6^th Annual Hall of Fame Invitational Tournament

by Jeanette Claas

The Quails and Quailettes at the QRHC was praying the rain, storms, winds and cold weather would go away and the highways would be open for all horseshoe pitchers traveling to Wentzville.  Some came by plane, others traveled by car, and we heard it rumored some might be coming by boat. By Friday, May 5, Mother Nature was kind to us and the sun proved to us it did exist.  It turned out to be a beautiful weekend.

The two day event included a 40’ Men’s Division and a 30’ Mixed Division consisting of Men over 70 years and Women of all ages.  The format of each division consisted of a 16 person round robin with fifteen 40 point games.  Eight games were played on Saturday and seven games pitched on Sunday.  The $8,000 purse would be divided between the two divisions. 

Tournament Directors Joe Faron, Gary Buehler, Bob & Rose Diekamp reported we had some new faces coming to the 6th Annual HOF Invitational Tournament.  It was good to see some of the familiar faces that have been coming from time to time. New in the 40’ footers were: Gary Opper-IN, Joshua Olson- MN and Dalton Rakestraw-IL.  Making their first appearance in the 30-foot division was: Daniel Dunn-IN, Jim Ellison-AL and Jim Culver-KY.  Russ Phillips-WA was present and scheduled to play but due to extreme pain in the right arm kept him from pitching, so Amy Francis-OH filled in for him.

Special Guests at this tournament were Casey Sluys CA-President of the NHPF, and on the NHPF Board of Directors were-VP Joe Faron-MO, Treasurer Gary Buehler-MO, Secretary Phyllis Quist-WA, and Jim Scully-CT.  Also visiting were NHPA Historian Bob & Paula Dunn-MN and special guest 10X Women’s World Champion Vicki Winston-MO. Not present this year was Sue Snyder-IN due to illness.  Herschel Walters was not present but we want to extend our congratulations to him as he will be inducted into the NHPA Hall of Fame at the Horseshoe World Tournament this July 2017 in St. George, Utah.

Bob Diekamp made introduction of the horseshoe players on the Dave Loucks Court in the North Pavilion.  The National Anthem was sung by Dalton Rakestraw-IL and the sound of horseshoes filled the air as the competition began.  At the end of the eight games for the 40’ Division played on Saturday, Alan Francis-OH and Gale Greene-VT remained undefeated.  On the Jack Freeman Courts in the South Pavilion Courts those left undefeated were: Dan Dunn-IN, Joan Elmore-TN and Kathy Brazier-AL.

After Saturday’s competition, the QRHC members served a delicious buffet dinner for the horseshoe pitchers and their families to enjoy.  Marlene Ray mentioned she enjoyed this part of the tournament the best.  Larry Brown-MO led a most impressive dinner prayer.  At the banquet each horseshoe member received a certificate depicting the number of years each had pitched in this event.  This tournament has been held for 24 years, and it seems that Alan Francis-OH has attended the most years – 21 years.  For some fun and entertainment after dinner, the QRHC invited Larry Brown, a horseshoe pitcher from Fulton, MO to come and tell some of his famous stories and then to sing a few horseshoe songs, “I want another ringer, I need another ringer, to keep this game alive!”  He was enjoyed by all.

The pitchers arrived early Sunday morning to complete the tournament.  After two days of exciting horseshoe games in the Men’s 40’division, Alan Francis-OH earned 1st place with 15 wins and zero losses pitching an average of 81.8% which marked his 18 Title as HOF 40’ Champion.  On the south courts the 30 footers were battling it out for the prize money, too.  Joan Elmore-TN claimed her 7th Title as the HOF 30’ Champion, with 15 wins and zero losses and an average of 78.8%. 

Pitching high scores of 80% and above in the 40’ division were: Alan Francis-OH  90.5%, 83.3%, 86.1%, 83.3%, 88.3%, 92.3%, 86.4% and 81.6%: Dan Watson-AL 84.2%, 82.4%, 81%; Gary Bearpaw-OK 80.4%; Stan Griggs-MO 80.4% Pitching high scores of 80% and above in the 30’ division were: Joan Elmore-TN 82.1%, 81.3%, 82.6%, 81.8%, 88.2%, 83.3%; Marlene Ray-TN 81%, 82.6%, 83.8%, 80.8%, 81%, 81.8%; Dan Dunn-IN 93.8%, 84.1%, 87.5%, Rich Altis-MO 85.%, 84.4%, 85.2%, 85%; Roger Vogel-KS 80% & 80%; Kathy Brazier-AL 80%, 83.3%, 84.1%; Jim Ellison-AL 80.8%, 81%, 83.3%; J D Drake-MI 84.8%, 81.5%; Ed Griffith-MO 86.1%, and Maxine Griffith-TN 80%.

