Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY)
2023-06-17 · Morris, IL · 📍 Morris, IL 60450
Reps: CHARLIE BRINZA, JEANNE TITUS · Prize money: $2,550.00
Grand Champion: 309 BBQ (346.2400) · 33 teams
Reserve Champion: 🥈 Shmack Q
Entries
Top score
Winning margin
Field average
Perfect 180s
Tightest race
Top-10 cutoff
Field spread
Prize money
Double threats
How hot was the win?
Traveled in
Came back for more
Form held
Field strength
Storylines
🪒 A razor-thin finish
The Grand Championship was decided by 1.0512 points — closer than 81% of every championship in the data.
📸 Photo finishes
Pork Ribs places 6–7: WEEZ'S GROOVIN' BBQ and Truckin Sauced tied on 170.2628 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 7–8: Troublemakers BBQ edged BBQ MIKE by 0.0112. Chicken places 6–7: Shmack Q edged Troublemakers BBQ by 0.0116.
🛡️ Back to defend
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: Smoke, Fire & Brew (won 2022).
🃏 An upset on the books
309 BBQ came in rated below the field's top team, WEEZ'S GROOVIN' BBQ, and took the Grand Championship anyway — roughly a 27-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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-06-17 | Morris, IL | Goold Park | 23 | 353.1084 | Smoke, Fire & Brew | — |
| 2023-06-17 ← this one | Morris, IL | Morris, IL 60450 | 33 | 346.2400 | 309 BBQ | — |
| 2024-06-14 | Morris, IL | Morris, IL 60450 | 40 | 349.6916 | Rudes BBQ | — |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 173.7600 | 169.6684 | 167.4172 |
| Pork Ribs | 177.7028 | 172.5828 | 168.5828 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Backyard Series
Overall
33 entries · top 346.2400 · median 326.8000
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 309 BBQ | |
| 2 | Shmack Q | |
| 3 | Rudes BBQ | |
| 4 | BBQ MIKE | |
| 5 | WEEZ'S GROOVIN' BBQ | |
| 6 | All Smoked Up BBQ | |
| 7 | Rusty Pig Barbeque | |
| 8 | Grundy County Smokin Pigs | |
| 9 | SMOKE, FIRE & BREW | |
| 10 | Loose Cannon BBQ | |
| 11 | Too Sauced Guys Bar-B-Que | |
| 12 | Truckin Sauced | |
| 13 | Little Wolf Foods | |
| 14 | Meathouse Bob-B-Que | |
| 15 | Troublemakers BBQ | |
| 16 | T.J.D. Smokehouse | |
| 17 | Stone Cold Grillers | |
| 18 | Dead End BBQ | |
| 19 | Flamin Dave's | |
| 20 | Thick & Nasty | |
| 21 | Bulldog BBQ | |
| 22 | Behemoth BBQ | |
| 23 | Just A Smokin BBQ | |
| 24 | Three Stooges bbq | |
| 25 | Sticks ~N~ Bones | |
| 26 | Mak's BBQ | |
| 27 | BS BBQ | |
| 28 | SmoQued On Main St | |
| 29 | Oak Park BBQ | |
| 30 | Diabolical Pig | |
| 31 | Smoke N Guns | |
| 32 | Big Rich BBQ | |
| 33 | HurriQ |
Chicken
33 entries · top 173.7600 · median 164.0000
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grundy County Smokin Pigs | |
| 2 | Rudes BBQ | |
| 3 | Little Wolf Foods | |
| 4 | 309 BBQ | |
| 5 | SMOKE, FIRE & BREW | |
| 6 | Shmack Q | |
| 7 | Troublemakers BBQ | |
| 8 | BBQ MIKE | |
| 9 | Flamin Dave's | |
| 10 | Rusty Pig Barbeque | |
| 11 | WEEZ'S GROOVIN' BBQ | |
| 12 | Mak's BBQ | |
| 13 | Bulldog BBQ | |
| 14 | Loose Cannon BBQ | |
| 15 | All Smoked Up BBQ | |
| 16 | Sticks ~N~ Bones | |
| 17 | Dead End BBQ | |
| 18 | Just A Smokin BBQ | |
| 19 | Truckin Sauced | |
| 20 | SmoQued On Main St | |
| 21 | Big Rich BBQ | |
| 22 | Stone Cold Grillers | |
| 23 | Thick & Nasty | |
| 24 | BS BBQ | |
| 25 | T.J.D. Smokehouse | |
| 26 | Oak Park BBQ | |
| 27 | Three Stooges bbq | |
| 28 | Meathouse Bob-B-Que | |
| 29 | Behemoth BBQ | |
| 30 | Too Sauced Guys Bar-B-Que | |
| 31 | Diabolical Pig | |
| 32 | HurriQ | |
| 33 | Smoke N Guns |
Pork Ribs
33 entries · top 177.7028 · median 161.6916
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Too Sauced Guys Bar-B-Que | |
| 2 | Shmack Q | |
| 3 | 309 BBQ | |
| 4 | BBQ MIKE | |
| 5 | Meathouse Bob-B-Que | |
| 6 | WEEZ'S GROOVIN' BBQ | |
| 7 | Truckin Sauced | |
| 8 | Rudes BBQ | |
| 9 | All Smoked Up BBQ | |
| 10 | T.J.D. Smokehouse | |
| 11 | Loose Cannon BBQ | |
| 12 | Rusty Pig Barbeque | |
| 13 | Stone Cold Grillers | |
| 14 | Behemoth BBQ | |
| 15 | SMOKE, FIRE & BREW | |
| 16 | Thick & Nasty | |
| 17 | Dead End BBQ | |
| 18 | Grundy County Smokin Pigs | |
| 19 | Three Stooges bbq | |
| 20 | Troublemakers BBQ | |
| 21 | Smoke N Guns | |
| 22 | Diabolical Pig | |
| 23 | Just A Smokin BBQ | |
| 24 | Little Wolf Foods | |
| 25 | Bulldog BBQ | |
| 26 | Flamin Dave's | |
| 27 | BS BBQ | |
| 28 | Oak Park BBQ | |
| 29 | Sticks ~N~ Bones | |
| 30 | SmoQued On Main St | |
| 31 | HurriQ | |
| 32 | Big Rich BBQ | |
| 33 | Mak's BBQ |
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 — Best Dish
29 entries · top 174.8572 · median 162.2516
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Troublemakers BBQ | |
| 2 | Stone Cold Grillers | |
| 3 | Sticks ~N~ Bones | |
| 4 | Behemoth BBQ | |
| 5 | Thick & Nasty | |
| 6 | Flamin Dave's | |
| 7 | Rusty Pig Barbeque | |
| 8 | Rudes BBQ | |
| 9 | Three Stooges bbq | |
| 10 | Oak Park BBQ | |
| 11 | WEEZ'S GROOVIN' BBQ | |
| 12 | Loose Cannon BBQ | |
| 13 | T.J.D. Smokehouse | |
| 14 | Big Rich BBQ | |
| 15 | Meathouse Bob-B-Que | |
| 16 | 309 BBQ | |
| 17 | Diabolical Pig | |
| 18 | Too Sauced Guys Bar-B-Que | |
| 19 | Just A Smokin BBQ | |
| 20 | Little Wolf Foods | |
| 21 | Mak's BBQ | |
| 22 | Bulldog BBQ | |
| 23 | Truckin Sauced | |
| 24 | SmoQued On Main St | |
| 25 | Smoke N Guns | |
| 26 | BS BBQ | |
| 27 | Grundy County Smokin Pigs | |
| 28 | SMOKE, FIRE & BREW | |
| 29 | Dead End BBQ |