ACL Open #3 Preview:
The American Cornhole League is back and rolling! Many of the best cornhole players in the world will head to Cincinnati, Ohio for the third open event of the 2021-2022 season. The first open event of the season we found ourselves mesmerized by the GOAT, who casually took down Level 1 singles throwing a (pedestrian) >11.0 PPR. The second open event was highlighted by a slew of young talent with sophomore Tony Smith ultimately taking down the singles event. This third open event is absolutely stacked! While we are not privy to the full registration list, several teams/individuals are known to be participating…so let’s take a look….
Doubles:
Comfortable teams….
For now, how bout we stick with more common names. Let’s start off with an OG, blue blooded doubles team…Hissner/Henderson. Playing in their home state, I can’t help but think that these Local Bags slinging boys are the favorite in this event. It can be argued that no team in this event has a higher floor. There are only two questions…will Henderson find the zone quickly? If they make the finals…can they get over the hump? Anytime I see Guy/Guy in a doubles bracket, I get excited. There is just something comfortable seeing these two playing together. Could bag choice be an issue? I know, I know, Matt can throw anything. But Bret has been so good with the Fire Assaults and Matt, most recently, has been absolutely scorching the earth with the Fire Incinerator. They will figure it out and not a single one of us would be surprised if they won it all. Another “classic” team is new to the ACL. Tanner Halbert and Eric “EZ” Zocklein are well known in the cornhole world, but now they get the chance to prove to everyone that their ACO success wasn’t a fluke. Do I think they win this event? No. But I want to see how they perform overall to get a better feel for the rest of the season.
New friends and flashy teams
It is hard to not get a little excited about the Erick Davis/Noah Wooten pair. A year or two ago, without question, most people would have said Wooten was the backbone of this pairing. Times are a changing. Eric Davis is now widely regarded as a top 10 (probably higher) player in the world and was THE BEST doubles player in the world last season. Wooten can hit all the shots…we have seen him hit all the shots…but will he play smart? If he does…..we see Davis/Wooten winning it all. Sticking with a little more fire, we have Jamie Graham and Jordan Power throwing together. I really like this pairing. Jamie can play with confidence knowing he has a partner who can flat out stroke. I’ve said it before, but I love the Swag that Power plays with. It’s good for the game. A top 5 finish seems, to me at least, almost certain for these two. Another random pairing I find myself curious to watch is Ryan Smith and Steven Bernacet. These two signed up later than most, but have just as much fire power as anyone else at this event. We know, based off last year that Bernacet likes to pour bags into the hole. Smith has recently been playing with a slower bag (BG Viking), but in previous years, where he also had great success, he played with a slicker bag. If Smith finds that zone, he can quickly remind people just how dominant he can be. I’d be hard pressed not to mention Burchfield and Rawls. I put them in this section because they are a new team. They have a ton of pressure on them in their first ACL event together. Do people expect them to win? Sure why not? Anytime you play with the number 1 player in the world, you should have a pretty good chance. How does Rawls handle the pressure? I am more interested in seeing how Rawls performs when he isn’t at his best early in a game. Does he rise to the occasion and find his stroke? Does the weight of the moment get to him? We will certainly find out!
Keep an eye out…
Frank Modlin just doesn’t seem to age….and he has a new hip! Put that together with exciting ACL rookie Austin Schlobohm and I think we have something here. I think it’s going to take a tournament or two for Austin to shake the “imposter” sensation and feel like he belongs with the best of the best. Once he does, this team seems destined for big things this year. Eric Anderson has been on a roll (pun fully intended) locally, early this season. For this event he is playing with ACL rookie and crazy talented individual, Victor Glass (learn the name). These two play similar styles and you will be hard pressed to see another team who can manipulate bags on the boards better than these two. If they like the board conditions..they will make a deep run. An interesting duo who I think has the potential to be that team who “shocks” people will be Mike Ferreira and Berklee Pair. Mfer is an all cornhole sponsored player this year and I would imagine they will be throwing with Game Changers. If you haven’t seen someone roll a Game Changer before…watch Pair. He, in my opinion, has the most upside to any “true rookie” in the ACL. I see these two causing big problems this weekend and won’t be shocked if they see a sneak into the final 4. The last team I want to mention is Kaylee Hunter and Megan Maupin. Newly signed Fire Cornhole players, both of these ladies can flat out destroy humans on the boards. I like that they are playing together early this season…allows them time to develop chemistry. Will they win this event? I doubt it. Will they be the highest finishing female duo…book it.
Singles:
This field is so loaded…I love it. It really does feel like a National Event. The only down side to open events…no brackets can be released ahead of time due to the “Rounders” format. It makes it nearly impossible to predict who will win. Do the brackets really matter all that much Sean?? Just stop it….yes they matter. Match-ups matter. But since you have already made it this far into the article…..let’s talk about some of the favorites..
I am excited to watch ACL rookie, Josh Holland. He recently tried to break the Cornhole Facebook world by announcing he is actively looking to sign with a NEW bag sponsor. He was previously signed by Cornhole Scenario, but something obviously went wrong. Maybe he was still waiting for bags and was getting nervous his bags might not make it to him before the start of the season (insert shoulder shrug emoji). Or perhaps he heard through the grapevine that Cornhole Scenario will be losing their “stamp status” prior to the first National Event (lucky for them… they might not be the only ones). For more information on this little golden nugget of information, be on the lookout for an upcoming article. Anyways…back to Josh. He is an absolute monster on the board. You can’t wear a shirt that says “Da Best Eva” without backing that shit up. We see him in the top 5 when it is all said and done.
Trey Burchfield…..can he possibly repeat what he did last season? If we look back in history…I would have to say no. Yet, we have never had to compare humans to robots before…so you do the math.
Tanner Halbert, aka “the King Slayer”, is now a card carrying member of the ACL. Coming off a dominant season in the ACO, Tanner will look to remind folks why he was given his nickname.
I can’t help but feel like last year was a feeling out process for Erick Davis. It’s scary to think about really. Early in the season his singles performances were lacking a bit, but each event he got better and better. Could this be the event where he “bursts” onto the singles scene and makes a run at the top spot? I kind feel it
Which Jamie Graham shows up this weekend? If it is 2019-2020 Jamie Graham, we could probably just give him the tiny cornhole board trophy now. Is it last season Jamie Graham where he had flashes of brilliance..but would lose matches uncharacteristically? I think we find ourselves somewhere in the middle.
Eric Anderson made his long awaited singles broadcast debut last season. He seems hungrier than ever and the dude likes to eat. If he plays smart and his first bag is on….the kid is tough to beat.
Finally, Cody Henderson…Mr Consistent. The dude just always seems to find himself in the top 5 of every tournament. He is never out of a match and can stroke with the best of them. Can he finally get over the hump and win in the finals….this remains to be seen
There you have it folks! While it isn’t 24-7 TV coverage or a magazine, we hope to continue bringing you entertaining cornhole content on a, somewhat, regular basis.
Make sure to Tune into the live streams on Saturday, available on the K9 unit Group (Facebook) and the ACL Page to hear your favorite Asp Brothers on the mic!
I hope you throw it straight and it’s nothing but 4 baggers from here on out! Cheer!