By 3PM on Sunday it was all over, except for giving out the Prize Money, which the players were anxious to receive and be on their way back to their home states.   We would like to thank all our sponsorships for helping us out to keep this “event alive” and to all who donated for the raffles.  We wished the horseshoe pitchers a safe trip home and that we look forward to seeing them again next year, same time, same place.  Horseshoes – that’s what it’s all about!  Hey!

Hall of Fame Invitational 40-Foot Results

Pos.  Name                                     Entry%                Won      Lost       Pts         Ringers      Ovr%                  Shoes   R%                 Money

1.     Alan Francis-OH                  85.69%               15           0          616          597        3.91-     730      81.78%    $1,000

2.     Dan Watson-AL                   79.46%               11          4            567          618        7.10-     854      72.37%    $   800

3.     Gary Bearpaw-OK              76.71%               10           5          575         580         7.67-     840      69.05%    $   600

4.     Stan Griggs-MO                  67.84%               10           5          539         542         0.77-     808      67.08%    $   450

5.     Gale Greene-VT                  68.26%               10          5           507         525         2.14-    794       66.12%    $   350

6.     Austin Bailey-IL                   74.89%                 9            6          500         584         9.86-    898      65.03%    $   250

7.     Gary Roberts-OH                63.68%                 9            6          540         540         0.01-    848        63.68%   $   200

8.     Steve Johnson-MO            65.58%                 8            7          501         483         2.37-     764       63.22%   $   100

9.     Gary Opper-ID                     70.18%                 8            7          484         484         7.16-    768        63.02%   $     75

10.   Gary Urish-IL                        62.74%                 8            7          485         463         4.43-     794       58.31%   $     75

11.   Ray Bedard-MA                  70.73%                 7           8           425          431      14.47-    766       56.27%   $     50

12.  Rick Howe-MA                     65.28%                 6            9          429          464        3.75-     754        61.54%  $          50

13.  James Driver-MO                59.44%                 5          10          393          395        2.53-     694        56.92%

14.  Joshua Olson-MN               59.75%                 2          13          355          372        7.80-     716        51.96%

15.  Channing Herrell-MD        59.78%                 2          13          324          352      10.07-    708      49.72%

16.  Dalton Rakestraw-IL          63.36%                 0          15          297          354       13.92-    716      49.44%

Hall of Fame Invitation 30-Foot Results

Pos.  Name                                    Entry%               Won     Lost      Pts         Ringers   Ovr%    Shoes    R%          Money

1.     Joan Elmore-TN                  80.72%               15            0          627         681        1.91-      864       78.82%     $1,000

2.    Marlene Ray-TN                  78.93%               13            2          603         739        2.59-      968        76.34%    $    800

3.    Daniel Dunn-IN                    82.22%               11            4          589         627        6.50-      828        75.72%    $    600

4.    Rich Altis-MO                       79.91%               11           4           563         665        6.03-      900        73.89%    $    450

5.    Roger Vogel-KS                    77.17%               10            5          554         612         5.85-     858        71.33%    $    350

6.    Kathy Brazier-AL                  77.86%               10           5           500         574        7.86-      820        70.00%    $    250

7.    Jim Ellison – AL                    72.20%                 8            7          510         636        0.23      878         72.44%    $    200

8.    JD Drake-MI                          72.35%                 8            7          470         620        2.22-      884        70.14%    $    100

9.    Ed Griffith-MO                     66.21%                 7            8          457         509        0.45-      774        65.76%    $     75

10.  Maxine Griffith-TN             74.45%                 6            9          428         508     10.64-     796        63.82%   $     75

11. Jim Culver-KY                        71.55%                 5          10          402         558        6.06-     852         65.49%    $           50

12. Gregg Craven-MO                72.37%                 4          11          467         625        3.69-     910       68.68%    $     50

13. Larry Shaw Sr.-OH                73.74%                 4          11          468         658         5.20-     960        68.54%

14. Terry Beagle-MI                   70.65%                 4          11          407         575         3.32-     854        67.33%

15. Paul McGee-MD                  70.37%                  3         12          440         555         6.43-     868        63.94%

16. Amy Francis-OH                   61.52%                 1          14          282         404         4.94-    714         56.58%