The First Annual 
World Quoit Championship
 (a.k.a. Mud Fest 2003!)

 www.usqa.org

 HOME      BACK  www.quoits.info
 
The First will always be "The One to Remember...!"

The site of the First Annual World Quoits Championship, shortly before the weather turned somewhat unsavory... 
 
So you think you like to pitch quoits, do you?  Um, I mean really, REALLY LOVE to pitch quoits?? "Come Hell or High Water", you say?  Well Then!  You would have fit in perfectly with the completely insane crowd of 60 teams who braved 12 hours of monsoon-like weather to compete in the First Annual World Quoits Championship in Gilbertsville, PA on September 13th, 2003.   You had to be one mule-kicking-stubborn, die-hard player to stand tall in the pounding rain, the spraying mud, the flooding pits, and the wallowing ruts that plagued the games relentlessly all day!  It was an experience none there will soon forget!  Here's mud in your eyes, literally, Kid!

A Letter from Ken Kaas 
Chairman, United States Quoiting Association

     

Despite the near monsoon weather conditions, the first annual USQA tournament carried on. There are many that I would like to thank for their support both before and after the event.  Without their help this event could not have taken place.

     

I’d like to thank Dennis and Bonnie Shaw who allowed the use of their property to host this event.  They certainly got more than they bargained for.  After a long day in the rain we transformed their property, and part of their neighbor’s yard, into a mud bog.  Many thanks to our corporate sponsors who provided many necessities : Waste Management, Gregor Topsoil, and Haines & Kibblehouse.  A special thanks goes out to the many men who labored over a few weekends and many weeknights before the event in preparation; and after the event in clean up/wrap up : Dennis Shaw, Willy Wandress, Brad Sperow, Jeff “Money” Biddell, Jamie Hanley, Larry Farman, Mark Hallman, Jerry Reitmeyer, Greg Miller, Bowlhead, Troy Frey, Bob Trettin, and Jeff Ellwanger. 

     

Due to the finances necessary to repair mud damage to the field and yard, the event is currently a few hundred dollars in the hole.  This event took place as a result of a lot of hard work.  To lose money makes it hard to do it again next year. Anyone who is interested in helping to offset these costs can help by purchasing an official set of United States Quoiting Association quoits.  These sets are available for $50.00.  Please contact Ken at 610-473-8473.

 

Hoping to see you all next year in the pits!       --Ken Kaas

 

Purchase your own set of custom-made, official USQA quoits for only $50.00 plus shipping.  These are the same quoits as used at the 2003 World Quoit Championship.  They are 4 pounds each, with the raised letters USQA opposite the A and B markings on the top of each quoit.  'A' quoits are painted gold, 'B' quoits Black. 4 quoits per set.  Contact Ken Kaas at 610-473-8473 for ordering info.   Thank you for your support!

2003 USQA Championship Results

   

1st - CQQC Masterquoiters

2nd - Wade / Mosera

3rd/4th - Tim Reed / George Miller

3rd/4th - Old Indian Valley Inn

5th-8th - Gary Fauls / Bob Fine

5th-8th - Knobby Mest / Todd Mest

5th-8th - AJ Farman  / Bob

5th-8th - Bowlhead / Paul

World Rankings

 

Rankings were determined by each team's finish in pool play plus five points for each round of playoffs won.

 

1.   CQQC Masterquoiters – 57 points

2.   Knobby and Todd –45 points

3.   Bobby Fine and Gary Fauls – 41 points

4.   Tim Reed and George Miller – 40 points

5.   Old Indian Valley – 39 points

6.   Ring Lords – 39 points

7.   Camp Kelly – 38 points

8.   Special Delivery – 35 points

9.   Wade and Mosera –  33 points

10.  Neiman and Sassaman - 33 points

11.  Team Vopop – 32 points

12.  Bowlhead and Paul – 31 points

13.  Big Time – 29 points

14.  AJ and Bob – 27 points

15.  Hard Core – 26 points

16.  Skiff and Gary – 25 points

17.  Iron Men – 23 points

18.  Dirty White Boys – 22 points

19.  Jamie and Bob – 21 points

20.  B. Brown – 19 points

21.  Hammer Time – 18 points

22.  Money Pit – 15 points

23.  Spanik and the Kid – 15 points

24.  Itch and T – 14 points

25.  C-2 – 12 points

26.  SS Express – 11 points

27.  Missouri – 9 points

28.  Pintimidators – 8 points

29.  Pin Pounders –7 points

30.  Pit Rats – 6 points
 

These are the very nice quality gray colored T-shirts with chest pocket that was sold at the Championship. They sported 4 color printing, with the USQA logo on the pocket, advertising for event sponsors Waste Management and SteaLa Designs on the two sleeves, and a championship logo on the back side of the shirt.

Here is the large World Quoit Championship logo on the back of the shirt, featuring an Atlas-type character holding up the World and quoits around a pin in front of him.  More of these shirts may be printed up for purchase in the near future, so contact Ken Kaas at his phone number above to express your interest in ordering.   Price $12.00 each,  sizes Large to 3X.

At the World Quoit Championship, two large tents helped keep all the participants comfortable and somewhat dry.  Plastic sheeting covered the pits to protect them from the rain;  It soon would not matter...

