead of having to come out

fresh like Eric and kind of get a feel

for this vibe, get a feel for the

lighting to start the matchup.

nine.

>> Okay.

>> Mhm.

>> There we go. He's putting him down the

middle. That's great. Shooting a 23

diameter arrow.

>> Oliver Hicks been doing a fantastic job

tonight. It's been a joy to watch him

shoot, put on the show. Now he's one

more Titan to go.

>> He is. Does he have enough gas?

>> One Titan to go.

>> Does he have enough gas in the tank to

get it done?

>> And this might be one of those benefits

of him shooting low 30 poundage, right?

He could just handle it and dominate

that weight.

>> It's not an issue to for him to shoot

150 arrows.

>> N

>> he could just keep going all night if he

wanted to.

>> That's a great opening group from Eric.

That is awesome.

>> Anything in the gold frags gives him a

one-point advantage.

>> That's right.

>> It's a great shot of his form.

>> 10.

>> That looks great. You almost can tell

and know whenever he hits a 10. And of

course, this show, if you're enjoying

it, is brought to you by Delta McKenzie

and Big Shot Targets. Let's go back out

to PJ

>> stage. How many times have you been up

here in the finals?

>> This is the third time.

>> Fourth time.

>> Third time. Gotcha. Does it get any

easier?

>> Uh, no.

>> Is this your first time as the number

one seed?

>> Yeah.

>> Okay. So, folks at home uh always

comment online. They're like, "Oh, the

lower seed. He's been shooting forever.

That's not fair. But Eric Johnson earned

the right to be the number one seed and

have the easiest path with every arrow

he shot this weekend. So, yes, we we

reward that kind of consistency.

>> First or second, go shoot first.

>> Second.

>> We've been on air a long time, right?

Since 1:00 today, it's now 7:30 at

night. We've been here quite a while,

but when you look at

>> Longhold Hicks, I mean, I think that you

have to say that he probably has held

longer than we've been on the air

>> for his whole draw 60 for 63 arrows.

>> He's been a full draw longer than I've

been in the commentary booth tonight

with you. But, you know, in anticipating

the run that Hicks is really having,

that's one of the reasons I asked you

the volume question earlier on this

broadcast because

>> it's like, you know, you you look at it

and you say, "Okay,

>> he he's just shot 60 arrows, right?"

>> But the other thing, too, is when you

shoot in your local range and you're

practicing, you're generally going to

shoot three or six arrows at a time.

>> Oh, great shot. Great arrow

>> and and uhoh. Yeah.

>> And uhoh at the same time. Right.

[laughter]

So, it's interesting the rhythm that you

have in a shoe like this. And

>> the stress that you have in a shoe like

this,

>> you just wonder what physically Hicks is

going through is one aspect, but the

other aspect is the mental side.

>> Mental side. Yep. Absolutely. He's so

disciplined. You know, he is one of the

most disciplined archers

playing the game right now. Every time I

talk about Olly Hicks,

>> it's all about discipline. His mental

game is so strong. And there's Eric.

There's his let down that I told you

about. This is normal.

>> Yeah, this is dramas.

>> This is not This is not pressure getting

to him. This is just what he does. This

is how he shoots the scores that he

shoots. He's got 10 seconds on the shot

clock.

>> Plenty of time. Oh, he didn't look happy

with that one.

>> Now, Eric Johnson, he has posted up a

perfect 300 in practice with a Bear.

He's got a 299, a 298, and three 297s in

practice.

>> Wow.

>> He has the potential to be perfect. And

once again in elimination matches,

>> although that's slipping through his

fingers now, he had the highest

elimination match of the entire Bearbo

tournament.

>> 121 121.

>> I know, right?

>> For 12 arrows. That's hitting the 10 on

average every time.

>> Yep. There was that. There was that

flinch though. See the hitch? Yep.

That's fine. It's part of the shot

process.

>> Mhm.

>> It's going to give me target panic.

>> It just happens. Yep. Here's PJ. Eric,

run through your Bear Bow setup for us.

>> Yeah, I shooting the Gil GF27

and GLO limbs and Gilo rest and an old

win and wind plunger.

Uh, eastern superite 23s and uh with the

gasper ways and a fair weather tab.

>> All right, good looking setup for Eric

Johnson. After

two ends, Olly Hicks has a two-point

lead, 5755.

There's in the background in the coach's

box for Eric is the legend. Lena

Bjorkland, who is just an absolute

hammer in the female Bearbo division.

She's amazing. Just a lot of depth there

between the two of them.

>> Here we go. Third end. Two-point

advantage to Oliver. Can he hang on and

knock down Eric Johnson from Sweden?

>> I can tell you financially the swing for

him is $3,400 meaning he would have won

606 and now he's guaranteed himself at

least $4,000 of prize money as Hicks

>> as a

19-year-old in university. That's a

great arrow from Oliver.

>> He wants that eight and he wants that

title.

>> Nine.

>> All right, two points. Another two. So

now four points by Another one.

>> This is still Bearbo. Look at that. It's

still Bearbo and anything can happen.

>> Anything can happen.

>> But Hicks has been so consistent this

day.

>> Yes, he has.

>> No matter what the outcome is, he needs

to look back at this and be so proud of

his performance.

