2025 Lancaster Archery Classic YOUTH OPEN FINALS

All right, welcome back everyone to the 2025 Lancaster Archery Classic here at Spooky Nook Sports in Mannheim, Pennsylvania. We are here in the broadcast booth. I'm PJ Reilly sitting alongside Conor Caulfield. And Conor, we've had some excellent competition this weekend, just hoping for some more here in a bit. Yeah, and it looks like it's going to be good. We got a lot of great shooters here. We're getting to the open compound classes now, so it'll be exciting to see. Absolutely. This is our youth open class coming up here. That means 17 and under. And Conor, let's run through the rules about how we got here. You know, how we whittled down the field to this four. Yeah, so we take the top four for this shoot up. The archers are ranked and ties are broken by 11, so we'll go for a bottom-up format. So four against three, winner faces two, winner of that faces one. And we have a special, unique circumstance for this finals in that we have a 12 ring. Tell us about that. Yeah, so it's a one and a half centimeter white dot located on the 7-8 line low. You can call it once per end, and so that brings your maximum points for the match to 136, and it must be called for it to count. Right, and Conor, that is what we call high risk, high reward 7-8 line. You miss that, you get a big drop in your points there. All right, but youth open, we want to get right to the action, so we're going to go out there to Josh Grein. All right, let's get back to the action with the young guns. Youth male open, your fourth place qualifier, and Levi Harkey from Port Lavaca, Texas, and your third place qualifier, Gavin Haney from Brewston Mills, West Virginia. So we have Levi Harkey, Gavin Haney. Gonna start off our match here, and you know, Conor, how they got here was every archer shot 60 arrows for score. We ranked them based on that score, then they went into elimination. We set up like a NCAA basketball style bracket, one versus 32, etc., till we whittled down the field to the final four, and so their ranking is based on every arrow they shot in competition, so these guys, the top four, they earned it to get here. Yeah, they had to fight their way through, so these are our top four archers that made it through eliminations. Levi Harkey coming from 17th in qualifying, so he had to shoot his way up here to make it on the stage, and Gavin Haney, 12th qualifying, so it's a battle to get on this stage, and they made it through, so here we go. First, rocking the Dodgers that night. So, Levi was looking out there. Besides Tim Gillingham, that's only the second archer I've seen shooting a wrist strap index. We'll see that when we come back to Levi, but here's Gavin. The bow hunters are probably very familiar with that style of release, but we just don't see a ton in target archery. Yeah, definitely a lot more people favor the handheld release like Gavin has here. And his is activated by a trigger that's under his thumb. Josh Grind. Stop over here to see Gavin. Gavin, is this your first time here? Yeah, this is my first time here. First time at the Classic, and you're on the stage. How's it feel? It feels good. This is my second time. Second time at the Classic, first time on the stage. Walk through your equipment for us. I have a Matthews Title 38, True Ball XL, Scope and Sight. I got a Hamsky Trinity, Phantom Bowstrings, TK Stabilizers, and that's it. Superdrive 25s and Biter Knot. All right, seems to be working well for you. Second time here, first time on the stage. How are those nerves? Pretty bad. Pretty bad? You look cool as a cucumber, man. Just like you're at Dodger Stadium. Yeah. Good luck. All right. Connor, the nerves are real out there. Yeah, definitely. It's a different stage than we see in all the tournaments, and it's definitely a lot different than being on, you know, a line with a bunch of people having all these eyes on you, all the lights. Thanks for, uh, yeah, exciting. Even head-to-head archery just doesn't, you just don't see that a lot in the States. We don't see it much of one versus one. You see Levi there, he's wearing a chest pouch there that's popular, especially among bow hunters. 3D archers as well. He's got his binoculars in the center. I'm guessing his rangefinder's in the other one, although he doesn't need it here. Yeah, we know how far this target is. 18 meters, shooting at a 40 centimeter, three-spot face for these archers. So for folks who don't know, the 11 ring is like a little bit bigger than a quarter. A nickel, excuse me, a nickel. Not quite the size of a quarter. A little nervous. How do you, how do you prepare for this in Texas? I don't know, we just shoot. That's about it. Just shoot. Well, what are you shooting there this morning? Uh, Matthews TRX 38, Xcel sight, UV scope, Hamski rest, Conquest bars, gas boat. What do you have in your quiver back there? TS-23s, Black Eagle. Awesome. Shooting well, wait for official scores here, we'll update you on the score. Still have a close match. We've got Gavin with a 64 and Levi with a 64, so still head-to-head. All right, tie match there, Connor, after two ends. And 66 is perfect, so these guys are shooting pretty good. They've only dropped two points