Decided by a tiebreaker
Tie
identical totals at the top
The top two teams finished on identical totals — the Grand Championship came down to the KCBS tiebreaker rules.
7th Annual KCBS World Invitational (Saturday, May 24, 2025)
May 24, 2025 · Lebanon, TN · 📍 James E. Ward Agricultural Center (Wilson County Fairgrounds)
Reps: Carolyn Wells, Charlie Brinza, Dave Rogers, David Burstein, Eugene Wickham, Jeanne Titus, Peg Rogers, Sarah Wickham
MEAT ME IN ST. LOUIS won Grand Champion at the 7th Annual KCBS World Invitational (Saturday, May 24, 2025) on May 24, 2025 in Lebanon, TN at James E. Ward Agricultural Center (Wilson County Fairgrounds), scoring 705.6800 in a field of 106 teams. SmokinGhost BBQ took Reserve Grand Champion with 705.6800. Category winners: Chicken — Damn Fine Beef & Swine (180.0000); Pork Ribs — Heavy Smoke BBQ (178.8572); Pork — Damn Fine Beef & Swine (180.0000); Brisket — SmokinGhost BBQ (180.0000). This is the 1st of 2 editions of this contest on record; the next was held in 2025.
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.
642.74
median 685.89
705.68 🏆
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 178.86
- Pork 180 🔥
- Brisket 180 🔥
153.12
180
Entries
106
4 judged meats · 6 ancillary
Top score
705.6800
Winning margin
Tie
identical totals — KCBS tiebreaker
Field average
684.70
642.74705.68
median 685.89 · last place to winner
Perfect 180s
8 🔥
Tightest race
Chicken
0 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
702.2400
642.74705.68
10th place overall
Field spread
62.9372
winner to last place
Double threats
2
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 12%
beats 88% of 4711 Master Series wins in the data
Storylines (7 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.
Won without a category win
2 of 4
meats called to the stage
MEAT ME IN ST. LOUIS won the Grand Championship without winning a single meat — 2 calls from 4 boards, best of them 3rd. Consistency beat fireworks.
- Chicken 29th
- Pork Ribs 3rd
- Pork 4th
- Brisket 36th
A day of perfect scores
8
perfect 180s
8 perfect 180s were scored at this contest — every judge at the table handing back a nine.
- SmokinGhost BBQ · Brisket
- Sailor Nicks BBQ · Brisket
- Damn Fine Beef & Swine · Chicken
A knife fight at the top
1.1196
points across the top five
First to fifth in the overall standings covered just 1.1196 points — 4 teams sat within a single point of the lead.
- 1st MEAT ME IN ST. LOUIS
- 2nd SmokinGhost BBQ
- 3rd Poppa Pig
- 4th Damn Fine Beef & Swine
- 5th TRIPLE H BBQ
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 24 calls decided inside half a point
Chicken places 1–2: Damn Fine Beef & Swine and CHUNKY BBQ tied on 180.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 2–3: CHUNKY BBQ and SCUFFLETOWN SMOKERS tied on 180.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 3–4: SCUFFLETOWN SMOKERS and Smoke Central BBQ tied on 180.0000 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
- Chicken 1–2 · tie
- Chicken 2–3 · tie
- Chicken 3–4 · tie
- Chicken 4–5 · tie
A double category winner
2
category wins in a day
Damn Fine Beef & Swine won Chicken, Pork — a double.
- Chicken 1st
- Pork 1st
One of the big ones
106
teams on the grounds
Bigger than 98% of the 5,462 contests in the data
106 teams — bigger than 98% of the 5,462 contests in the data.
In the record book (2 in the KCBS record book)
What happened at this contest that stands in the all-time KCBS record book. A gold line is a record nobody has beaten.
