DUBLIN, Ohio – Places were secured at next month’s USAT Series Final following the conclusion of the record-breaking Rebel Gear Buckeye Classic, while Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez made it three wins on the bounce in the USAT Qualifier Series.
Mucino-Fernandez was already assured of her place at next month’s inaugural USAT Series Final with victory at the Easton Foundations Salt Lake Summit. She followed that with success at last month’s Salt Lake Summit, before defeating international teammate Catalina GNoriega on Sunday afternoon in recurve women to claim the Buckeye Classic title.
On winning three in a row, Mucino-Fernandez put a good deal down to the mental side of the sport, adding, “I’ve been working really hard with the mental aspect and though it was there before, being able to perform and do the technique that you’re supposed to do in critical moments is the most important part and so I’m super happy.”
Brady Ellison successfully defended his Buckeye Classic title in recurve men, holding off a fightback from T Sanchez to triumph 7-3. Ellison also won Salt Lake Summit. Alexis Ruiz – another winner at Salt Lake Summit – edged Gator Cup champion Olivia Dean in compound women. All three archers will be at the USAT Series Final in Springfield, Mo. next month.
James Lutz made sure of his place in Springfield with victory in compound men over Grady Kane. Lutz had previously taken silver at Gator Cup and SoCal Showdown but was not to be denied a third time.
“It’s been a good year,” began Lutz, who set a new world record score of 719 during qualification at Gator Cup in April. “With the two second places I really wanted to get that gold today.”
There were two new winners in the barebow division. Ava Jones proved too strong for Erin Hollom, herself a winner in the USAT Qualifier Series this year, while Brian Way came from behind to beat Alex de Vera. De Vera was victorious at SoCal Showdown, and so his place in the USAT Series Final was already assured. For both Jones and Way, their appearance at Buckeye Classic was with next month’s USAT Series Final very much in mind.
Jones admitted, “The USAT Series Final is the reason I came out here, was to try and make it there, so I’m really excited about that.”
Way commented, “I always miss shooting with my archery buddies. It’s been a while since I’ve been to one of these USAT events. I told Alex in the final round, ‘buddy, you’ve just cost me a lot of money, because I’ll definitely be going to Springfield now.’”
The USAT Series Final will feature eight athletes per gender in the three aforementioned disciplines, competing in head-to-head elimination matches following World Archery rules.
Athletes will qualify for the USAT Series Final by either winning a USAT Stage (placing first in an elimination round) or by accumulating the highest USAT Series Final Placement Points across events.
Elsewhere on Sunday, there were wins for the 2016 Paralympic gold medalist, Andre Shelby in compound 50+ men, with another adaptive archer – Keith Sekora – taking silver. Para archer, Wendy Gardner, was the bronze medalist in compound 50+ women, won by Sharon Totton.
The senior compound division included some of the world’s best archers. In the men’s category, names such as Mike Schloesser, Mathias Fullerton, Kyle Douglas, Braden Gellenthien and James Lutz were all vying for honors in Dublin.
That division also contained Grayson Fasy, a 13-year-old from Pennsylvania who opted against competing in the U15 division at 40 meters but rather chose to test himself at 50 meters alongside the men!
Fasy qualified 49th out of 76 and was then narrowly beaten 140-139 by Parker Braddock in his opening elimination match.
You can check all the scores and results from the 2026 Buckeye Classic, while also browsing the photos from this year’s event.
There were 925 archers participating at the 2026 Buckeye Classic, which not only represented the largest field in the event’s 10-year history but also set a new record for any event in the history of the USAT Qualifier Series, breaking the high set by the 2026 SoCal Showdown.
“It’s a good location in Ohio,” began Lutz. “I also feel that specifically for Buckeye we always see a lot of new faces, which is great for the sport and awesome for USA Archery.”
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