A stacked field
1649
average power rating going in
Stronger than 95% of every rated contest
The field averaged a 1649 power rating going in — stronger than 95% of every contest tracked.
- top seed Under the Radar (1861)
- 24 rated teams
Forks of the Buffalo BBQ Throwdown (Day 1) 2023
Sep 8–9, 2023 · Mannington, WV · 📍 206 Main Street · State championship
Reps: Louise Weidner, Robert McKee · Prize money: $3,000
CHUNKY BBQ won Grand Champion at the Forks of the Buffalo BBQ Throwdown (Day 1) on September 8, 2023 in Mannington, WV at 206 Main Street, scoring 703.4288 in a field of 12 teams. UNDER THE RADAR took Reserve Grand Champion with 695.9656. Category winners: Chicken — CHUNKY BBQ (178.8572); Pork Ribs — Optimus Swine (178.8800); Pork — CHUNKY BBQ (178.8572); Brisket — Bowmans Butt & BBQ (178.8572). The Backyard Series standings were won by Leaning Jowler BBQ with 345.1200. This is the 1st of 3 editions of this contest on record; the next was held in 2023.
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.
618.23
median 686.51
703.43 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Master Series — Chicken 178.86
- Master Series — Pork Ribs 178.88
- Master Series — Pork 178.86
- Master Series — Brisket 178.86
- Backyard Series — Chicken 178.30
- Backyard Series — Pork Ribs 171.41
148.54
178.88
Winning score by edition
What it has taken to win here, 2023 to 2023 — this edition picked out.
Entries
12
6 judged meats
Top score
703.4288
Winning margin
7.4632
GC over RC
Field average
672.55
618.23703.43
median 686.51 · last place to winner
Perfect 180s
0
Tightest race
Pork Ribs
4.5712 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
633.6228
618.23703.43
10th place overall
Field spread
85.2000
winner to last place
Prize money
$3,000
on the line
Double threats
11
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 19%
beats 81% of 4711 Master Series wins in the data
Form held
Moderate
ρ = -0.6 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1,649
avg power rating going in · stronger than 95% of contests
Storylines (4 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.
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 9 calls decided inside half a point
Master Series — Pork Ribs places 6–7: UNDER THE RADAR and UNCLE PIG'S BARBEQUE PIT tied on 170.2628 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Master Series — Pork places 3–4: FRED VEGAS SMOKERS and Optimus Swine tied on 174.2628 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Backyard Series — Chicken places 2–3: T & S BBQ and POOR BOYS BBQ tied on 173.1200 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker.
- Master Series — Pork Ribs 6–7 · tie
- Master Series — Pork 3–4 · tie
- Backyard Series — Chicken 2–3 · tie
- Backyard Series — Chicken 3–4 · tie
A double category winner
2
category wins in a day
CHUNKY BBQ won Chicken, Pork — a double, and took the Grand Championship on top of it.
- Chicken 1st
- Pork 1st
How the title was won
4 of 4
meats called to the stage
CHUNKY BBQ took the title on 4 calls from 4 meats, with 2 outright wins — their weakest board was brisket at 6th.
- Chicken 1st
- Pork Ribs 2nd
- Pork 1st
- Brisket 6th
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)
This contest over the years full contest page →
| Date | Where | Venue | Teams | High score | Grand Champion | Reserve Champion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 8, 2023 ← this one | Mannington, WV | 206 Main Street | 12 | 703.4288 | Chunky BBQ | UNDER THE RADAR |
| Sep 8, 2023 | Mannington, WV | 206 Main Street | 8 | 178.8572 | Uncle Pig's Barbeque Pit | — |
| Sep 9, 2023 | Mannington, WV | 206 Main Street | 11 | 706.8460 | Under the Radar | OFF THE RACK BBQ |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master Series — Chicken | 178.8572 | 173.1428 | 166.2628 |
