I’m currently sitting at the Dallas airport, waiting to board my flight to head home from ACL Signature #4, and for the life of me I cannot stop thinking about what an incredible weekend it was.
It was warm outside, but inside the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas, it was even hotter. Some amazing storylines were created, standings were shaken, and as we make the turn for the back half of the season, things are just starting to heat up. Let's get right into it.
I have to start this recap with Friday – Pro Singles day. It started out like any other. The top seeds were cruising. Jamie Graham, Tony Smith, and Mark Richards all made it to their winner bracket final, no surprise at all.
A couple hours in, we started hearing through the grapevine that Jay Rubin had a ridiculous stat in his first game, so I went and checked, and I think ridiculous may be an understatement: Rubin did not miss a bag in that game until the 18th round. Started off by throwing 17 four-baggers in a row, 71 consecutive bags. One of the most absurd stats I have ever heard of. From that point on, something felt different. I don’t know how to describe it, but it was almost like we knew Rubin was going to win his bracket.
Jay smoked Jamie Graham in the A-bracket winners’ final 21-8, and was sitting very comfortably. In the other brackets, Tony Smith edged out Gavin Cano in a fantastic game, 21-19, in the B bracket, Austin Waskow defeated the 9-year-old stud Cash Chamness in the C bracket, and Mark Richards beat a resurging Trey Burchfield 21-13 in the D bracket. All four of those players would need to be double-dipped, and it proved to be very difficult.
In the A bracket, in a surprising upset, Spencer Fabionar took down the #1 player in the world, Jamie Graham, and took Jay Rubin to the limit before ultimately falling 21-17.
The B bracket was much closer, and really could’ve gone either way. Justin Burton Jr. was able to escape Gavin Cano and make the final, and gave Tony Smith everything he had. Burton Jr. won the first game of the double dip, 21-17, and was looking to complete the upset. At one point, JBJ had a 17-5 lead in game 2, and then all of a sudden it was gone. Tony scored 12 points in three rounds, and just like that it was 17-17. Tony hit a couple of nice back-to-back shots and was able to survive and take it down.
Bracket C saw Cah Chamness give Austin Waskow a run for his money, but the rookie from Texas was able to hold on and get the win, 21-19. This was Chamness’ best finish in a Signature event so far this season, and he is right on the edge of breaking through.
In the D bracket final, Mark Richards squared off against Gabriel Clauson, who only allowed eight points to Trey Burchfield in the third place game. Clauson started off hot, throwing a 10.17 PPR and forcing a game 2. The second game was just as entertaining, but this is where we saw “vintage” Mark Richards. After falling 15-5 midway through the game, Richards was able to lock in, change his game plan, and Clauson did not score the rest of the game.
The final four was set. Two 1 seeds, two 2 seeds. All four players are well inside the top 10 in Pro Singles standings, and looking to move up the rankings.
On Saturday afternoon, we started the Pro Singles final four. And honestly, neither of the semi-final games were very interesting. Austin Waskow was able to keep the pace up against Mark Richards, and won the game 21-10, and Tony Smith struggled to adjust to the quickness of the boards, so Jay Rubin was able to run away with the game in the end.
The finals. Jay Rubin vs. Austin Waskow. I can genuinely say it was one of the greatest games I’ve ever called, purely from an offensive standpoint. Neither player threw less than a 10 until round 18 when Rubin threw an eight. Not one airmail was attempted until the last round of the game. This was purely nothing but sliding bags into the hole for 40 straight minutes. A 39-round marathon where neither player deserved to lose. However there are no ties in cornhole unfortunately, and when Waskow missed a bag to the right, everyone knew he had to hit an airmail drag to stay alive. The bag left his hand and landed an inch too deep and went off the board, giving Jay Rubin his first career singles title, on the anniversary weekend of his grandmother’s passing. Waskow was incredible, but Rubin was near-perfect. One of the greatest games of all time.
