Shenandoah ShenDig
2025-07-18 – 2025-07-19 · Shenandoah, IA · 📍 709 S. Fremont Street · State championship
Reps: EUGENE WICKHAM, SARAH WICKHAM · Prize money: $7,000.00
Grand Champion: Low Eye Que (707.3944) · 30 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 HOT DADDY'S BBQ
Entries
30
4 judged meats
Top score
707.3944
Winning margin
8.5944
GC over RC
Field average
676.42
median 680.74
Perfect 180s
4 🔥
Bad Influence BBQ - MO (Brisket), HOT DADDY'S BBQ (Chicken), HOME FARM BBQ (Pork), Low Eye Que (Pork Ribs)
Tightest race
Pork Ribs
3.4400 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
693.0512
10th place overall
Field spread
112.6860
winner to last place
Prize money
$7,000.00
on the line
Double threats
4
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 14%
beats 86% of 1951 Master Series wins in the data
Traveled in
50%
of the 30 teams with a home region came from outside IA
Came back for more
35%
13 of 37 teams from the previous edition returned
Form held
Strong
ρ = -0.68 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1566
avg power rating going in · stronger than 70% of contests
Storylines
💪 A statement win
The champion won by 8.5944 points — a wider margin than 86% of championships in the data.
🔥 A day of perfect scores
4 perfect 180s were scored at this contest.
📸 Photo finishes
Chicken places 6–7: Damn Fine Beef & Swine and TEAM BREW & QUE tied on 175.4056 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork Ribs places 5–6: CASUAL SMOKERS and HOME FARM BBQ tied on 176.5600 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Pork places 9–10: Damn Fine Beef & Swine and Who's Cookin' tied on 173.1200 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
🃏 An upset on the books
Low Eye Que came in rated below the field's top team, HOT DADDY'S BBQ, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 18-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
Score curves (score by finishing position — steep cliffs mean a spread field, flat lines a knife fight)
Category showdown (top / average / median score per meat)
Score distribution
Biggest rating movers (power-rating points won and lost at this contest)
Did form hold? (pre-contest rating vs overall finish — ratings called it if the dots climb to the right)
Where the field came from (home regions on file)
This contest over the years full contest page →
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-07-21 | Shenandoah, IA | 701 S. Fremont Street | 37 | 702.7884 | Hot Daddy's Barbeque | RAILYARD BBQ |
| 2025-07-18 ← this one | Shenandoah, IA | 709 S. Fremont Street | 30 | 707.3944 | Low Eye Que | HOT DADDY'S BBQ |
| 2026-07-17 | Shenandoah, IA | 709 S. Fremont Street | 28 | 703.9544 | SMOKEY D'S WANNABEES | HOT DADDY'S BBQ |
| 2026-07-17 | Shenandoah, IA | 709 S. Fremont Street | 17 | 178.2972 | BBQ Pit Bros | — |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 180.0000 | 175.4172 | 173.7256 |
| Pork Ribs | 180.0000 | 176.5600 | 173.1544 |
| Pork | 180.0000 | 176.5600 | 173.1200 |
| Brisket | 180.0000 | 175.4288 | 170.8228 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
30 entries · top 707.3944 · median 680.7372
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Low Eye Que | |
| 2 | HOT DADDY'S BBQ | |
| 3 | Bocephus BBQ | |
| 4 | Damn Fine Beef & Swine | |
| 5 | CASUAL SMOKERS | |
| 6 | Cities Edge BBQ | |
| 7 | NEVER EASY BBQ | |
| 8 | TEAM BREW & QUE | |
| 9 | WAG'S BACKWOODS BBQ | |
| 10 | HOME FARM BBQ | |
| 11 | PARROTHEAD SMOKERS | |
| 12 | SMOKIN DINGER - THE PROFESSOR OF HOGOLOGY | |
| 13 | TEAM CRAWFORD | |
| 14 | SAUCE BOSSES | |
| 15 | WOOD HOOK BBQ | |
| 16 | RAILYARD BBQ | |
| 17 | Bad Influence BBQ - MO | |
| 18 | Who's Cookin' | |
| 19 | GRILLIN' GRINDES | |
| 20 | Smokin Suckers | |
| 21 | SMOKEHOUSE 72 | |
| 22 | Backroad BBQ | |
| 23 | Bucknutz BBQ | |
| 24 | Sweet Smokin' Jones | |
