The White Mountain Cornhole Organization’s 1st cornhole tournament of its Summer Challenge was held May 15th at Bison Ranch, just outside of Overgaard, Az. Several teams from the valley made the 2 1/2 hour trek north to participate and enjoy the hospitality of the White Mountaineers.
Several good teams were in attendance. The host team “Make em Pay” with Dale and Terry, the reigning champs and #1 seed, “No Excuses” with Doug Z. and Vic, “Black Shirts” with Ray and Gregg, and “4 Peaks” Mike and Ryan came up from the valley to challenge.
“Make em Pay” drew “No Excuses” in the first match and the mountaineers were quickly sent to the loser’s bracket. Doug Z. and Vic ran through the competition without losing a match and had the advantage of needing to be beaten twice in 2 out of 3 matches in the championship to lose the crown.
“$ Peaks” had a first round bye then beat a local team with Doug K. and his stepson. “4 Peaks” then lost the remaining two matches to bow out of competition. The “Black Shirts” lost to “No Excuses” to drop into the losers’ bracket and won the remaining matches until facing Dale and Terry in the championship of the losers’ bracket. That earned them the right to play Doug Z. and Vic in the finals. Dale and Terry defeated the “Black Shirts” to set up a rematch between “Make em Pay” and “No Excuses” for the overall championship.
“Make em Pay” proved too much for “No Excuses” routing Doug and Vic 4 out of 5 games to remain the reigning champs. Dale and Terry peaked at the right time and both played as well as I’ve ever seen. Congratulations to “Make em Pay”.
1st place, “Make em Pay”, Dale and Terry, 2nd “No Excuses”, Doug Z. and Vic, 3rd “Black Shirts” Ray and Gregg.
In the singles competition, 12 people participated with Vic from “No Excuses” defeating local Doug K. in the finals.
Doug K. and Vic split the Airmail championship pot, each sinking 3 of 8 bags to share the title.
The long toss was a huge success with competitors besting each other one foot at a time. Throughout the day several challengers moved the mark past 50′. Ryan proved to be the most proficient at long toss holing with several marks past 50′. His mark of 56′ reigned for 1 1/2 hours before Vic, time running out, stepped up and hurled his 2nd bag the 57′ needed to take over the top spot. Time ran out before Ryan could regain the lead. The $182. long toss pot was the largest payout I’ve ever seen in this event. Well done everyone!
The day was a huge success with spectators and competitiors coming together at Bison Ranch and making the White Mountain Cornhole Organization’s 1st summer series event an instant classic.
Contributed by Vic Bradford
There’s a new shared statewide contact list for cornhole enthusiasts in Arizona. It’s called AzBaggers. The TACO site will remain just as it is, but we’re merging our membership with this new list. Now all players and fans in Arizona will have a common place to post announcements and hear about events throughout the state.
Tempe Area Cornhole Organization 