each. Yeah. Interesting that Levi is talking about shooting 23 diameter, often 27 is the max. Yeah, and that's what you tend to see in the compound classes, everyone going for the most you can, but 23 is for him. Yeah, he might feel comfortable with that, or it might be... Yeah, might tune better, yeah. He's pretty tall, so I don't think poundage is an issue. But, you know, if he shoots any of the USAT stuff, that's, 23 is the max they allow, so maybe he's got... From, yeah, USA archery, world archery stuff, he's scaring over that setup. Yeah, I also don't see a light kit on his belt, so it might be that, that his whole setup is just kind of catered to the... I don't know, he does have that ultra view with the built-in light kit. Yeah, it's got that built in. It's built, yeah. Gavin has the ETAC light on there on his side, so it's a box on the outside, whereas you mentioned Levi's is built into the scope, so that's... But we're still tied here, 95-95. Let's wait for scores. I think... Still neck and neck. Who's going to hit that 12 button first? We do have final scores in. It is 95-95, still a head-to-head match. All right. Die game, last end. Last end. Might see a 12 here. I like the, I like the strategy, and we might, we might see something like it that, you know, in that situation where it's 11 to tie, 12 to win, we might see a situation like that with how close this match has been so far. Yeah. And it's always cool to see the, kind of, the decision, because aiming at that 12 is, it's in an unusual spot, not used to going for it. Yeah, Gavin's up first, which gives Levi the last shot. Oh, and an open door here. Oh, there it was. Eleven. Takes advantage. Two point swing. He's going to have to reach for that 12. Yeah, I don't think we're going to see two points available here, but he keeps at it, recovers with an 11. Eleven hit. I think that's an 11. I think that'll catch. I think it is. No call yet, and he goes for it. Calls the 12. Missed it. Oh, he just missed it, but all right. Yeah, he just needs one AB. Yeah, just about anything. Just about anything to take it. He does. He got it. All right. Yes, sir. Where do you shoot out of, Levi? I shoot out of leading edge archery, mostly. Leading edge archery out of Bernie, Texas. A lot of great archers out there. Is the indoor shooting pretty strong down there, pretty competitive? It is, yes, sir. Shows in your shooting here. We're waiting on final scores for this match. All right, it's official. Gavin, for your fourth place finish, you get $350. Congratulations, Gavin. Let's hear it for Gavin. All right, let's get your second place qualifier out here. We have Jacob Markle from Rochester, New York. Jacob is a two-time USAT team member. Jacob's going to bump Levi to the next podium. All right, so Connor, we bring in Jacob Markle from Rochester, New York. NFA Outdoor Target Nationals record score for young adult. Of course, that's 50 meters. We're in here at 18 meters. He's been on the USAT team for under 18 the past two years. All right. Yeah, big name in the outdoor scene and now is on the stage here. Here's what I like, Connor. Why did you start archery? Because it's fun. Yeah, that's straight to the point. So it's about having fun. I can't argue with that. All right, Levi Park is up first. Let's see how Jacob is doing. Fresh from the practice range. Good start. You're pretty strong. Yeah, it's top to toe with the shadows and stuff coming straight down. There's some bojitsu that work. Didn't look like he liked where his butt sight was when that went on. Let's go to Josh. Thank you. Is this your first time up here? You're not nervous, are you? A little. All right, well, let's talk about something you're familiar with. Let's talk about your equipment. Run us through your bows, stabilizers and quiver. I'm shooting the Hoyt Concept X with the Accel Bars, Accel Sight, Truth Scope, X-27 Eastern Arrows, and then a True Ball of S-Flex. Awesome. Seems to be working well for you this week. Good luck up there. Just like your backyard. All right, so first time here up on the classic final stage. He looks pretty comfortable, but I like that last end there. It must have caught because he's got a 32. Yeah. 33 would have been perfect. That line must have went his way. Yeah. He had another one. He had two that were close. But I guess he got one and not the other. That's when you know your equipment is working, Conor. When you have a crazy shot go off like that, it goes in the middle. Yeah, still on the line. Yeah. Always good to have that. Levi, he's just, he's found a zone. He seems to be able to pull the 11s when he needs them. Jacob seems to be sweating a little bit out there. It is. I'm sure some of it's nerves. But I will say the spotlights that are on you, they are, there is a couple degree difference there. It's a little bit warm. Yeah, it's bright and it's hot out there. You want to get away from him there, dip a little low. But he matched Levi, so that's what he's got to do. Caught that one. Levi finishes with an 11. Jacob, a chance to keep his lead from last night here. And now it'll swing in Levi's favor. It's going to be a one-point swing, 62-61. Let's go to Josh. Heritage Archery Academy. Heritage Archery Academy, and you have a