| 25 | BUCKSHOTBBQ | |
| 26 | SMOKIN' LEFTY'S BBQ | |
| 27 | Smokin A BBQ | |
| 28 | On the Brink | |
| 29 | Grill Reapers | |
| 30 | JK Smokin BBQ |
Chicken
30 entries · top 180.0000 · median 171.4114 · 🔥 perfect 180
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | HOT DADDY'S BBQ | |
| 2 | Low Eye Que | |
| 3 | NEVER EASY BBQ | |
| 4 | Bocephus BBQ | |
| 5 | SMOKIN DINGER - THE PROFESSOR OF HOGOLOGY | |
| 6 | Damn Fine Beef & Swine | |
| 7 | TEAM BREW & QUE | |
| 8 | WOOD HOOK BBQ | |
| 9 | WAG'S BACKWOODS BBQ | |
| 10 | Cities Edge BBQ | |
| 11 | Bucknutz BBQ | |
| 12 | SMOKEHOUSE 72 | |
| 13 | CASUAL SMOKERS | |
| 14 | RAILYARD BBQ | |
| 15 | Smokin A BBQ | |
| 16 | On the Brink | |
| 17 | HOME FARM BBQ | |
| 18 | Who's Cookin' | |
| 19 | Backroad BBQ | |
| 20 | SMOKIN' LEFTY'S BBQ | |
| 21 | PARROTHEAD SMOKERS | |
| 22 | SAUCE BOSSES | |
| 23 | Sweet Smokin' Jones | |
| 24 | BUCKSHOTBBQ | |
| 25 | Smokin Suckers | |
| 26 | Bad Influence BBQ - MO | |
| 27 | TEAM CRAWFORD | |
| 28 | GRILLIN' GRINDES | |
| 29 | Grill Reapers | |
| 30 | JK Smokin BBQ |
Pork Ribs
30 entries · top 180.0000 · median 171.3942 · 🔥 perfect 180
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Low Eye Que | |
| 2 | Bocephus BBQ | |
| 3 | PARROTHEAD SMOKERS | |
| 4 | Who's Cookin' | |
| 5 | CASUAL SMOKERS | |
| 6 | HOME FARM BBQ | |
| 7 | WAG'S BACKWOODS BBQ | |
| 8 | Smokin Suckers | |
| 9 | WOOD HOOK BBQ | |
| 10 | Backroad BBQ | |
| 11 | TEAM CRAWFORD | |
| 12 | SMOKIN DINGER - THE PROFESSOR OF HOGOLOGY | |
| 13 | Cities Edge BBQ | |
| 14 | Damn Fine Beef & Swine | |
| 15 | TEAM BREW & QUE | |
| 16 | SMOKEHOUSE 72 | |
| 17 | HOT DADDY'S BBQ | |
| 18 | RAILYARD BBQ | |
| 19 | NEVER EASY BBQ | |
| 20 | GRILLIN' GRINDES | |
| 21 | SAUCE BOSSES | |
| 22 | Bad Influence BBQ - MO | |
| 23 | Bucknutz BBQ | |
| 24 | On the Brink | |
| 25 | Grill Reapers | |
| 26 | SMOKIN' LEFTY'S BBQ | |
| 27 | BUCKSHOTBBQ | |
| 28 | Sweet Smokin' Jones | |
| 29 | Smokin A BBQ | |
| 30 | JK Smokin BBQ |
Pork
30 entries · top 180.0000 · median 171.9656 · 🔥 perfect 180
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | HOME FARM BBQ | |
| 2 | Cities Edge BBQ | |
| 3 | TEAM CRAWFORD | |
| 4 | SAUCE BOSSES | |
| 5 | Bocephus BBQ | |
| 6 | GRILLIN' GRINDES | |
| 7 | NEVER EASY BBQ | |
| 8 | HOT DADDY'S BBQ | |
| 9 | Damn Fine Beef & Swine | |
| 10 | Who's Cookin' | |
| 11 | BUCKSHOTBBQ | |
| 12 | WAG'S BACKWOODS BBQ | |
| 13 | Low Eye Que | |
| 14 | TEAM BREW & QUE | |
| 15 | CASUAL SMOKERS | |
| 16 | RAILYARD BBQ | |
| 17 | SMOKIN' LEFTY'S BBQ | |
| 18 | SMOKIN DINGER - THE PROFESSOR OF HOGOLOGY | |
| 19 | Smokin Suckers | |
| 20 | Bucknutz BBQ | |
| 21 | Sweet Smokin' Jones | |
| 22 | WOOD HOOK BBQ | |
| 23 | PARROTHEAD SMOKERS | |
| 24 | SMOKEHOUSE 72 | |
| 25 | Bad Influence BBQ - MO | |
| 26 | On the Brink | |
| 27 | Backroad BBQ | |
| 28 | Smokin A BBQ | |
| 29 | Grill Reapers | |
| 30 | JK Smokin BBQ |
Brisket
30 entries · top 180.0000 · median 166.5256 · 🔥 perfect 180
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bad Influence BBQ - MO | |
| 2 | HOT DADDY'S BBQ | |
| 3 | CASUAL SMOKERS | |
| 4 | Damn Fine Beef & Swine | |
| 5 | Low Eye Que | |
| 6 | TEAM BREW & QUE | |
| 7 | SAUCE BOSSES | |
| 8 | PARROTHEAD SMOKERS | |
| 9 | NEVER EASY BBQ | |
| 10 | Cities Edge BBQ | |
| 11 | TEAM CRAWFORD | |
| 12 | WAG'S BACKWOODS BBQ | |
| 13 | GRILLIN' GRINDES | |
| 14 | SMOKIN DINGER - THE PROFESSOR OF HOGOLOGY | |
| 15 | Bocephus BBQ | |
| 16 | WOOD HOOK BBQ | |
| 17 | Backroad BBQ | |
| 18 | HOME FARM BBQ | |
| 19 | RAILYARD BBQ | |
| 20 | Sweet Smokin' Jones | |
| 21 | SMOKEHOUSE 72 | |
| 22 | Smokin Suckers | |
| 23 | Smokin A BBQ | |
| 24 | Bucknutz BBQ | |
| 25 | BUCKSHOTBBQ | |
| 26 | SMOKIN' LEFTY'S BBQ | |
| 27 | Who's Cookin' | |
| 28 | Grill Reapers | |
| 29 | On the Brink | |
| 30 | JK Smokin BBQ |