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PREVIEW: Corn Nuts Little Rock Open

October 29th, 2024 Jake Brannon

Tournament Previews

Little Rock, AR–a historical city known for its role in the civil rights movement will play host to the ACL’s third Open of the season this weekend.

Taking place at the Statehouse Convention Center in the heart of downtown Little Rock, the best players in cornhole are traveling from all over the country to compete for a piece of the $40,000+ prize pool.

The Corn Nuts Little Rock Open kicks off Friday morning with Women’s, Junior, and Senior Singles at 9:00am.

WOMEN’S DIVISION

This weekend, we are guaranteed to crown a different Women’s Singles Champion as both Sarah Cassidy and Kamryn Belvin will not be in attendance. That opens the door for women like Caitlyn Allshouse, Rilee Schoff, and Mailyn Dela Cruz Gigante to collect their first signature win of the season. However, don’t count out Dia Lee, Elizabeth Tennyson, or Isabella Surprenant either. The field is wide open and the talent pool is deep.

On the Women’s Doubles side, this event presents the perfect opportunity for a dark horse team to emerge. There aren’t a lot of “normal” partners playing together, so this is a fun opportunity to survey some unique pairings.

One team that comes to mind is Jasmine Privette and Gina Ramirez. Privette, coming off a Women’s Doubles win at the Des Moines Open with Katy Bartell, has the chance to be the first person this season to win back-to-back tournaments in the same division. I believe she has a legitimate chance to get it done. However, teams like Isabella Surprenant and Elizabeth Tennyson or Maddie McBride and Caitlyn Allshouse could stand in their way.

SENIOR DIVISION

As we saw at the last ACL Open, anything can happen in the Senior division. In Des Moines, Jeff Reynolds plowed through everyone on his way to an impressive win, but Donald Cupp also shined.

Seeing as this will be another event with no Daymon Dennis or Frank Modlin, I expect this tournament to play out similarly to the last where I have no earthly clue who is going to win it all.

Donald Cupp has the second highest PPR in the field with a 9.85, so I have to assume he will be a top contender. Steve Schroeder and Benjamin Frederick made a deep run in the 2024 ACL Pro Qualifier last August, so you can expect them to be a problem for everyone else too. Regardless, these old dudes will be slingin’ it all weekend.

Alternatively, Senior Doubles is the exact opposite of Senior Singles. There is no doubt in my mind that Steve Schroeder and Donald Cupp will take home the W. I have not been more confident about a singular pick all year.

Unless a last-minute juggernaut team pops up, I expect this duo to win every single one of their games. I will be astonished if anyone scores more than 15 points on them. Far and away, this is Steve Schroeder and Donald Cupp’s tournament to lose.

JUNIOR DIVISION

Junior Singles will be a blast. You have your obvious players: Ryan Traiteur who is coming off an Open Singles and Doubles win in Des Moines; Bryce Forbes, who turned a lot of heads in Rock Hill; Sammy Soto and Alex Hicks who both have multiple titles under their belts and know what it takes to perform; and Advanced Singles World Champion Logan Dupler. You know these kids by heart and already expect to see them in the end.

But what about the kids who don’t get enough respect?

Hayden Gonzales, a stud out of the Pacific Northwest, made his name last year at the Myrtle Beach Open after double-dipping ACL Pro Joe Kniesteadt to win his Open Singles bracket. Then we have the eight-year-old cornhole star, Cash Chamness, who gets better and better with every tournament. Lastly, 2024 ACL High School Singles World Champion Espn Jackson is on a mission to prove he belongs in the ACL Pro division.

This field is incredible and I wish I could jump ahead to watch it all unfold now.

Junior Doubles will present an exciting viewer experience as well. Sammy Soto and Ryan Traiteur are on the hunt for the back-to-back Junior Doubles Championship title and I’d say they’re probably the favorite to win.

If I had to pick one team that I think could dethrone them, I have to go with Espn Jackson and Levi Haddock. They are so entertaining to watch and I believe they can easily keep up with the block and roll game of Traiteur and Soto. Logan Dupler and Cash Chamness plus Hayden Gonzales and Chase Frieden are also on my radar this weekend.

ACL PRO & ELITE DOUBLES

Saturday’s Doubles tournament is headlined by one of the most absurd pairings: Devon Harbaugh and Ryan Traiteur. How are there not already protesters lined up outside of the venue with a powerhouse couple like that signed up?

Arguably the two best Open players, Harbaugh and Traiteur accounted for five Open Singles wins out of the 16 Opens last season, and have already claimed three of the four Pro event wins this season.

One may argue that it’s their tournament to lose, but we all know these Open events are incredibly difficult to win. This will be a good opportunity to see how teams like Gary Bearpaw and Matthew Creekkiller perform, especially given their close chemistry.

With an endless supply of cornhole talent, you won’t want to miss a second of the action this weekend. Tune in to ACL Cornhole TV, ESPN+, YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok to watch it all unfold.

ACL PRO & ELITE SINGLES

Can Ryan Traiteur go back-to-back?

Will Devon Harbaugh get his second Singles title of the season?

Will a rookie or Elite player like Bryce Forbes emerge and make a huge run?

Only Sunday’s Singles tournament will bring the answers.

This loaded field interests me quite a bit because I feel like this thing is just wide open. I can’t explain why, but I believe we could see a reemergence of Matt Guy this weekend. While I don’t have tangible reasons to explain this inkling and I haven’t seen him implement any changes to his game, I have to go with my gut on this. Something just feels different.

I’d love to see Gavin Cano have a good finish and get some confidence on this side, plus I have Ryan Wiedenfeld on my radar this weekend. The 17-year-old pro is long overdue for a solid finish. Lastly, Ethan Walker and Quinn Reeves made my Sunday watch list as we look to crown another Pro & Elite Singles Champion.

AMATEUR DOUBLES & SINGLES

Back in Rock Hill, the star of the Amateur division was Espn Jackson. In Des Moines, it was Alex MacDonald and Justin Lang. This weekend, these players are all in attendance, but not everyone will walk away a champion.

Jackson has partnered up with former ACL Pro Peyton Mares for Amateur Doubles which offers us an incredibly solid team. I also really like the pairing of Kaitlyn Hamm and Josh Glover; I think their performance will surprise a lot of people.

On the Singles side, I have to give the edge once again to Espn Jackson. The kid is talented and nobody came close to touching him in Rock Hill. I think the only person who has a chance of keeping up with him is Justin Lang, so we will have to wait and see. Amateur Singles is always a crapshoot, so who knows which players will make it to the king’s seat?

HOW TO WATCH

If you find yourself in the Little Rock area this weekend, head over to the Statehouse Convention Center and check out all the action in person. For the homebound cornhole fans, tune in all weekend to watch the action on ESPN+, ACL Cornhole TV, Facebook, Youtube, and TikTok.