Hog Wild BBQ Cookoff and Family Fest

May 2–3, 2025 · Brookhaven, MS · 📍 125 South Whitworth Ave. · State championship

Reps: Maria Lohman, Wayne Lohman · Prize money: $6,500

🥇

Kermit's Ex

705.1428 · Master Series — Overall

🥈

ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN

704.5488 · Master Series — Overall

🥉

HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ

700.4912 · Master Series — Overall

Kermit's Ex won Grand Champion at the Hog Wild BBQ Cookoff and Family Fest on May 2, 2025 in Brookhaven, MS at 125 South Whitworth Ave., scoring 705.1428 in a field of 27 teams. ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN took Reserve Grand Champion with 704.5488. Category winners: Chicken — HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ (180.0000); Pork Ribs — Kermit's Ex (179.4400); Pork — DANG GOOD BBQ (178.8572); Brisket — Mad Dog BBQ (177.7028).

The contest at a glance (read off the scored boards)

How the field scored

Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.

626.71 median 689.06 705.14 🏆

How the meats cooked

Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.

Chicken 180 🔥
Pork Ribs 179.44
Pork 178.86
Brisket 177.70

142.24 180

Entries

4 judged meats

Top score

705.1428

Winning margin

0.5940

GC over RC

Field average

683.36

626.71705.14

median 689.06 · last place to winner

Perfect 180s

2 🔥

HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ (Chicken), Kermit's Ex (Chicken)

Tightest race

Chicken

1.1428 pts across the top 5

Top-10 cutoff

692.5144

626.71705.14

10th place overall

Field spread

78.4344

winner to last place

Prize money

$6,500

on the line

Most consistent

ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN

avg finish 5.75 across 4 meats

Double threats

teams with 2+ top-5 calls

Widest winning margin

Pork Ribs

won by 1.7256 pts — Kermit's Ex

How hot was the win?

Top 13%

beats 87% of 4723 Master Series wins in the data

Form held

Strong

ρ = -0.68 between pre-contest rating and finish

Field strength

1,617

avg power rating going in · stronger than 86% of contests

Top-rated in the field

ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN

rated 1884 pre-contest

Storylines (5 found in this contest's numbers)

Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.

A razor-thin finish

0.5940 points between champion and reserve

Closer than 88% of the 4,722 championships in the data

The Grand Championship was decided by 0.5940 points — closer than 88% of every championship in the data.

Kermit's Ex
ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN

An upset on the books

28-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings

The ratings favoured the top seed the other 72 times in 100

Kermit's Ex came in rated below the field's top team, ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 28-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.

champion 1724
top seed 1884

Photo finishes

Tie closest of 16 calls decided inside half a point

Chicken places 1–2: HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ and Kermit's Ex tied on 180.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 3–4: Glamping Grillers and DANG GOOD BBQ tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 4–5: DANG GOOD BBQ and CHICKEN FRIED BBQ tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.

Chicken 1–2 · tie
Chicken 3–4 · tie
Chicken 4–5 · tie
Chicken 8–9 · tie

How the title was won

3 of 4 meats called to the stage

Kermit's Ex took the title on 3 calls from 4 meats, with 1 outright win — their weakest board was brisket at 16th.

Chicken 2nd
Pork Ribs 1st
Pork 7th
Brisket 16th

A perfect score on the table

2 perfect 180s

2 perfect 180s were scored at this contest — every judge at the table handing back a nine.

HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ · Chicken
Kermit's Ex · Chicken

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)

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)

What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)

Category	1st	5th	10th
Chicken	180	178.8572	175.4056
Pork Ribs	179.4400	176.5600	173.1200
Pork	178.8572	177.1428	174.2628
Brisket	177.7028	175.4172	171.4400

Official results on kcbs.us ↗

Master Series

Overall

27 entries · top 705.1428 · median 689.0628

#	Team	Score
1	Kermit's Ex	705.1428
2	ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN	704.5488
3	HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ	700.4912
4	PIGLITICALLY INCORRECT BBQ	699.9312
5	DANG GOOD BBQ	698.2404
6	Kith n' Kin	698.2284
7	STEWBABYS BBQ	697.0972
8	MAN MEAT BBQ	695.9200
9	Glamping Grillers	693.6804
10	CHICKEN FRIED BBQ	692.5144
11	Mad Dog BBQ	691.9084
12	Thin Blue Smoke MS	691.3372
13	Poppa Pig	690.8000
14	Smoke Busters	689.0628
15	BBK Competition BBQ	688.4912
16	Mississippi Meat Mafia	683.9544
17	Bone Collector BBQ	683.3256
18	JordyQ	679.2912
19	Rankin County BBQ Company	678.2284
20	Smokin N The Bandits	678.1944
21	UNCLE FEOL'S TENNESSEE STYLE BBQ	675.8856
22	MEMPHIS ORIGINAL BBQ	675.3484
23	Four Leaf Clover BBQ	664.4344
24	2nd Hand Smoke	660.5604
25	Southern Swine	658.8228
26	Hancock BBQ	648.6400
27	Mid Town BBQ	626.7084

