![]() Had the good fortune of spending nearly every day of the last Successful competitive archery careers at the national level.ġ979, he coached the University of Akron archery team where son, Rick,īecame a three-time NCAA individual champ and where the team wonġ997 Bednar was a six-time gold medalist in the Seniorġ990 and ‘92, he participated in the World CrossbowĬhampionships in Portugal and New Zealand respectively. And, between 19 he won 27īill still competed at a high level but focused his energy onĬoaching his son and two daughters, all of whom had highly Most of the open invitational money shoots. Year he won his third PAA championship and established himselfĪs the dominant field and target shooter of the decade, winning Open champ when he tied the winning score but was awarded second Repeated as the PAA champ and nearly repeated as the Ben Pearson That year he won the prestigious Ben Pearson Open in Get back in action competing at the highest level. The injury was not job threatening, but he decided to quit construction to help his wife run theĪrchery was up and running in early 1964, Bednar was anxious to Until he was injured while working on a campus expansion job at Kent Joanna 3) while Bednar continued to support the family operatingĬontinued working road construction for the next three years On the property, and the family moved into their new home andīusiness and raised their three children (Cindy 9, Rick 6, and That year, they had sold the Randolph, Ohio, homeīednar built with his own hands from cherry and oak trees felled Nearby Suffield, Ohio and spent the next eleven monthsĬonverting it into a three bedroom dwelling, archery pro shop, January, in 1963, the family purchased a brick building in Win the first ever Professional Archery Association (PAA) Golf, he turned professional the following year and went on to That archery should move in the same direction as professional Individually, he finished 10th in the world. Right from the start he got Bill involved in tournamentĪlways credited Harry for his rapid climb as a tournamentġ961, one-year and seven-months after shooting his first bow, heĬompeted as the number three shooter on the USA team that won the World Championship in Oslo, According to Edith Bednar, “Harry was a great teacher and Gilchrest ran the club, was the high school footballĬoach, and was a great archer in his own right. Joined the nearby Ravenna Archery Club, where he met local He quickly retired his wife’s wonderful Christmas presentĪnd ordered a brand new “wrong-handed” bow. Shop in a nearby town where the proprietor quickly realized thatĮven though Bednar was right-handed, he was left-eye dominant. Something about the bow was not right, so he visited an archery Much he had enjoyed shooting the bow, so his wife bought him aįiberglass bow and arrow set at a local department store for His friend at the show’s archery venue while they left the twoįollowing the event, Bednar could not stop talking about how Bednar spent most of the afternoon shooting arrows with ![]() In the fall of 1958, at age 33, he and his wife, Edith,Īttended the Cleveland Sportsman’s Show with another couple. Most notable projects was helping build the Ohio Turnpike.Įxperience with a bow and arrow came fairly late in life. His experience operating farm equipment ultimately led him toĮmployment as an excavation equipment operator, where one of his He labored on the farm through his school years, and into He was introduced to hard work at an early age. Him among the top shooters during the peak of his career. NFAA Championships in 1964 & 1965 as well as the NAA in 1965 put His Ben Pearson Open win in 1966 and 2nd place finish in the Top money winner during the decade of 1960's. His strategy paid off as he became the PAA's Inġ967 at the PAA Championships in Pasdena he finished in a three Him at the time, an unprecedented three time PAA Champion. Once again captured the powder blue blazer in 1965 and 66 making In 1962, Bill turned pro and captured his first PAA title in Strong as its weakest link, so work on your weakest link." Indication of his fierce competitive nature.īut archery was his passion, and his philosophy was simple, "Your shot execution is like a chain, and a chain is only as Was part of the World team that captured the gold inĪs a young boy he built his own Soapbox Derby car and went on to Bill began his archery career in 1958 after his wifeĮdith gave him a bow for Christmas.
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