1946 World Tournament

 

This year will always serve as a remembrance of the N.H.P.A.'s abil­ity to survive any adverse conditions. Due to a steel and paper shortage during World War II, horseshoe pitching ground to a standstill; no steel for shoes and no paper for the written word.

 

The Horseshoe World came to an abrupt halt in the winter of 1943. The N.H.P.A. membership nosedived to only 17 active members. On a positive side, horseshoe pitching got a fantastic boost as part of the Armed Forces recreational program.

 

The two men most responsible for this were Harry “Pop" Woodfield and Leland Mortenson. The sport received tremendous exposure be­cause of the many horseshoe pitchers in the Armed Forces. Ted Allen, while serving his country, performed many exhibitions for our fighting men. Jimmy Risk also did this. With all of this in mind, this World Tournament was to be something special to those present.

 

Once again Des Moines was to be the friend of horseshoe pitching as a warm host. Only nine of the field were veterans. Fernando Isais be­came the sixth World Champion not to defend the title, Frank Jackson being the first man to do so twice. Some outstanding rookies made the scene: Feleccia, the Harris', Brownell, Stolarik, Cash and Kolb. Three would eventually earn their way into the All Time Top 100: Lindquist, Lindemeier, and Harper.

 

In only 18 games would the loser score less than 10. Allen. was re­sponsible for nine of these; Jones five. There were 16 games over 85 percent. Allen had eight, Jones five, Sebek two, and Dixon one. There were five 90 percent games. Allen had four and Jones had one. The scheduling set up the top two men to meet in the final game.

 

Upsets were not too common among the leaders, just enough to bring chaos. In round four, Sebek was upended by Brownell, 50-40. In round eight, Sebek was beaten soundly by Lindquist, 50-28. In round nine, Sidney Harris was had by Kraft, 50-40. In round 10, Jones met defeat by Lindemeier, 50-44. In a tough match, Sidney Harris beat Sebek, 50­42. In round 11, Orville Harris took Sebek, 50-46. Jones won over Sid­ney Harris, 50-37. The four leaders (Allen, Sebek, Sidney Harris and Jones) then proceeded to win their next 10 matches. Allen was the only one of the leaders not bitten by the upset bug.

 

In the big matches of the 21st round, Jones took Kraft, 50-15. Sidney Harris moved a step closer to elimination by losing to Lindemeier, 50­44.  After being eliminated, Johnnie Sebek, the “Ohio Express", thor­oughly walloped Ted Allen, 50-24.

 

    This put Allen and Jones in a tie with two rounds left. In round 2, Allen creamed Sidney Harris, 50-14, eliminating him while Jones overpowered Sebek, 50-21, despite Johnnie pitching 77 percent. This set up one of the greatest matches ever for the World Title – superstar Ted Allen, trying to regain his title, pitted against superstar Casey Jones, trying to win his first. In this 158 shoe game, Ted tossed 139 ringers including 60 double ringers for 87.9 percent. Hard luck Casey threw 137 ringers including 59 double ringers for 86.7 percent only to lose the World Championship, 50-44! Allen had waited five long years to regain his title.

 

As a record of proof to the N.H.P.A.'s stability, from this year on a World Tournament would be held every summer of every year far into the future.