2024 ACL Cornhole Mania Preview

April 25th, 2024 Trey Ryder

Tournament Results

The top three ranked singles players in the world, in order, are Jeremiah Ellis, Eian Cripps, Erick Davis.

The top five doubles teams in the world include Vincent Frisch/Austin Cameron, Carson Goette/Hunter Thorson, and Corey Gilbert/Dean Norton.

Matt Guy, Mark Richards, and Kaleb Batson aren't even in the top 50 of singles rankings.

Look, going into the Cornhole Mania, I was supposed to write about how chaos always happens at the second pro event of the year, but folks, we are already there. Chaos has happened.

Justin Burton Jr sweeping the first event of last season shocked the cornhole world, but the results of that weekend were nothing compared to what we have already seen this year. Many players find themselves in surprisingly good standing, while others find themselves already in desperation mode because a first event poor finish. It sets the scene for an incredible Cornhole Mania.

The 2024 ACL Cornhole Mania will be split over two event weekends. Preliminary coverage of all pro events will take place May 2-5 in Windsor, CO, at the Future Legends Complex. All finals and broadcast coverage, including the Open, will take place two weeks later at the Expo World Market Center in Las Vegas, NV, on May 16-19.

Thriving in the Chaos

I'm not sure what else there is to say about Jeremiah Ellis other than he is the new #1 ranked cornhole player in the world. Plain and simple, Jeremiah Ellis made all of the Ellies look like geniuses, and quickly quieted the few haters in one single event. Ellis was purely dominant in singles at the Kickoff Battle, finishing 2nd in Shootout Singles and 1st in National Singles. Even better for Ellis, no one came close to the level of consistency he had in both events, so much so that Ellis now finds himself in first place in rankings by a whopping THIRY EIGHT points. Folks, thirty eight points is the difference between 1st place and 21st place in a National Singles tournament. Ellis has built such a lead out of the gate, I truly wonder if he can be caught for Man of the Year. The only person standing between him and finishing at this year's Man of the Year, is Ellis himself. The only person standing in the way of Ellis and the MVP? His doubles partner Ryan Hart. If Ellis wants to be in that conversation as well, the duo has to be better than 17th.

My MVP after the first pro event is none other than Erick "The Magician" Davis. I have to say, I'm pretty surprised. I did have an opportunity to see Davis in some conference action prior to the pro season, and I will say I saw a much improved player than what I saw in 2023. However, I can't lie and say I expected him to be the #3 singles player and a member of the #2 doubles team immediately following the first event. Statistically, Davis was 2nd among the entire field in DPR in preliminary play at 0.78. Even on the broadcast court in New Orleans, we got to see a peak of vintage Davis hitting some outrageous pushes. Davis is back to 2021 form and I think all of the cornhole world is happy to see it.

Alex Rawls almost defied physics for how good of a performance he had at the Kickoff Battle without making a broadcast. Similar to Davis, Rawls is top 6 in singles ranking, doubles ranking, and singles DPR, automatically making him an MVP candidate yet again. Rawls will be a favorite again in Colorado, especially considering he won the Cornhole Mania back in 2023, defeating the eventual World Champion Jamie Graham in the finals. Rawls has finished the past two years as world's #2 player, so don't expect him to do anything different here.

It's almost impossible for an MVP to live up to the same level of expectation as the previous year, but Tony Smith has been pretty darn good. Yes, he had a tough finish in National Singles specifically at the Kickoff Battle, but he made the final four in Shootout Singles, and then he and Mark Richards lived up to the superteam billing by taking down National Doubles and becoming the #1 doubles team. Smith was particularly dominant in doubles, putting together an outrageous 1.10 DPR. For those who were worried about Tony Smith not being red hot before the first pro event, me included, we can have a sigh of relief on Big Tone.

Gavin Cano and Fisher Hamilton continue to simply "be there at the end". Cano made the final of National Singles and had a lead over Jeremiah Ellis, which very few have been able to do this year so far. Many of us may have been questioning his ability to finish, but that only lasted about 18 hours as Cano capped the weekend with his first Open Singles win. Additionally, it was just a day after his partner won his fifth Open Doubles title alongside first time title winner Landen Crabtree. This duo in singles or doubles is going to win something this year. Shoot, they were well on their way to a National Doubles title until a mistimed foot foul by Fisher Hamilton flipped momentum in favor of Richards and Smith in New Orleans. When it comes to Cano and Hamilton, just be patient.

Overwhelmed by the Chaos

The four winningest players of all time (Matt Guy, Trey Burchfield, Jamie Graham, Mark Richards) have an average singles ranking of 51 with Jamie Graham having the best ranking at a measly 29. Normally, you'd say perhaps they just had a bad day, but each of these players honestly had no excuse as to why they didn't have a strong finish at the first event. Matt Guy is still far and away the best statistical PPR player in the world. Jamie Graham is fresh off a singles world championship, not to mention a string of purely dominant conference performances in one of the toughest regions in the world. Mark Richards already has two Open Singles titles this season. Trey Burchfield has won four Open Doubles titles this season, three alongside Adam Hissner specifically. I am not ready to write off the all time greats this season, but especially in singles, these guys have got to figure it out or it is going to be a long season for them.

The stars of last season also find themselves in a hole to start the year. Kaleb Batson, Jakob Gore, and Justin Burton Jr have fallen way short of the expectations they set because of their 2023 performance. For Batson specifically, there's simply just disappointment on the doubles side as he and Eddie Grinderslev had won three straight Pro Doubles events, only to now be ranked 48th to start 2024. The panic button can't be mashed too hard as Batson finds himself 14th in singles DPR, so at least we know he is playing well statistically. Right behind Batson in singles DPR at 17th (0.48) is Jakob Gore, but like Batson who is 91st in singles ranking, Gore finds himself outside the top 50 at 77 when he spent the entire 2023 year inside the top 10. A strong Open performance in New Orleans has me optimistic for a bounce back, as he finished second, but Gore is currently the second best player in his own family, which has absolutely got to be burning him badly. Finally, Justin Burton Jr has seen his DPR greatly fall off in 2024, dropping almost a half a point from his 2023 season long performance. Currently with a 0.28 DPR, Burton Jr has got to channel the magic he displayed at the San Diego Open just a couple months ago if he is going to come anywhere close to what he was able to accomplish as a rookie in 2023.

Trey's Takes

Shootout Singles

1st - Jeremiah Ellis

2nd - Devon Harbaugh

3rd - Tony Smith

3rd - Alex Rawls

Shootout Doubles

1st - Tony Smith/Mark Richards

2nd - Justin Burton Jr/Logan Chamberlain

3rd - Ethan Walker/Alec Ryon

3rd - Jakob Gore/Hunter Thorne

National Singles