Cornhole is headed to the Rocky Mountains, and the season is just starting to heat up. ACL Signature #3 is upon us, and it's time to look at who will use this weekend as a stepping stone into the upper echelon of professional cornhole.

The standings have swung drastically in the past two weeks: Gabriel Clauson was the #1 player in the world after Signature #1, but dropped five spots after a poor performance in Mesa. Jamie Graham, on the other hand, swept the weekend and is now ranked #1 in both Pro Singles and Pro Doubles. 

Once this Signature is complete, we will be halfway through the Pro season, and the MVP, ROTY, and Team of the year races will start to take shape. Today I will break down all of Pro Singles, and who I think will be able to take it down.

 

Bracket A

Last event, Jamie Graham was able to pass Trey Burchfield for second-most ACL Titles of all time at 22. Now the chase is on to hunt down Mark Richards, who has a three-title lead on him. Graham has a somewhat favorable side to work with, but we’ll see if he can get it done.

There aren’t a ton of people on the left side of the bracket who I think could give Jamie a run for his money, but one person I think will put up a decent fight is Jimmy Youmans. Youmans is the 8 seed, but just came off a big cash tournament win on a battleship (!!) with Gage Landis. Surprisingly, these two have not faced each other once this season, so maybe this unfamiliar face will provide a challenge for Graham.

Colby Shearer is the 4 seed, coming off his Pro Singles broadcast debut. Shearer is trying to prove that last event wasn’t a fluke, and that he can win another bracket. Unlike Youmans, Graham has faced Shearer three times this season, and is 3-0 against him, boasting a 10.05 PPR in the 38 rounds they’ve played.

Austin Waskow is the 2 seed, and leads a very Texas-heavy side which includes Eddie Grinderslev, Brayden Wilson, and Cash Chamness. However, I do not think anybody from Texas makes it out of that side, because of two people.

The first being Jay Rubin. Rubin had a stellar performance in Mesa, Arizona, two weekends ago, and looks to back that up with another strong weekend. That man is hungry, and I do not want to be in his way.

The other person I am looking at is Ryan Windsor. The 19 seed in the A bracket, currently 79th in Pro Singles standings, Windsor doesn’t want a good finish, he needs a good finish. The fact that we are talking about Ryan Windsor possibly not re-qualifying for next season is crazy. At what point does the pressure of performing start to get to him? Unfortunately for him, his second match will be against Jay Rubin, which doesn’t bode well. But maybe he performs well with his back against the wall.

With all this being said, nobody is going to stop Jamie Graham, and nobody is going to stop Jay Rubin. I’ll see them in the bracket final, in a match that we almost got for the overall Pro Singles Final last event.

 

Bracket B

There’s always one bracket that seems more stacked than others, and this time around it happens to be the B bracket. This thing is gross. Gross in a good way. Gross in a sense that the level of talent in this thing is insane, and going to be so tough to win. 

Tony Smith stayed put as the #2 player in the world, and is the #1 seed in the B bracket for the second straight event. This ride to the finals will not be as easy as it was last event, as Smith’s side of the bracket is stout with talent.

Tommy Sliker, Hayden Gonzales, and Adam Hissner are all in the quadrant below Smith, and all three of those players could pose a very real threat to Smith in his 3rd game. Hissner won a singles title last year, Sliker almost won his bracket at Signature #1, and Gonzales continues to be one of the best Junior Pros in the country.

Spencer Fabionar finished third in his bracket last event, only losing of course to Jamie Graham and Tony Smith, so I know for a fact the 4 seed is out for vengeance.

The other player I really have my eye on is sneakily down in the lower quadrant as a 12 seed, and his name is Jacob Trzcienski. Jacob threw over an 11 for the entire Pro Doubles event last Signature, but hasn’t put much together on the Singles side. I still think he’s one of the best players in the world right now and would not be surprised to see him defeat Tony.

The right side is just as stacked, led by Smith’s Pro partner, Mark Richards. Richards was the only player this season to win multiple Open Singles titles, yet has not done much at the Signatures. Richards made it to his bracket final last event before falling to Colby Shearer, so maybe that was the momentum he needed to get back to early season form. Standing in his way are people like Alex Rawls, who has had a lackluster start as well, Erick Davis who is quietly ranked ninth in the world in Pro Singles, and Bret Guy, who had a fantastic run in Arizona. 

In the end, I think we see Tony Smith make a bracket final for the third consecutive time, facing off against his… former pro partner, Jacob Trzcienski.

 

Bracket C

Bracket C will be a little more mellow, but still a lot of fun. Rookie of the Year front-runner Zack Aiken looks to continue his dominance as the #1 seed in this bracket. Another bracket win here can almost guarantee the award to him at the end of the season.

Standing in his way is still “Cinderella” Ryan Wiedenfeld. Did not perform very well in Mesa, but this is different. Last weekend, Wiedenfeld graduated high school. He’s a changed man now. He’s due for a big performance and I think he gets one here. 

Devon Harbaugh is the 4 seed, but he did not look great on the TV stage last event – will that play a factor? Will it constantly be in his mind and hinder his performance? It may. 

Shoutout to Tye Thompson coming in as the 5 seed in this bracket. Not a lot of people are talking about him, but he did just win Singles at the Texas Interstate event, which included wins over Gavin Cano, Caitlyn Allshouse, AJ Sims, and Logan Chamberlain. Not to mention Thompson finished second in his Advanced Singles bracket at the 2023 World Championships, only losing to some dude named Jake Brannon. Thompson is looking to make a name for himself.

Trey Burchfield and Gavin Cano headline the right side of the bracket, which isn't super flashy. I really like Noah Almanza’s path, especially since he doesn’t have Mark Richards in his bracket, who seems to be the only person who has beaten him in the past month. I like the surprise 10 seed to make the bracket final against Devon Harbaugh.

 

Bracket D

This bracket is going to be FUN, and you can tell as soon as you open the bracket. We should get a Matt Guy vs. Jeremiah Ellis quarter-final match that would feed families. Who remembers their 40+-round match from the Brighton, Michigan Open last season? One of my favorite matches I've ever called. Check it out here. If the brackets play out right and we do get that match, it will for sure be on the livestream. Don’t miss it.

The Forbes brothers will look to spoil that, however. Tony did not have a good run last event and comes in as the 40 seed, and Bryce looks to stay hot as the 8 seed. Winner will play Jeremiah, and could go on a deep run.

Jackson Gore finds himself as a 4 seed, the exact same seed he was when he finished second in his bracket at Signature 1. Luckily for Gore, Ryker Wells is not in this bracket. He is set to face 5 seed Logan Chamberlain in the quarterfinals in a path that is much easier as well. Guy vs. Ellis and Gore vs. Chamberlain as the final 4 on the left side would be really fun to watch.

On the right side, there’s 3 seed Sammy Soto, 4 seed Ethan Walker, and… not a lot else. I don’t see a scenario where these two don’t come out of that side. Maybe Tanner Halbert sneaks out? Maybe Hunter Thorson? Ryan Smith? I doubt it. Left side is way more loaded.

This one is really tough to predict, but in the end I think we see a “father” vs. “son” bracket final, Jeremiah Ellis and Sammy Soto.



Jake’s Takes

Bracket A: Jamie Graham over Jay Rubin

Bracket B: Jacob Trzcienski over Tony Smith

Bracket C: Noah Almanza over Devon Harbaugh

Bracket D: Sammy Soto over Jeremiah Ellis


Overall Pro Singles Champion: Jacob Trzcienski

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