2025-09-19 – 2025-09-20 · Murphysboro, IL · 📍 214 N 17th St · State championship
Reps: CAROLYN WELLS, DEBRA GAGE, WILLIAM GAGE · Prize money: $12,700.00
Grand Champion: WeQ4u (706.2628) · 56 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 TRIPLE H BBQ
Overall totals, every team on the board — tall stacks are where the pack sat.
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
What it has taken to win here, 2022 to 2025 — this edition picked out.
Everything below is read straight out of the results — the number on each card is the one that made it a story.
The ratings favoured the top seed the other 69 times in 100
WeQ4U came in rated below the field's top team, TRIPLE H BBQ, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 31-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings.
WEQ4U won the Grand Championship without winning a single meat — 2 calls from 4 boards, best of them 2nd. Consistency beat fireworks.
8 perfect 180s were scored at this contest — every judge at the table handing back a nine.
First to fifth in the overall standings covered just 3.4512 points.
Stronger than 92% of every rated contest
The field averaged a 1635 power rating going in — stronger than 92% of every contest tracked.
Chicken places 1–2: Ambition Que and Justice BBQ tied on 180.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 4–5: WE WILL ROCK QUE and SmokinGhost BBQ tied on 178.8572 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 8–9: BrewsCue and WEQ4U tied on 177.7028 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: Janky Leg BBQ (won 2023), The BBQ Bus (won 2024).
Bigger than 90% of the 5,410 contests in the data
56 teams made this a bigger field than 90% of every contest tracked.
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-09-23 | Murphysboro, IL | 214 N 17th St | 46 | 702.8344 | Smokin' Ghost | SWINE LIFE |
| 2023-09-21 | Murphysboro, IL | 214 N 17th St | 50 | 701.1200 | Janky Leg BBQ | GOOD GOOGLY GOO BBQ |
| 2024-09-20 | Murphysboro, IL | 214 N 17th St | 58 | 708.5716 | The BBQ Bus | WE WILL ROCK QUE |
| 2025-09-19 ← this one | Murphysboro, IL | 214 N 17th St | 56 | 706.2628 | WeQ4u | TRIPLE H BBQ |
| 2026-09-25 | Murphysboro, IL | — | — | — | — | — |
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 180.0000 | 178.8572 | 177.7028 |
| Pork Ribs | 180.0000 | 177.7144 | 176.5716 |
| Pork | 180.0000 | 178.8572 | 177.7028 |
| Brisket | 180.0000 | 177.7144 | 176.5600 |
56 entries · top 706.2628 · median 690.4914
54 entries · top 180.0000 · median 173.4286 · 🔥 perfect 180
56 entries · top 180.0000 · median 171.9656 · 🔥 perfect 180
56 entries · top 180.0000 · median 172.2858 · 🔥 perfect 180
55 entries · top 180.0000 · median 171.9656 · 🔥 perfect 180