>> But he's been doing this all year.

>> I got Look at that. Look at that. Look

at that. This kid, look at that face.

And he's just like, so I got to watch

him do what he does. the first time I

got to see him. I've seen him here uh at

at the Lancaster Classic. He was here

two years ago.

>> Uh but I I went over to the JBD Open in

Europe

>> at the Netherlands and he just put on a

performance there as well. He's just

such a disciplined archer. I know I'm

overusing that word, but gosh, his

mental game is so strong.

>> He's called a 12

>> and again, third arrow.

>> Mhm.

>> Or Yeah, third arrow of the third end.

He did this the last match where he's

just going to use the 12. He's going to

use all four 12s on the way out, but

he's aiming down the middle.

>> Oh, look at that group, dude. Greg,

>> he is just hammering. Look at that

target.

[laughter]

[clears throat]

>> Great. Oh, look at that. That's another

Hey, look at that target, too. I mean,

the fact that the fact that we're so

excited about Oliver's target, but look

at Eric's. He's just hammering.

It's just not quite as close to the

center as Hicks. PJ.

>> All right. Great shooting.

>> We haven't heard a lot from Hicks.

>> Gotcha. Okay. Riding with that 12.

>> Here we go. Finally.

>> All right. So, yeah, he just confirmed

what you were talking about, Zerzac,

which is, hey, he's just going to ride

the 12. Yep. Just in case he drops one

low.

But got a target change. We got a target

change. They're putting them up cuz

they're beating up the the freaking ten

shredding the middle.

>> Fresh target.

>> Final end.

>> All right. So, our final end to

determine who is going to be 2026

Lancaster Archery Classic Bear Bow

Champion.

>> Here we go.

>> We're talking about

>> a legend. I mean, a 49year-old who's

been shooting for 37 years versus a

19year-old who's been shooting for six.

We're talking about the number six seed

versus the number one seed. We're

talking about someone who has had in the

72 arrows so far. Getting close to 72

arrows and another archer who's just had

a handful. Has nine arrows.

>> How do you like this? Hold your breath.

This is going to be one of the greatest

finishes of all time.

>> Let's go.

>> God, I love watching him shoot. He's

just so steady.

>> 10 12 for air.

Let's go. I think Hicks has a long hold.

>> You think so?

>> Love that.

>> Oh, there's a itch.

>> That's okay.

>> Okay. 20 seconds. Plenty of time.

>> No problem. I watched him do this every

end in qualification. He does it all the

time.

>> That's his hit. His 12. He has called

the 12. He I think he's going to be gunn

it for him.

>> I think he needs to.

>> Nine. Yeah. Okay. Yep. I think he's

inching it down. Oh, he took the 12 off.

Oliver's 12 is still on.

mental discipline to do what this kid is

doing right now.

>> So steady.

>> Eight.

>> It's okay. It's okay. Eric's called in a

12 again.

>> But after this arrow, probably one of

the biggest arrows of Olly Hicks's young

career.

>> So Ollie just needs to put this one in

the gold. This is where your discipline

comes in. If he can get his mind wrapped

around, do the same thing I always do.

There it is.

>> $8,000 on the line.

>> Got a little shake going. Now watch this

thumb. Watch this thumb. See this thumb

go into the tab there. Now he's going to

press against that tabs here. And you're

going to see this thumb pop off. Bang.

LOOK AT THAT. [laughter]

>> WHAT a

Yes, Ollie. What an amazing final arrow.

>> Nine.

>> All right. Good showing from Mr. Eric

Johnson, the absolute legend in this

sport. He gives a clap of appreciation

to Oliver. Yes. Amazing. Let's go to PJO

champion. But first, Eric Johnson's

going to finish second place, take home

$4,000 from us, $600 from Gilo. Give it

up for Eric Johnson [applause]

and your 2026 Bearbo Champion,

[cheering] Ali Hicks.

[applause]

$8,000 from us.

Ollie, how you feeling now? So good.

Could be feeling better.

>> Did you have any idea that this would

happen when you came here this weekend?

>> I had hopes, but I wasn't quite sure if

it'd come true, but they definitely did.

So, it's great. come into the from the

six seat. You seem to get stronger as

the match went on.

>> Yeah, I just got more and more relaxed

up here. Like just more arrows shooting

at a target just like we've been doing

all weekend.

>> All right, congratulation Ali Hicks,

2026 Bearbo Champion [cheering]

[applause]

>> from number 11 seed after qualification

elimination matches. worked his way all

the way up to sixth and he gets it done.

Everybody stood up against him and the

19-year-old knocked them all down.

Zernzac, how about this one? Oliver

Hicks, man, I tell you what, out of this

whole field, his mental discipline

carried him through knocking down titans

of this Bearbo sport. Man, what a show

these guys put on. The the depth of Bear

Bow is deep as deep could be, baby.

Well, Matt, certainly appreciate all of

your insight and enthusiasm. appreciate

you being here for all the single string

action and man we can't wait to get up

with you one more time next year sir and

Zach appreciate it. Well that'll do it

for this match but we got one more to

go. We got another eight shooters on the

line and it's going to be the open pro

compound bows getting after it one more

time this year. Hang tight. [music]