Fried food and BBQ filled the air of downtown Spartanburg. It was the annual Spring Fling Festival. Taking over one of the streets was Cornhole de Mayo. It was overcast and showers were expected. But the showers everyone experienced were not the showers everyone expected.
An “upset” storm hit Cornhole de Mayo fast. Dyana Tolliver. Bob D’Alessandro. Charles True. Steve Hayes. Eric Hinerman. All were upset, by their opponents and then with themselves. Who would be next? Would a top ten player fall?
As the second round would end, it wasn’t which top ten player would fall. It was how many. Before the sun emerged from behind the clouds, players eight through eleven were eliminated. #8 Jack Stagge was eliminated by #25 Cody Johnson from Florida. #9 Bret Guy lost to #24 Mike Schaffer, Sr. #10 Sean Short departed at the bags of #22 Charlie Fletcher. #11 David Shoemaker was bested by #23 Tom Gustafson.
The top seven remained vigilant in the thick of the “upset” storm. #2 Steve Vanderver took out #31 Kyle Treadway. #3 Randy Atha silenced #35 Matt Morrow. #4 Dale Smith beat #36 Chris Hursey. #5 Kevin Warner defeated #28 Sheri Eggleton, #6 Darin Hill beat #27 Shawn Houser. #7 Matt Strzala eliminated #39 Dan Reed.
#32 Shane Andrews defeated #33 Brent Ellis to play against #1 Matt Guy. Andrews took Guy to game three. He had him backed against the board. But he missed two match ending shots, which gave Guy a slight opening to survive the storm.
Then came the rain. (Schaffer, Sr. was eliminated by Cody Johnson.) And more rain. (Dale Smith was beat by Jason “Rooster” Schwab.) Then the hail (Randy Atha lost to David Sutton) and brimstone (Vanderver lost to Damon Tucker).
But it wasn’t enough to knock Guy, Warner and Strzala out of the competition. All three made it to the semifinals. Guy faced Warner. Strzala faced Tom Gustafson, who had upset fellow Chicagoan Dave “The Raptor” Sutton in a brutal three game match.
Matt Guy is interviewed by ACO Correspondent Greg Williams after his win over Strzala.
Strzala advanced to face Guy in the finals. After losing the first game to Guy 21-8 and being down 6-0 in game two, Strzala started a comeback. A stormfront was developing. Guy provided openings and Strzala seized every one of them. His airmail game picked back up. They exchanged frames back and forth. Strzala nailed a two bagger to go up 16-12. Then the storm subsided. Guy inched closer in the next frame with two points. Then, six points in the next frame. Eight bags later, the match was over. Guy had won.
Until a player strikes with lightning and wins with thunderous applause, Guy’s weather forecast for his competition will be the same. Overcast, cloudy and no sun in sight.