Lebanon, MO – In its quest to expand to new regions and add great people, the ACO hit pay dirt in the town of Lebanon, Mo. On very short notice, new Certified Officials Marsha Kimrey and Deryl Wilson, and State Director, Brian Jones, jumped into action and secured the Cowan Civic Center as the venue for ACO MO Major #5. And as soon as the ACO rolled into town on Thursday night, it was apparent that it was a job well done. The Cowan Center was a perfect venue to play and the set-up was seamless as Certified Officials, residents, and Cowan staff contributed to the effort.
By Friday evening, players from 13 different states had made their way to Lebanon and the Major got underway with the Seniors, Womens, and Juniors Divisions.
Great Venue. Great Times at Major #5 in Lebanon, MO. Richard Stone (Ohio) gives Jacob Davidson (Tennessee) a “Datta Boy!” hug.
In the Womens Division, with no past Major champions in the field, it was up to another of our seasoned players to step up and claim the title. In the end, Jessie Hempy from Sidney, OH became a first time Major champion as she defeated Kim Howard from Cedartown, GA in the finals. Great shooting, Jessie! And you can be sure that Kim will be hungry to get back to a finals match when next month’s Major comes to her home turf in Georgia.
Jessie Hempy in pink claims Womens Singles Title at Major #5. Certified Official Marsha Kimrey from Lebanon, MO in black.
Many of the World’s top ranked Seniors players made the trip, and the field was as strong as ever. Among the players was reigning ACO Seniors World Champion, Tom Bobo, who rightfully made his way to the finals. But in a tough match against another top player and ACO Las Vegas Major Seniors Champion, Richard Stone, Tom’s bid to win his second Major of the season fell short. Instead, Richard claimed his second title and tightened the points race to a thin line. Nice work, Richard! A special congrats goes out to Carl “The Truth” Stenger, a local player from Lebanon who showed many of the top Seniors to the door and finished 4th in his first Major!
World Senior Champion, Tom Bobo (left) placed second to Richard Stone (right) at Major #5 in Lebanon, MO.
In the Juniors Division, it was a family affair as local players and twins, Payton and Parker Wehner, faced off in the finals. After a hard fought match, Payton was at the top of the podium, but both brothers wrote themselves into the ACO history books. Great pitching, Payton and Parker!
Payton Wehner is riding high on the shoulders of his Grandfather Deryl Wilson after claiming Juniors Championship at Major #5 in Lebanon, MO. King of Cornhole IX Jeff Reynolds (blue far left) was on hand to see the victory and future King in action.
When the Saturday morning World Singles Division began, one look around the room and anyone could see that the eventual winner would have to overcome some major obstacles. The field was stacked with talent and golden crowns as many top Pros and four Kings were on the premises.
It’s surprising to know that, of the ACO’s five King of Cornhole winners, until Saturday, Matt Guy was the only one to have also been a Major Singles winner. Now, there are two– Congrats to Eric Zocklein on your return to the winner’s circle and on your first Major Singles Championship! It was not an easy road and it eventually lead him to a finals match against another of Louisville’s big dogs, Terry Mathis. Terry shot great all day and has been a high finisher before, but he finally made the jump to a title match. Congrats, Terry and King EZ! Also, nice work to Certified Official, Keith Blair, whose players took many of the top spots. We all want to know what you put in the water down there, Keith!
By 4 o’clock the World Doubles Divisions had started, and once again, it was quite an accomplishment to even advance from the mini-bracket. It was great to see a few of the local Lebanon teams advance, and now that they know the drill, we all better look out at the next Lebanon Major!
Well, Louisville’s day only got better as Eric Zocklein and Keith Blair outlasted the vicious field and took down the Doubles title. In the finals match, it was Seniors team Richard Stone and James Frantz who challenged. These two may be ole’ codgers, but they’ll accept a challenge from the young punks any day! Great shooting and congrats to EZ, Keith, James, and Richard!
Keith Blair (left) and Eric “King EZ” Zocklein on the right hold up their Case Knives supplied by Shepherd Hills after claiming the Doubles Championships at Major #5 in Lebnanon, MO. Note: King EZ also claimed the Singles Championship.
The ACO would like to thank the city of Lebanon, the Cowan Civic Center, all the sponsors, and especially Marsha Kimrey and Deryl Wilson for their hard work and hospitality. We hope to have many more tourneys in the city of Lebanon. Thanks to Brian Jones, Randy Jones, Stephanie Frazier, and Kevin Goss for all your help with the event. And thank you to all the other Certified Officials and players who made the tourney a great success.
NEXT UP: Peachtree City, GA March 20th-21st, 2015. In what we believe could be one of the biggest Majors of ACO Season X, the drama will only build. Over the past couple of seasons, the ACO has grown significantly in Georgia, so let’s see how the visiting states match-up and if GA is ready to hold turf. Sign-up now for ACO GA Major #6 PURCHASE TICKET NOW CLICK HERE!