SARVER — All Michael Rykaczewski Jr., was doing was looking for something to do.

Six years later, he’s a national champion.

“My dad and I were looking around for a hobby we could do together in 2017,” Rykaczewski, 28, of Butler said. “We were out one day and went into the Elite Shotgun Store in Glenshaw. We were checking out the shotguns, learned about skeet shooting ... it just took off from there.”

Rykaczewski and his father, Michael Sr., wound up buying shotguns and became members of the Tarentum District Sportsmen’s Club in Sarver. They began entering skeet shooting competitions.

And started winning.

“I got into skeet shooting pretty quickly,” Rykaczewski said. “This is a beautiful club and I’d come out here two or three days a week, practice for two or three hours.”

He became best friends with Joshua Crofutt, 41, of Cabot, who he met at the Tarentum club. They’ve competed in numerous events together and both are coming off impressive performances this summer.

Crofutt secured the Pennsylvania State Skeet Championship this summer with a score of 397 out of 400. He navigated his way through through numerous categories, including the 12 gauge, 20 gauge, 28 gauge, .410 bore events and doubles event.

Shotguns can cost thousands of dollars. Rykaczewski estimates the value of the gun he competes with at $18,000.

“This club has produced a number of state champions,” Crofutt said. “You practice out here with some of the best in the state ... I just got skilled at it.

“This (Tarentum) club is a good place to shoot and a good place to learn how to shoot.”

The Tarentum club has roughly 730 members.

Crofutt competed with Rykaczewski in the National Skeet Shooting Association’s (NSSA) U.S. Open this year. That event is held at 14 different locations throughout the country. They competed at the suite near Fort Wayne, Ind.

Other shooting zones were in Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Wisconsin, Kansas, Texas and California, among other states.

Rykaczewski competed in doubles — shooting at skeets being released from two different launching areas — and shot 100 out of 100. That only tied him with four other shooters.

“At that point, you just keep shooting until you miss,” Rykaczewski said. “You don’t know what the other shooters are doing, so you try to keep going as long as you can.”

A shooter in Tennessee hit 53 in a row during the tiebreaker. Rykaczewski hit 89 in a row to win the tiebreaker and claim the national championship in doubles.

Bob Waite, club manager at the Tarentum District Sportsmen’s Club, said Rykaczewski and Crofutt “have the focus, technique and mechanics all down. They know what they’re doing.

“Once they lock in, those guys are extremely accurate. They just don’t miss.”

Waite said the pair take the time to work with younger shooters as well.

“They’ve worked with a group of Boy Scouts and other groups,” he said. “They want to grow the sport.”

Fran Kosmacki, Gary Trilli and Ken Riddile are other club members who have won championships at the state level.

Rykaczewski and Crofutt are right up there with them. Both plan to compete at the World Championships in San Antonio, Texas, next month. Everyone will be lined up shooting together there.

“At worlds, you know what everyone else is doing at the time you’re shooting,” Crofutt said.

Rykaczewski and Crofutt estimate competing in eight tournaments oper year.

“Just keep striving to get better,” Rykaczewski said. “This sport is always challenging and it doesn’t require much physical movement.

“We can do this for a long time.”