Monroeville, PA – Another exciting ACO Major is in the books!
All told, more than 170 players from 10 states made their way to the Monroeville Convention Center for the two day competition, and when smoke settled, new champions were crowned and past champions were revived.
Things got rolling Friday afternoon, and as soon as the doors opened, players began flowing in and filling the boards. With blind draw tourneys running one after another on one side of the convention center, the other side was deadly serious with the beginning of Womens, Seniors, and Juniors Divisions.
Our first champion of the evening was no surprise as Caleb Avery continued his dominance in the Juniors Division. So far, Caleb is perfect on the season, winning 1st place in the first 3 Majors of ACO Season X.
It wasn’t an easy road for Caleb though as he was pressed hard by other excellent Juniors such as Matthew Stout and 10 year old phenom, Bobby Morris Jr.
But the question still remains whether or not anyone can step up and challenge Caleb as we build toward more Majors and the ACO World Championships. Great throwing, Caleb!
Our ACO World Seniors Champion got right back to work too as Tom Bobo took down the field of over 40 players to win the Seniors title.
Tom, who is also currently ranked in the top 3 of the World Singles rankings, had strong Seniors finishes in the first two Majors of the season, but it took the trip to Monroeville to climb back to the top of the podium.
Great pitching against a great field, Tom!
The feel good moment of Friday night came from our Womens Division as a new, and most deserving champion was crowned.
Congratulations to Sara Davis on your first ACO Major title! Sara has put in her time. She has put in the practice. She has gained confidence with every step, and in the Division that has been dominated by the Cleveland duo of Christine Papcke and Stacia Pugh, Sara finally took that next step and grabbed what was hers.
Sara couldn’t have had it harder, as she had to get by the reigning Queen of Cornhole, Stacia, the two-time defending Major winner, Christine, and the former Queen of Cornhole, Teresa Forsee.
A special shout out goes to Stephanie Morgan and newcomer Stephanie Frazier on their top 5 finishes, both of whom have great potential for the future, but Sara Davis, this one is for you. Welcome to the top!
As Saturday morning’s World Singles Division got underway, the boards were full and the pools were stacked. It is an accomplishment for the even the most seasoned players to advance from pool play into the final bracket, and once you get there, the competition is brutal.
But at the end, one player rose above the rest, and we had another first-time ACO Major winner of the weekend.
Congratulations to Jay Dotson on your huge win! Jaybird is no stranger to winning as he is an ACO World Doubles Champion and a multiple time ACO Farfsing Cup Champion, but the singles titles had eluded him – until now! Jay had a huge win over the King of Kings, Matt Guy, in the semis and another over ACO World Champion, Eric Zocklein, in the finals.
With too many great players to count, the World Singles are only going to get more intense as we move towards the ACO World Championships, but Jay is definitely one who could be standing at the top in Knoxville. Great job, Jay!
After the long hard Singles tournament, it takes a team with true character to gut their way through the ACO World Doubles Division. Well, look no further than Guy Nation! With 6 King of Cornhole titles between them, Matt and Bret Guy are ACO royalty, and once again, they demonstrated why.
Matt is definitely on the upswing as he won the Singles title at last month’s ACO Major in SC, and Bret is doing what he does – throwing them right down the middle.
The Guys got the test that they wanted by facing the reigning ACO World Doubles Championship team of Rick Mayes and Cortez Hudson in the final, and it was a test they were ready for. Congrats Matt and Bret on a great win!
The ACO would like to thank all of the players and Certified Officials who helped make another Major into a great success.
A special thanks goes out to the city of Monroeville and the Monroeville Convention for having us– Great people to partner with and an awesome venue for our players.
Next up is Las Vegas, NV!
The ACO is moving west for ACO Major #4 of Season X and it should be a good one!
The ACO will be running the Major in conjunction with SkillCon, and skill sport convention at the Riveria Hotel, so there will be plenty to see and do! This season is really starting to heat up, so who will be next to step up to the challenge?
See you in Vegas, baby!