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
This contest over the years full contest page →
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 2025 ← this one | Lebanon, TN | James E. Ward Agricultural Center (Wilson County Fairgrounds) | 106 | 705.6800 | Meat Me In St. Louis | SmokinGhost BBQ |
| May 25, 2025 | Lebanon, TN | James E. Ward Agricultural Center (Wilson County Fairgrounds) | 70 | 707.3828 | Scuffletown Smokers | ROOTERS-N-TOOTERS TN |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 180 | 180 | 177.7144 |
| Pork Ribs | 178.8572 | 177.7144 | 177.7144 |
| Pork | 180 | 178.2972 | 176.5716 |
| Brisket | 180 | 177.7144 | 176.5600 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
106 entries · top 705.6800 · median 685.8914
Chicken
106 entries · top 180 · median 171.9828 · 🔥 perfect 180
Pork Ribs
106 entries · top 178.8572 · median 171.9772
Pork
106 entries · top 180 · median 170.8458 · 🔥 perfect 180
Brisket
106 entries · top 180 · median 170.8286 · 🔥 perfect 180
Ancillary categories
Run by the organizers alongside the sanctioned contest. These are judged on their own terms and do not count toward the overall score, so they're kept out of the meat stats above.
Ancillary — Cocktail
24 entries · top 180 · median 171.4114 · 🔥 perfect 180
Ancillary — Dessert
22 entries · top 180 · median 176.5658 · 🔥 perfect 180
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | LOCAL YOKELS BBQ | |
| 2 | Electro-Que-ted | |
| 3 | MUNNY'S STOVE | |
| 4 | BrewsCue | |
| 5 | JANKY LEG BBQ | |
| 6 | COOL HAND QUE | |
| 7 | Menke Boys BBQ | |
| 8 | Bear's Den BBQ | |
| 9 | Leaning Jowler BBQ | |
| 10 | T & S BBQ | |
| 11 | Yardogs BBQ | |
| 12 | SMOKIN HOGGZ BBQ - MA | |
| 13 | BAD ROOSTER BBQ | |
| 14 | 1Bite Stand | |
| 15 | Deviant Smoke | |
| 16 | PUDDLEDUCK BBQ | |
| 17 | 931 BBQ | |
| 18 | Big Reds Backyard BBQ | |
| 19 | Shark Q | |
| 20 | Sailor Nicks BBQ | |
| 21 | Pullin Out the Butts BBQ | |
| 22 | Goudas Barbecue |
Kids-Q — Junior Q Burger
7 entries · top 176.5600 · median 174.2628
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brooklyn Moody | |
| 2 | Gracelynn Owensby | |
| 3 | Brayden McNeils | |
| 4 | Rylie Fischer | |
| 5 | Sebastian Schuetz | |
| 6 | Courtney Ford | |
| 7 | Bailey Johnson |
Kids-Q — Junior Q Steak
7 entries · top 177.7028 · median 170.8228
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rylie Fischer | |
| 2 | Bailey Johnson | |
| 3 | Brayden McNeils | |
| 4 | Sebastian Schuetz | |
| 5 | Brooklyn Moody | |
| 6 | Courtney Ford | |
| 7 | Gracelynn Owensby |
Kids-Q — Kids Q Burger
13 entries · top 177.7144 · median 174.2744
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sarah Smith | |
| 2 | Sarah McKee | |
| 3 | Autumn Cox | |
| 4 | Cooper Yagel | |
| 5 | Hayes Kirkpatrick | |
| 6 | Reagan Stoffer | |
| 7 | Alexis Garcia | |
| 8 | Jameson Boutaugh | |
| 9 | Aurora Chappell | |
| 10 | Konnor Williams | |
| 11 | Aubrey Ransom | |
| 12 | Xavier Garcia | |
| 13 | Liam Copeland |
Kids-Q — Kids Q Dessert
13 entries · top 178.8572 · median 173.1200
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hayes Kirkpatrick | |
| 2 | Liam Copeland | |
| 3 | Autumn Cox | |
| 4 | Konnor Williams | |
| 5 | Cooper Yagel | |
| 6 | Xavier Garcia | |
| 7 | Jameson Boutaugh | |
| 8 | Aurora Chappell | |
| 9 | Alexis Garcia | |
| 10 | Aubrey Ransom | |
| 11 | Sarah Smith | |
| 12 | Reagan Stoffer | |
| 13 | Sarah McKee |