7th Annual KCBS World Invitational (Saturday, May 24, 2025)
2025-05-24 · 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
Grand Champion: Meat Me In St. Louis (705.6800) · 106 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 SmokinGhost BBQ
Entries
Top score
Winning margin
Field average
Perfect 180s
Tightest race
Top-10 cutoff
Field spread
Double threats
How hot was the win?
Traveled in
Form held
Field strength
Storylines
⚖️ Decided by a tiebreaker
The top two teams finished on identical totals — the Grand Championship came down to the KCBS tiebreaker rules.
🧳 Out-of-towners took the title
MEAT ME IN ST. LOUIS took the Grand Championship home to MO.
🔥 A day of perfect scores
8 perfect 180s were scored at this contest.
🧹 A double category winner
Damn Fine Beef & Swine won Chicken, Pork — a double.
📸 Photo finishes
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.
🏟️ A stacked field
The field averaged a 1663 power rating going in — stronger than 100% of every contest tracked.
🃏 An upset on the books
MEAT ME IN ST. LOUIS came in rated below the field's top team, GETTIN' BASTED, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 21-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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-05-24 ← this one | Lebanon, TN | James E. Ward Agricultural Center (Wilson County Fairgrounds) | 106 | 705.6800 | Meat Me In St. Louis | SmokinGhost BBQ |
| 2025-05-25 | 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 | 180.0000 | 180.0000 | 177.7144 |
| Pork Ribs | 178.8572 | 177.7144 | 177.7144 |
| Pork | 180.0000 | 178.2972 | 176.5716 |
| Brisket | 180.0000 | 177.7144 | 176.5600 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
106 entries · top 705.6800 · median 685.8914
Chicken
106 entries · top 180.0000 · median 171.9828 · 🔥 perfect 180
Pork Ribs
106 entries · top 178.8572 · median 171.9772
Pork
106 entries · top 180.0000 · median 170.8458 · 🔥 perfect 180
Brisket
106 entries · top 180.0000 · 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 180.0000 · median 171.4114 · 🔥 perfect 180
Ancillary — Dessert
22 entries · top 180.0000 · 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 |