Now we switch gears to doubles. This was a little more surprising because we saw top teams lose early. The A and B brackets remained chalk, as Jamie Graham and Jacob Trzcienski, as well as Mark Richards and Tony Smith, cruised to the winners’ bracket final, where they both won handily. However the C and D brackets played out very differently.
Sammy Soto and Gavin Cano, 1-seed in the C bracket, lost their second game of the day to *checks notes* David Morse and Sebastian Schaffer-Ford. Not only that, they got killed, 30-8. Wild surprise. In the D bracket, Logan Chamberlain and Justin Burton Jr. lost their first game of the day to *checks notes again* Koby Costanza and Jacob Foreman. While a little less surprising, you never expect the top seeds to lose.
Spencer Fabionar and Ethan Farias had a fantastic day, making it all the way to the championship of the C bracket, and the AAR team of Alex Rawls and Derek Holland made it in the D bracket.
Now here’s where things got crazy. Mark and Tony, as well as Spencer and E-Max, won their brackets with ease so I’m not gonna talk about that. The A bracket final was incredible. Jamie and Jacob had to face a red-hot team of Devon Harbaugh and Jeremiah Ellis coming out of the losers’ bracket. Devon and Jeremiah won game one easily, but game two was immaculate – a game that saw Jamie and Jake lead most of the way, but was close the entire time. Graham and Trzcienski were on 20 for eight rounds, but never scored again. Jacob had a slide shot for the win in round 26, but the bags clogged. Then, in round 28, Devon Harbaugh hit an absolutely disgusting bully-push that would seal the double-dip and the bracket for him and Jeremiah Ellis. Though I wasn’t commentating that game, it felt like I was with how loud the crowd reactions were.
The D bracket final was just as entertaining, which saw Cheyenne Bubenheim and Jordan Power also complete the double-dip, also winning their final game 21-20. This game went back and forth the whole time. Rawls and Holland had a 15-7 lead, lost the lead 18-15, then got it back 20-18. In the 26th round, Alex Rawls left a bag short, and Jordan Power hit a clutch no hesitation airmail right over it. Rawls missed again, and Power had another airmail for a bracket win. Weight of the world on his shoulders, no hesitation, Power nailed it. An incredible game winner that sealed it for Power and Bubenheim.
The Doubles final four was going to be entertaining no matter what. You had the #2 team in the world playing the #246 team in the world (obviously they are not really the 246th best team, just haven’t played together so they have no points). On the other side it was 5 vs. 8.
Although E-Max and Spencer played well, it did not correlate to the score, as Mark and Tony took it down 21-8. The other semi-final however was very entertaining. Power and Bubenheim gave Ellis and Harbaugh a run for their money, and kept it close, but never led since the 4th round of the game.
A final match made for cinema. Two of the biggest “super teams” in cornhole. Ellis and Harbaugh have finally found their groove and are looking for their first title as a team. On the other hand, the complete opposite. Smith and Richards have been dominant all season long and are looking for their fifth title of the season.
This game was all about Mark and Tony proving to the entire world that they are the best in the world, and it showed. They scored first and never looked back. They were up 12-0, then 14-3, then 16-5. It was never close.
The only saving grace was Mark Richards having routine shots to win the game not once, not twice, but three times and missing the shot all three times. That allowed Devon and Jeremiah to get the energy back in the game, but like a school bully popping a little kid’s balloon, Tony Smith made the momentum end quickly. A simple 12-10 round ended it and clinched another doubles title for Mark Richards and Tony Smith.
It was an amazing weekend in Fort Worth, Texas as we gear towards the end of the season. My final takeaways: Jay Rubin is in the MVP race, and has all but locked up Comeback Player of the Year. I do not want to see him in my bracket.
Austin Waskow may be the Rookie of the Year front runner. He will be the only rookie in the top 10 in Pro Singles standings.
It is a two-headed race for Team of the Year: Jamie Graham and Jacob Trzcienski, Mark Richards and Tony Smith. In a perfect world, we see these two face off at least one more time before the World Championships so we can see who has the edge. It is going to be a really exciting last few events of the season.
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