Chicken

27 entries · top 180 · median 173.7028 · 🔥 perfect 180

#	Team	Score
1	HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ	180 🔥
2	Kermit's Ex	180 🔥
3	Glamping Grillers	178.8572
4	DANG GOOD BBQ	178.8572
5	CHICKEN FRIED BBQ	178.8572
6	2nd Hand Smoke	176.5716
7	Four Leaf Clover BBQ	176.5600
8	ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN	175.4172
9	Poppa Pig	175.4172
10	PIGLITICALLY INCORRECT BBQ	175.4056
11	STEWBABYS BBQ	174.8456
12	MAN MEAT BBQ	174.2628
13	Smoke Busters	174.2628
14	Mississippi Meat Mafia	173.7028
15	Thin Blue Smoke MS	173.1200
16	Mid Town BBQ	172.5828
17	Kith n' Kin	172.5484
18	BBK Competition BBQ	171.9884
19	Southern Swine	170.8572
20	JordyQ	170.8228
21	Smokin N The Bandits	170.8112
22	Rankin County BBQ Company	170.2744
23	Mad Dog BBQ	170.2628
24	MEMPHIS ORIGINAL BBQ	168
25	Hancock BBQ	164.6172
26	Bone Collector BBQ	163.9656
27	UNCLE FEOL'S TENNESSEE STYLE BBQ	161.0856

Pork Ribs

27 entries · top 179.4400 · median 171.9772

#	Team	Score
1	Kermit's Ex	179.4400
2	ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN	177.7144
3	MEMPHIS ORIGINAL BBQ	177.7028
4	Kith n' Kin	176.5600
5	BBK Competition BBQ	176.5600
6	Smokin N The Bandits	175.4288
7	HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ	175.4056
8	UNCLE FEOL'S TENNESSEE STYLE BBQ	174.8688
9	STEWBABYS BBQ	173.1316
10	CHICKEN FRIED BBQ	173.1200
11	PIGLITICALLY INCORRECT BBQ	173.1200
12	Glamping Grillers	172.5600
13	Smoke Busters	172.5600
14	MAN MEAT BBQ	171.9772
15	Mad Dog BBQ	171.9656
16	Hancock BBQ	170.8684
17	Rankin County BBQ Company	170.8228
18	Mississippi Meat Mafia	170.2744
19	Southern Swine	170.2628
20	DANG GOOD BBQ	169.6916
21	Thin Blue Smoke MS	169.6916
22	JordyQ	169.6800
23	Bone Collector BBQ	168.5256
24	Poppa Pig	166.8228
25	2nd Hand Smoke	164.0116
26	Mid Town BBQ	156.5256
27	Four Leaf Clover BBQ	156.5144

Pork

27 entries · top 178.8572 · median 171.9772

#	Team	Score
1	DANG GOOD BBQ	178.8572
2	Poppa Pig	178.8572
3	Smoke Busters	177.7144
4	Bone Collector BBQ	177.7144
5	PIGLITICALLY INCORRECT BBQ	177.1428
6	HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ	176.5600
7	Kermit's Ex	176.5600
8	ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN	176
9	Kith n' Kin	174.8456
10	MAN MEAT BBQ	174.2628
11	Smokin N The Bandits	174.2628
12	STEWBABYS BBQ	173.1200
13	Rankin County BBQ Company	173.1084
14	CHICKEN FRIED BBQ	171.9772
15	Mad Dog BBQ	171.9772
16	UNCLE FEOL'S TENNESSEE STYLE BBQ	171.9656
17	Thin Blue Smoke MS	171.9656
18	MEMPHIS ORIGINAL BBQ	169.6800
19	BBK Competition BBQ	169.1200
20	JordyQ	169.1084
21	Mississippi Meat Mafia	168.5372
22	Glamping Grillers	166.8460
23	2nd Hand Smoke	163.4172
24	Four Leaf Clover BBQ	161.0972
25	Southern Swine	156.5484
26	Mid Town BBQ	155.3600
27	Hancock BBQ	145.0972

Brisket

27 entries · top 177.7028 · median 169.7028

#	Team	Score
1	Mad Dog BBQ	177.7028
2	Thin Blue Smoke MS	176.5600
3	STEWBABYS BBQ	176
4	Glamping Grillers	175.4172
5	ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN	175.4172
6	MAN MEAT BBQ	175.4172
7	Kith n' Kin	174.2744
8	PIGLITICALLY INCORRECT BBQ	174.2628
9	Bone Collector BBQ	173.1200
10	Mississippi Meat Mafia	171.4400
11	DANG GOOD BBQ	170.8344
12	BBK Competition BBQ	170.8228
13	Four Leaf Clover BBQ	170.2628
14	Poppa Pig	169.7028
15	JordyQ	169.6800
16	Kermit's Ex	169.1428
17	CHICKEN FRIED BBQ	168.5600
18	HOLD YOUR HORSES BBQ	168.5256
19	Hancock BBQ	168.0572
20	UNCLE FEOL'S TENNESSEE STYLE BBQ	167.9656
21	Smoke Busters	164.5256
22	Rankin County BBQ Company	164.0228
23	Southern Swine	161.1544
24	MEMPHIS ORIGINAL BBQ	159.9656
25	Smokin N The Bandits	157.6916
26	2nd Hand Smoke	156.5600
27	Mid Town BBQ	142.2400

Hog Wild BBQ Cookoff and Family Fest

The contest at a glance (read off the scored boards)

How the field scored

How the meats cooked

Entries

Top score

Winning margin

Field average

Perfect 180s

Tightest race

Top-10 cutoff

Field spread

Prize money

Most consistent

Double threats

Widest winning margin

How hot was the win?

Form held

Field strength

Top-rated in the field

Storylines (5 found in this contest's numbers)

A razor-thin finish

An upset on the books

Photo finishes

How the title was won

A perfect score on the table

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)

What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)

Official results on kcbs.us ↗

Master Series

Overall

Chicken

Pork Ribs

Pork

Brisket