face behind you that people might recognize. Who's on your coach's block back there? Mike Price. Coach Mike Price, are you nervous? I'm always nervous. You're always nervous. What do you tell your shooters before they come out here to combat the nerves? We don't try to combat the nerves. We just have to shoot through it. Keep the pressure. It's great advice from a coach that many recognize, Mike Price. We've got official scores down there. We've got Levi with a 62 and Jacob with a 61. Just a reminder, guys, that 12 ring is always in play. All right, Coach Mike Price. We know him, Connor. Been around a long time on the archery scene. His son, Louie, is one of the pros, open pros out here. Mike Price has coached a lot of archers, including now Jacob Merkel. So we see those platforms that they're on, Connor, are elevated about a foot higher. And, you know, some of the archers are saying just that elevation, they're used to standing on the floor, but just that elevation kind of throws them off a little bit. Yeah. Target's elevated as well. Just gets you and the target in view of everyone in the room. And you feel like you can look out and you see everyone. Because you're above them all. Look out there and it's a sea of people. So yeah, it can be overwhelming. Good call out there. Yes, the target is on a platform of the same thickness, so they're not shooting down at it. It's raised to their level as well. But there's a red button behind them that the floor under their feet glows red when they hit it. That signifies that they're calling for that 12. Jacob wasn't able to move that one with the bojutsu. Felt a little low. See if Levi can capitalize here. And he does. There we go. 33 for Levi Harkey. That's a good finish there. Let's go to Josh. Getting a little more comfortable up there? A little bit, but it's still not great. Still not great. Well, talk to us about the man behind you with the greatest spirit in the room. Who is that? And what is he? And who is he to you? He's my coach, Chris Ellison. Chris, we see you around at a lot of events. ASA's here. What's it like? And what's it mean to you to be able to be out here coaching? Incredible, man. What's the last thing you say to him before you walk out here? I don't say nothing to him. I'm not trying to make it worse. You're just along for the ride. How do you combat your nerves? I don't, I haven't figured it out yet. Well, when you figure that out, let us know. All right, there you go. The nerves just deal with them. So we got our last end coming up here. Three point lead for Levi. 95-92. Yep, so Levi can just keep poking away at 11s. And if he's hitting them, he's out of reach. So Jacob will need some help. He's going to have to go for that 12 at some point. What are you saying? More pressure on the leader? Yeah, I'd say so. Just finish it off and keep everything on. Because I mean, if you're not familiar with the situation, especially. Yeah, so this one is a big one. Yeah, I'm dying right now. Oh, there we go. And he does it, smokes it. Yep, so it looks like Jacob's just gonna. Go for a strong finish. Okay, end with a 33. Why not? There we go. Two 33s to end it there. But who's your favorite pro to watch? Might be setting you up here. My favorite pro to watch is probably Mike. Mike Schlosser. Yeah, Mike is a fun one to watch. I noticed you don't have quite as much weight on. Have you ever tried to pick this bell up? I have not. It's probably a good thing. We're going to wait for those final scores. And Jacob, you for your third place finish will be getting $600. Congratulations, Jacob. Let's give it up for Levi. All right, in your first place qualifier. We've got Iftar Kadar. He is a 2023 Youth Cup champion. All right, here we go. Iftar Kadar comes in as our number one seed. So, Connor, they have the choice to knock their competitor from one side to the other. He chose to leave Levi where he was standing. Yeah, not sure if it really makes a difference in the end, but it's like it's something to knock them off the platform. They've gotten comfortable in and have shot a few matches on. So, yeah, for sure. It's a small part of it. It's a game within the game. With the compound, with the magnifications and the scopes and all it, the lighting may not be any different, but like you said, just getting his head, baby. Yeah. Archery is like 99.9% mental and 0.1% physical. All right, here we go. Final match. In the talk, the higher seed archer gets to choose whether he shoots first or second. He chooses to shoot second here. Looks like he has competed in ASAs in the past, which is 3D. Or that's Levi, excuse me. Levi Harkin has shot at ASAs, but it makes sense. He's from Texas. He shoots for leading edge owned by Kenneth Stevens and her dad, well-known ASA competitors. I'm not surprised that Levi's in a 3D game. I'm looking at gift talks, stabilizing. It's just not moving. Came out of the gates in 33. Let's meet him. First time on the stages. Are you nervous? Yes. Can't tell what that 33. That's great shooting. Can you tell us about your bow? Yes. PSC Supra. SC cams. Excel site. Remote stabilizers. All seems to be working well for you this weekend. I don't know if people realize how hard it is to come out of that back room