Cincinnati Combo Repeat as
World Champions of Cornhole

Theo Baca and RJ Strange, the Bombers, regained the World Championship of Cornhole by narrowly defeating Sean and Delbert Short, Pair of Shorts, by two points in the final match of the World Championship of Cornhole on Saturday, August 2nd, in Portsmouth, Ohio.

Baca and Strange, from Cincinnati, Ohio, came into the tournament as reigning World Champions after winning last years World Championship Tournament.  As winners of this year’s event, the pair took home a prize package that included $1,000 cash, and championship belts.

Third place was captured by the father son combo of Bill and Bill Sobleski jr., the B&B Shooters, from Akron, Ohio, while fourth place was won by Bernie George and Rick Tyburski, the Pittsburgh Steelers, from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.Two-person teams from seven different states traveled to play in the tournament which was held in the city streets of Portsmouth, Ohio.  Nearly 120 teams played in the all-day event from which proceeds benefited the Ohio River Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross. 

In addition to Saturday’s event, the World Championship of Cornhole also featured a singles tournament on Friday night called the Downtown Throwdown in which 121 players participated.  Theo Baca won the Downtown Throwdown by defeating Bill Sobleski.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the World Championship of Cornhole. It was such a fun weekend. Here are some highlight moments from Championship Weekend.

• A total of 121 players participated in the Downtown Throwdown, pushing the event into the wee hours of Saturday morning. We didn't finish until about 1:30 a.m.
• Baca and Strange recaptured the championship and put on the new championship belts on stage. They now have two sets of belts from '07 and '08.
• Saturday morning's breakfast of champions at Ye Olde Lantern. There was such anticipation of the day ahead. Those pancakes and sausage fueled many of us for most of the day.
• Saturday morning's opening ceremony was a really neat moment. We had Theo and RJ on stage wearing the '07 belts; Representative Todd Book welcomed everyone to Portsmouth; Mary Arnzen from the Red Cross thanked everyone for coming; Rick Mays went over the rules; We gave special awards to the team that travled the furthest distance and a special community champion award was given to Mary Arnzen; former Major League all star Al Oliver threw out the first toss; and Natasha Skinner sang the National Anthem. We had about 250 players in attendance as well as hundreds of spectators. As one onlooker put it, "It was a beautiful moment."
• We welcomed home the 9&10 year old softball state champs by waiving their celebratory caravan right through the middle of the tournament. It was a moment those girls will never forget!
• Meeting all the players from around Ohio and the country is always neat.

A special thanks to everyone who helped us put on such a wonderful event. We couldn't have done it without the cooperation from so many individuals.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the 2009 World Championship of Cornhole.