Worldfest 2010

This year’s Worldfest was moved from Margaret T. Hance (Deck) park to Heritage Square. It was a more intimate setting for the annual cornhole tournament hosted by Cornhole Arizona. Although still billed as the Arizona State Championships, this year’s tournament was a well-kept secret. It was announced only a few days in advance to a handful of past participants, no mention on the Worldfest website, no e-mail to the majority of active platyers, and only a last minute update on the Cornhole Arizona website. Fortunately 12 teams did show and though it was a shadow of past tournaments, it was a great time nonetheless with some good competition.

And advantage of the small field was the opportunity to begin with pool play. The 12 teams were divided into two 6-team polls. Every team got to play every other team in their pool which then seeded a single-elimination bracket for the championship. And since every match was best two of three, every team who participated was guaranteed to play a minimum of 12 games.

Pool A included some very strong teams including Team Ruggeri (Adam and his Dad – Adam and roommate Tyler were champions of two years ago). Pool A also included Team Four Peaks (John and David) who won Cornhole Arizona’s last tournament at the Southwest Brewfest and a number of tournaments in between. And also in Pool A were Denton and TJ (Denton is known as a top player for winning the Cornbag Cup and placing high in most every tournament he plays). Mike and Ryan as Team Left and Right were also in pool A. Three teams tied with 4-1 records in Pool A, Ruggeri, Four Peaks, and Brown Cows (Denton and TJ). Each of these three teams lost to a different one of the others so it wasn’t clear how the final seeding was determined, but the result was Brown Cows seeded #1, Ruggeri seeded #2, and Four Peaks seeded #3.

Pool B was more balanced with a combination of less experienced teams and ust one dominant team No Mercy with Vic and Doug. To those of us accustomed to competing with Vic and Doug it was no surprise that they easily won the top seed undefeated in their pool.

In the single elimination tournament, the final four included Brown Cows who defeated Left and Right and Four Peaks who defeated No Mercy despite one loss in a tight game. No Mercy then beat Left and Right in a playoff for 3rd place to win their entry fee back. Vic and Doug got 3rd place.

In the finals, John and David beat Brown Cows in two straight to win the title and the $100 first place prize. Brown cows got second place. Congratulations to strong finishes by both TJ and Ryan in their first tournament of his caliber (at least recently). And special thanks to Rich, Jimmy, Renee, and Brianna for their work in organizing and running another enjoyable tournament on behalf of Cornhole Arizona.