ACL National #1
The American Cornhole League’s Kickoff Battle FINALLY happened this past weekend in Corpus Christi, Texas. We have waited a long time from the usual Super Bowl weekend event we have had in the past until April 6th in Texas. The extra 2 months had everyone waiting with anticipation to see what Team Ultra could do as there were big changes to the team after last season.
Pro Rounders
New for 2023 was Pro Rounders. Taking place a day before the usual events, Rounders were used for the first time to seed the Pro Singles and Doubles brackets. In the past, National 1 could have some really odd matchups. National 1 previously used random seeding for the first National. This often gave a couple players an advantageous head start if they could take care of business. It also set up some “Quadrants of Death” with 3 and even 4 of the game’s top talents squaring off ensuring someone went 0-2 and spent the season working their way through tough brackets afterwaRDS. Team Ultra’s players fared well in this new event setting up for some exciting battles in the brackets.
ACL PDC Qualifier
The PDC Qualifier started early on Friday morning. Team Ultra’s Mason Morgado topped the Men’s Qualifier going 5-1 with a +78 differential earning him a spot in the main bracket. In the Women’s Qualifier, Teanitia Lashley punched her ticket to the bracket going 6-0. Team Ultra players picked up 2 of the 6 available spots to PDC players. These events are grueling and took place early Friday before the Pro Singles brackets started at 1pm. Players coming out of these qualifier events can be gassed or they can be on top of their game at the right time when the brackets start.
Pro Singles
In Pro Singles, Team Ultra had some very, very strong performances. Lead by Alan Rawls, Ultra had 10 players finish in the money in singles. Rawls worked through a brutal seed due to travel trouble which prevented him and his partner Chris Kingsbury from playing rounders. Rawls started as a 61st seed but knocked off fellow Team Ultra player, Noah Almanza en route to the king’s seat. There he bested another Team Ultra player in Joe Kniesteadt. It was a heck of a run that lead to a TV appearance for the 2nd year pro from Florida. The aforementioned Joe K put together a day securing a bracket 2nd, good for 5th overall. Tubby Cobb and Daymon Dennis picked up bracket finishes of 5th place while Jeremy Frazier, Terry Mathis and Nick Williams posted 7th place runs in their brackets. Rounding out the money winners for Team Ultra were Tyler Parent with a solid 8th place run. Jeremy Schermerhorn settled for 10th and Bagin’ Bill Hadley picked up $175 in 11th place.
Pro Doubles
Pro Doubles saw 4 Team Ultra doubles pairings take home some cash. Joe Kniesteadt and Jeremy Schermerhorn came up big with a bracket win. The Michigan duo carried that momentum over into a win in their semifinal game earning a broadcast appearance on ESPN. They fell short in the overall final but pocketed $5000.00 for the day. Their combined winnings totaled $6200.00 for Pro Singles and Pro Doubles. The new for 2023 team of Noah Almanza and Duncan Clemmer played great out of the gate at their first National together. They finished 3rd in their bracket. This will be an interesting team to follow this season. Almanza had a breakout year as a rookie last season and if Clemmer finds the form that carried him to a World Championship semifinal in 2022, they will make some major noise.
The surprise of the weekend may have been Ty Lopez and Eric Tscherne picking up and very solid 5th place in their bracket. Their only loses came at the hands of overall champions Justin Burton Jr. and Logan Chamberlain. The team seemed to always have one guy shooting well which allowed them to get out of some close games and have maybe the most unlikely run of the tournament. They are now setup for a good 2023 if they can take advantage of what should be favorable seeding at the next National. Dave Sutton and Jeremy Frazier round out the money winners with a bracket 6th place finish. Sutton is a seasoned vet that is always lurking and Frazier is someone to watch this season. When Frazier is on, he can put bags in the hole with the very best players in the world.
ACL National #1 Sunday Events
Sunday closed the ACL National #1 weekend. Team Ultra came out strong to finish the weekend. Daymon Dennis won the Open Senior Singles event over partner Jimmy McGuffin. This season any senior player can enter the Open Senior Singles event at a National. this means the field is deeper and brings out some talent that the pro players may not be as familiar with. In Open Women’s Singles, Sarah Cassidy picked up a 5th place. The same rules apply to the Women’s Singles event as the Senior Singles event. This also applies to Open Junior Singles.
In the Pro Blind Draw, Moses Zazueta won his bracket with Jeremiah Hector. They beat Team Ultra’s Kris Morrison who was playing with Jordan Power. Morrison and Power were paired together for the second year in a row at the Kickoff Battle and both play in Michigan. That familiarity and Power having been with Ultra last season looked to work to their advantage. In the second bracket, Brevon Valdivia got on a heater with Travis Purser. They took that bracket down. When the victors from each bracket faced off, It was Zazueta and Hector who walked away with the victory.
Looking Ahead
Next up for the Pros will be the ACL’s Cornhole Mania which will take place May 19 thru 21st in Erie, Pennsylvania. You can follow our pros on our facebook page or their own social media platforms.