onto the podium and shoot a 33. Congratulations. Here's a look, Connor. Yeah. As Josh mentioned, mentioned your first time on the stage, come out of the practice room and step up and throw down a 33. Yeah, that's, that's great because there's so much going on. Once you get out here, it's tough to settle in and he already, already has it dialed. So yeah, practice range in the back there. We try and recreate the lighting as best we can, but it's a low ceiling. This is a high ceiling, so it's not going to be identical. And then you're back there by yourself. Then you walk out here and there's, I don't know how many people, but it's more than three. Lights, cameras, people put microphones in your face. He handled it well. Meanwhile, Levi over there, just just took a deep breath. If Dog has a big opportunity here and he takes advantage of it, increases his lead. He just looked like he was super comfortable with that. Yeah, they're going to have to give that one. That one's very close. That was, that's one of those ones where if he had 27s in his quiver, that one would catch. He would have caught that for sure. Got the 23s and if Dog shoots another 11 to finish that end off. A 32 potential. Potential 33. There's a liner in there. So man, what a start. Yeah. And yeah, you're, I mean, you're already in, in the territory of needing a 12 to get back in this for Levi. For sure. You know, Connor, you're, as the score shows up there, four points, you can only call that 12 ring two times left in the match. I mean, four points is a lot. Yeah. You need those 12s and you need some help too. And so far, so far, if Doc's shown that he's, he means business and he's not, he's not leaving anything on the table. And he's not missing. So you got to be thinking of your Levi. Well, I better apply some pressure here. Yeah. Look at that. It was upgraded to an 11. Perfect. So far, 66 from if talk. That's incredible. So five points, two ends to go. All right, here we go. And so if talk elected to shoot second. Levi already calls the 12 here on the first arrow. Trying to, like you said, apply some pressure. If he gets a 12 down there. Got it. Doesn't affect this. He's got it. I bet Levi wishes he could call it again. Yeah. Did not one point off. Yep. Got one back. That one's going to be close. Maybe just now. And he does perfect through eight arrows. Perfect through three ends. Here's that 12. Let's see his reaction. And checked his site. I wonder if he dialed his site. Yeah, he's dialing his site right now. I wonder if he's aiming center. And just dialing down to the level that would be a 12. Because we've seen that before. I believe it was Nick Cappers did that in the year he won. Develop, you know, just at home. Spent time shooting at the 12. Figured out, hey, I need this many clicks if I'm going to do it. And then you don't have to aim at that awkward 8-7 line area. You can aim center like you're used to doing all the time. And it worked out for him there. He hit that 12. So yeah. Yeah, that's there's two strategies. You know, you either aim at it or you just keep aiming at the center. But adjust your site. Yeah, you better be on. Yeah. Yeah, he dialed his site again before while they were pulling those arrows. So I think he's gearing up to go for that 12 again. Good eyes. Good eyes spot. Yeah. As you mentioned, you know, and we saw we heard from some of the bow hunters earlier, depending on what size pin you're shooting. You may not be able to see it covered up. He's calling the 12. He's going for it here. Here we go. Got it. Let's see if we can do anything to make Iftot flinch. The first point left out by Iftot still has a great handle on this match. Still four points. And now Levi can't do anything else except shoot 11. Gets that one, which he did. Another point down to three. All he can do is shoot one. So with the gold, Iftot will take this one. Yeah. Anything with yellow is good. He hasn't been anywhere close to the reds. And he gets it. Iftot Hadar comes in here. Nearly flawless match. But Levi Harkey. Two 12s. For sure. That's one of the great things about this format. You can come in and shoot your way up. Regardless of where you qualify. We're going to wait for those scores. But incredible shooting here this morning. All right. We have our champion. Iftot is our Youth Open champion. Levi for your second place finish. You get $1,000. Congratulations, Levi. And Iftot, your champion. You get $2,000 for first place from Lancaster Archery. How does it feel? Feels amazing. I have no words. And thank you to everyone who made it possible. Thank you for coming. We really enjoyed your shooting this morning. What are you going to do for the rest of the day? Spend the money. What are you buying? Probably a new bow. A new bow. There's an archer for you, folks. We're going to take a short break. All right, Connor. Great win there for Iftot Hadar. Nearly flawless match there. Levi Harky gave him everything he had. Two 12s there in the final. That's going to do it for Youth Male Open. Folks, don't go anywhere. We'll be right back at the 2025 Lancaster Archery Classic with one of our biggest, with our biggest division, Men's Open. You don't want to miss that one. We'll be back here at Spooky Note.