| Master Series — Pork Ribs | 178.8800 | 172.5600 | 156.5600 |
| Master Series — Pork | 178.8572 | 173.7144 | 166.8228 |
| Master Series — Brisket | 178.8572 | 171.9656 | 154.2288 |
| Backyard Series — Chicken | 178.2972 | 172.5600 | 161.1428 |
| Backyard Series — Pork Ribs | 171.4056 | 166.8344 | 157.0744 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
12 entries · top 703.4288 · median 686.5084
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CHUNKY BBQ | |
| 2 | UNDER THE RADAR | |
| 3 | D’Qued Barbeque | |
| 4 | UNCLE PIG'S BARBEQUE PIT | |
| 5 | Bowmans Butt & BBQ | |
| 6 | Optimus Swine | |
| 7 | FRED VEGAS SMOKERS | |
| 8 | OFF THE RACK BBQ | |
| 9 | SMOKECRAFT - MD | |
| 10 | River King BBQ | |
| 11 | BEER TIME BBQ | |
| 12 | Smokin1 .4fun |
Chicken
12 entries · top 178.8572 · median 172.5486
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CHUNKY BBQ | |
| 2 | UNCLE PIG'S BARBEQUE PIT | |
| 3 | UNDER THE RADAR | |
| 4 | SMOKECRAFT - MD | |
| 5 | Optimus Swine | |
| 6 | D’Qued Barbeque | |
| 7 | OFF THE RACK BBQ | |
| 8 | FRED VEGAS SMOKERS | |
| 9 | Bowmans Butt & BBQ | |
| 10 | BEER TIME BBQ | |
| 11 | River King BBQ | |
| 12 | Smokin1 .4fun |
Pork Ribs
12 entries · top 178.8800 · median 170.2628
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Optimus Swine | |
| 2 | CHUNKY BBQ | |
| 3 | D’Qued Barbeque | |
| 4 | OFF THE RACK BBQ | |
| 5 | Bowmans Butt & BBQ | |
| 6 | UNDER THE RADAR | |
| 7 | UNCLE PIG'S BARBEQUE PIT | |
| 8 | SMOKECRAFT - MD | |
| 9 | FRED VEGAS SMOKERS | |
| 10 | River King BBQ | |
| 11 | Smokin1 .4fun | |
| 12 | BEER TIME BBQ |
Pork
12 entries · top 178.8572 · median 173.1314
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CHUNKY BBQ | |
| 2 | OFF THE RACK BBQ | |
| 3 | FRED VEGAS SMOKERS | |
| 4 | Optimus Swine | |
| 5 | UNCLE PIG'S BARBEQUE PIT | |
| 6 | UNDER THE RADAR | |
| 7 | SMOKECRAFT - MD | |
| 8 | D’Qued Barbeque | |
| 9 | Bowmans Butt & BBQ | |
| 10 | River King BBQ | |
| 11 | Smokin1 .4fun | |
| 12 | BEER TIME BBQ |
Brisket
12 entries · top 178.8572 · median 167.4056
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bowmans Butt & BBQ | |
| 2 | D’Qued Barbeque | |
| 3 | UNDER THE RADAR | |
| 4 | FRED VEGAS SMOKERS | |
| 5 | UNCLE PIG'S BARBEQUE PIT | |
| 6 | CHUNKY BBQ | |
| 7 | OFF THE RACK BBQ | |
| 8 | Optimus Swine | |
| 9 | BEER TIME BBQ | |
| 10 | Smokin1 .4fun | |
| 11 | SMOKECRAFT - MD | |
| 12 | River King BBQ |
Backyard Series
Overall
12 entries · top 345.1200 · median 334.8114
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leaning Jowler BBQ | |
| 2 | Full Throttle BBQ | |
| 3 | T & S BBQ | |
| 4 | POOR BOYS BBQ | |
| 5 | FIRE & SHINE BBQ | |
| 6 | Gold-N-Blue Barbecue | |
| 7 | Pink Ring BBQ | |
| 8 | Dog Bite Barbecue | |
| 9 | Country Boys BBQ | |
| 10 | Little E's Que | |
| 11 | Mad Hatter BBQ | |
| 12 | 5 Alarm BBQ |
Chicken
12 entries · top 178.2972 · median 167.6914
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leaning Jowler BBQ | |
| 2 | T & S BBQ | |
| 3 | POOR BOYS BBQ | |
| 4 | Full Throttle BBQ | |
| 5 | FIRE & SHINE BBQ | |
| 6 | Little E's Que | |
| 7 | Gold-N-Blue Barbecue | |
| 8 | Pink Ring BBQ | |
| 9 | Country Boys BBQ | |
| 10 | Mad Hatter BBQ | |
| 11 | 5 Alarm BBQ | |
| 12 | Dog Bite Barbecue |
Pork Ribs
12 entries · top 171.4056 · median 166.5428
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Full Throttle BBQ | |
| 2 | Gold-N-Blue Barbecue | |
| 3 | Dog Bite Barbecue | |
| 4 | T & S BBQ | |
| 5 | POOR BOYS BBQ | |
| 6 | Leaning Jowler BBQ | |
| 7 | FIRE & SHINE BBQ | |
| 8 | Pink Ring BBQ | |
| 9 | Country Boys BBQ | |
| 10 | Little E's Que | |
| 11 | Mad Hatter BBQ | |
| 12 | 5 Alarm BBQ |