Ellison and Kaufhold Claim Mixed Team Gold in Paris World Cup

Recurve shooters Casey Kaufhold and Brady Ellison (above) recently won the mixed team gold at the third and largest stage of the 2022 World Cup season in Paris, France. With the largest single World Cup event turnout since 2020, archers from 50 nations traveled to Paris to contest the third stage.

In her third season of World Cup competition, this is Kaufhold’s first gold medal. She said, “Even after we finished the prelims, I said to Brady, ‘This one feels different, this is the time.’”

In a recent Facebook post about the event, she wrote:

“The win doesn’t count unless you roar (pic above)! Today I won my first World Cup gold medal with Brady Ellison in the mixed team event. I’ve been competing in the World Cup series since 2019, and today I finally get to say I’ll be taking home a gold medal from the 2022 Paris World Cup. I couldn’t have asked for a better teammate to win the medal with, I couldn’t have gotten there without Brady! Other than the mixed team event, I had a personal best World Cup qualification score with a 673. I also advanced the furthest yet in eliminations in my World Cup history, placing 5th overall in the recurve women’s division. I was also very grateful to have my coach Heather with me, she was very helpful and supportive. Altogether it was a fantastic event for me, and winning the gold in mixed team makes me even hungrier to win it in the individual matches.”

In addition to the mixed team event, Ellison also had a strong finish with his men’s team. Team USA’s recurve men’s team returned to the second step of the podium after history repeated itself in the match against Korea. Ellison, Matt Requa and Jack Williams were hoping for a shot of redemption after winning silver at the 2021 Yankton World Championship, but it wasn’t in the cards for this event. The American team fell 0-6 to earn the silver medal again. “It’s a beautiful venue and there was a lot of hype for this match,” said Requa. “We didn’t shoot as well as we could have, but Korea is tough and we still got second so it’s certainly nothing to shake a leg at.”

 

Easton X10 Dominance in Paris

In related news, all 30 recurve medalists at the Paris World Cup had one thing in common —Easton X10 arrow shafts.

Japan’s Utano AGU and Brazil’s Marcus d’Almeida took their first-ever archery World Cup gold medals in Paris. AGU took the women’s recurve gold after a battle with Taiwan’s PENG Chia-mao, while Korean legend CHOI Mi-sun took the bronze. Team action saw Taiwan taking the gold, with India taking silver and Germany taking the bronze. For the men, Brazil’s Marcus d’Almeida took his first ever World Cup stage win, beating Olympic team medalist KIM Je Deok in the final. Olympic Champion OH Jin-hyek took the bronze. Korea beat the USA for the team gold, with Turkey taking the bronze. As reported previously, Team USA’s Casey Kaufhold and Brady Ellison won mixed team gold over Spain, with the bronze going to Netherlands.

 

USA Compound Men’s Team Wins Bronze at World Cup Paris

Team USA’s compound men’s team of Braden Gellenthien, James Lutz and Kris Schaff took bronze on the second day of World Cup Paris. In the compound medal rounds, Team USA archers came back to win a tense shoot-off with Denmark after a tough semifinal with France.

“We didn’t shoot particularly well in the semi-finals, but you can’t be mad at a bronze medal,” said Lutz. “Especially since it’s my first World Cup of the year, so it feels good to get out there and get on the podium right away. My last arrow was really the only good arrow I feel like I shot all day. The wind in the stadium is a little weird, and I finally had one go off just the way I wanted.”

 

Team Mathews Wins Twice in Metropolis

Team Mathews had another big weekend at the recent Mathews ASA Pro/Am in Metropolis, Illinois, taking five podium spots across three pro divisions, including two first place finishes.

“We’ve had another incredible run this season and dominating our own ASA event is icing on the cake,” said Mathews Vice President of Sales and Marketing Brad Treu. “I’ve said it before, but I think our team’s dominance is a testament to the accuracy and consistency of our TRX series.”

Jeff Raney secured first in the Men’s Known Pro, with Chris Perkins in second. Kailey Johnston finished first in Women’s Open Pro. Levi Morgan and Dan McCarthy claimed second and third in the Men’s Open Pro, behind winner Jacob Slusarz (below), who shoots a Darton compound. This was Slusarz’s first pro podium at an ASA event.

Team Bowtech Repeat Champions in Metropolis

Team Bowtech’s Paige Pearce (below) secured an impressive come-from-behind win at the ASA Pro/Am in Metropolis, Illinois. Pearce has been on the podium in four out of four ASA tournaments this year, with top honors in three events. She is positioned to win “Shooter of the Year” in the Women’s Known 50 class as she currently sits atop their leaderboard. Her final ASA appearance will be at the ASA Classic in Cullman, Alabama.

Paige said, “Once again this weekend, it came down to the last target. It was a far black pig, and I knew I had to hit the 12. That is a stressful position to be in, but I took a breath and trusted myself and my Reckoning 38 to make the shot. Every season, so many wins come down to one last final arrow, and I'm so thankful I have been able to make that shot count when I needed to!”

Team Bowtech’s Tim Gillingham took the top spot in Metropolis in Senior Pro class, and it’s his fourth win in the last five ASA tournaments. He currently tops the leaderboard for “Shooter of the Year” in his class. Known as “The Hammer,” Tim came from behind after having a rough Friday and pulled off the win.

Tim said, “I had a little setup issue on Friday from some changes I made at the IBO last weekend. Once I made the adjustment, my Reckoning was hard to miss with. I love these bows! It’s absolutely pounding. Easy to shoot.”