The Scoring Tent sheltered the tables with the score sheets.  There were 60 teams divided into four 15-team divisions.  Teams played 10 games within their division, with the highest point scoring teams seeding into a 32-team playoff.

The food tent was also used for lawn chair seating and personal shelter.  The event was basically Bring Your Own Beverage, but there was two kegs of cola available, seen above.  Alcoholic beverages were allowed and expected at this event. 

This camper was put to good use as the t-shirt and cigar dispensary.  The very nice t-shirts shown in previous photos above were sold here, along with an absolute necessity at Quoit pitches - a selection of fine cigars!

 Willie Wandres, right, wrestles the prize money 

away from a shady-looking scoundrel, who was 

 caught posing as a used-car salesman trying

to sell the player's cars off the lot! 

Billy shouts repeatedly, "We still got t-shirts - and some late-model sedans out back!"

Well, speaking of scoundrels, here we find 

George Satko and his partner Mo Koval 

gate-crashing yet another party!  No wonder those 

guys never get invited anywhere...else! 

Guys, the football game is away this week...so you just had to tailgate somewhere else, huh?  Put a steak on the grill for me, will ya?

One of the rare moments during the day when players could relax outside the protection of the tents.  Here, Jay Leno interviews ZZ Top on the set of the Tonight Show...

The pits were uncovered and the first round of the Championship begins.  This is a view of the 15 pits setup on the lower side of the tents...

...and these are the 15 upper pits.  With 60 teams competing in the Championship, only 20 pits, 10 on each side, were needed for the Tournament. 

Quoits in action! Tom Wolfe at left, and Mo Koval at right, pitch in almost perfect unison.

 

 

A dump truck load of the Super Special Top Secret Formula USQA Dirt was kept on hand to fill in the soggy pits between matches.   After the heavy rains, it later became a huge vat of rich, chocolaty Ovaltine... 

 

 

When the rains got extra heavy, the teams simply brushed aside the adverse conditions and stayed in their pits to finish their games!  Right, guys? Uh, guys?

Rick Walters, left, from St. Louis, Missouri, had the honor of being the player who traveled the farthest distance to compete in the Championship.  Here he poses with his partner Cory Scott from Pottstown, PA.  They eventually made it to the first round of the playoffs before bowing out.

"Bowlhead" demonstrates a balance between gracefulness and basic physics :

Force x Mass / (Muscle - Traction) = Ringer!

Ken Kaas sports more mud on himself than the 

pit he is pitching in!

Knobby Mest from Boyertown, PA demonstrates the fine art of Quoit pitching.  His team finished the #1 seed from pool play, 10-0 with a 118 point differential.  This was tops of the day.

Knobby Mest brought along a very nice set of old wooden Quoit dials to keep track of his games.  Mud splashed on the the dials certainly tells 

the story of the day.

Names??

 

Randy xxx from Pottstown in fine form.

xxx xxx looks like he can hardly wait to 

stand in the mud to pitch!

Denise Lauer has a look of intense concentration 

on her face as she pitches her quoit.  Her opponent doesn't stand a chance at competing against so much determination!

George Satko points to a strange, saucer-shaped object in the sky as it swoops down over the quoit grounds.  George later recalled that the little men inside were not green, but rather more of a muddy brown hue... 

 

 

The Mud Men of Shaw Swamp!

Mmmm, Yummy! Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough!

Which quoit is closer? Hard to tell - they're both buried in the mud! These conditions made for some really tough measurement calls this day! 

Footsteps!  The Swamp Thing approaches!

Troy Frey pitches a muddy quoit 

from a muddy pit...

...And then shows off his even muddier hands.  Looks like he's ready to do some serious finger-painting in Kindergarten class with those hands!

Willie Wandres draws numbered chips from a cup to determine the pit locations for each of the first-round playoff matches.  

xxx xxx examines the playoff sheet.  The playoffs started with 32 teams playing a standard single elimination format of 5 rounds.

The access "road" into and out of the quoit grounds were becoming extremely swampy by the time the playoffs were beginning.  Even the four wheel drive trucks were having a hard time making for the exit.

This was the typical condition of the pits at the start of the playoffs, but the finalists just rolled up their pant legs and made a valiant effort to complete the Tournament no matter the conditions! 

The first round of playoffs starts, just in time for another downpour to hit the quoit grounds.  Can it get any worse than this?  It sure can...

Someone please turn off the water already!  The heaviest rains of the day swamp the pits and make the completion of the matches an almost ridiculous endeavor.  Nevertheless, the games continued on...

OK,  this is now beginning to border on absurdity!  As the rain pelts down viciously, a river of water completely swamps the pits between playoff rounds, making everyone wonder if the games would be able to finish. 

There is now no road left to get out of the quoit grounds, just a river of mud.  Here, a pickup truck is up to it's front bumper in slop.  Now ALL vehicles, even the 4x4's, had to have help getting out to the street, pushed from behind by 8 to 10 people!

Eventual Winners of the First Annual World Quoit Championship:

Ben Bernard and Mark Snoberger of Cornwall, PA capture the 

$700 First Prize!  They won the flooded match in total darkness 

as others shone flashlights on the pins!

Gee, these guys were certainly not THIS clean-looking 

right after finishing the Championship Mud Fest!
 
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