A new contest record
683.3600
highest overall ever cooked here
683.3600 is the highest overall score this contest has ever produced — past the 674.7656 Bunch of Swines set in 2022.
- old record 674.7656
- set 2022 by Bunch of Swines
Het BBQkampioenschap van het Waasland 2023
Sep 16–17, 2023 · Sint Niklaas, Belgium · BELGIUM · 📍 Grote Markt 1
Reps: Marianne Van Galen, Mayco Van Galen
BUNCH OF SWINES won Grand Champion at the Het BBQkampioenschap van het Waasland 2023 on September 16, 2023 in Sint Niklaas, 9100 at Grote Markt 1, scoring 683.3600 in a field of 14 teams. It's spice that meats you took Reserve Grand Champion with 673.6800. Category winners: Chicken — BUNCH OF SWINES (170.8344); Pork Ribs — BUNCH OF SWINES (171.9772); Pork — The Antwerp Smokers (175.4172); Brisket — It's spice that meats you (170.8228). This is the 2nd of 3 editions of this contest on record; the 2022 edition was won by Bunch of Swines; 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.
593.59
median 649.34
683.36 🏆
How the meats cooked
Every board on one scale — the bar runs last score to first, the dot is the median.
- Chicken 170.83
- Pork Ribs 171.98
- Pork 175.42
- Brisket 170.82
141.70
175.42
Winning score by edition
What it has taken to win here, 2022 to 2023 — this edition picked out.
Entries
14
4 judged meats · 1 ancillary
Top score
683.3600
Winning margin
9.6800
GC over RC
Field average
645.42
593.59683.36
median 649.34 · last place to winner
Perfect 180s
0
Tightest race
Chicken
2.3088 pts across the top 5
Top-10 cutoff
641.6116
593.59683.36
10th place overall
Field spread
89.7716
winner to last place
Double threats
7
teams with 2+ top-5 calls
How hot was the win?
Top 85%
beats 15% of 4723 Master Series wins in the data
Came back for more
48%
12 of 25 teams from the previous edition returned
Form held
Strong
ρ = -0.68 between pre-contest rating and finish
Field strength
1,564
avg power rating going in · stronger than 49% of contests
Storylines (9 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.
Back-to-back
2 in a row
editions of this contest
Bunch of Swines won here last time out too — 2 straight editions of this contest.
- 2022
- 2023
A statement win
9.6800
points clear of the field
Wider than 86% of the 4,722 championships in the data
The champion won by 9.6800 points — a wider margin than 86% of championships in the data.
A dynasty in the making
2×
wins at this contest
2 of 3 tracked editions
Bunch of Swines has won this contest 2 times across its 3 tracked editions.
- 2022
- 2023
Photo finishes
Tie
closest of 5 calls decided inside half a point
Chicken places 2–3: BELGIAN BBQ TEAM FIVE Q and It's spice that meats you tied on 170.2856 — settled by the KCBS tiebreaker. Chicken places 4–5: The Antwerp Smokers edged Just wing it BBQ team by 0.0116. Brisket places 3–4: The Antwerp Smokers edged SMOKE ON THE WILD SIDE by 0.0116.
- Chicken 2–3 · tie
- Chicken 4–5 · 0.0116
- Brisket 3–4 · 0.0116
- Pork Ribs 3–4 · 0.0228
A double category winner
2
category wins in a day
BUNCH OF SWINES won Chicken, Pork Ribs — a double, and took the Grand Championship on top of it.
- Chicken 1st
- Pork Ribs 1st
How the title was won
4 of 4
meats called to the stage
BUNCH OF SWINES took the title on 4 calls from 4 meats, with 2 outright wins — their weakest board was pork at 3rd.
- Chicken 1st
- Pork Ribs 1st
- Pork 3rd
- Brisket 2nd
A contest record in pork
175.4172
best pork ever cooked here
The Antwerp Smokers turned in 175.4172 in pork — past the 173.1200 that had stood across 1 earlier editions.
- old best 173.1200
- across 1 past editions
Back to defend
1
past champions back in the field
Past winners of this contest cooked this edition: Bunch of Swines (won 2022).
- Bunch of Swines · 2022
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 17, 2022 | Sint Niklaas | Grote Markt 1 | 25 | 674.7656 | Bunch of Swines | BBQ+ |
| Sep 16, 2023 ← this one | Sint Niklaas | Grote Markt 1 | 14 | 683.3600 | Bunch of Swines | It's spice that meats you |
| Sep 16, 2023 | Sint Niklaas | Grote Markt 1 | 13 | 167.9888 | Backcorner BBQ | — |
What a call cost (the score it took to finish 1st, 5th and 10th)
| Category | 1st | 5th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 170.8344 | 168.5256 | 160.0228 |
| Pork Ribs | 171.9772 | 168.5372 | 161.1312 |
| Pork | 175.4172 | 166.2744 | 158.8344 |
| Brisket | 170.8228 | 161.0972 | 150.7888 |
Official results on kcbs.us ↗
Master Series
Overall
14 entries · top 683.3600 · median 649.3372
Chicken
14 entries · top 170.8344 · median 165.1028
Pork Ribs
14 entries · top 171.9772 · median 165.6914
Pork
14 entries · top 175.4172 · median 162.5660
Brisket
14 entries · top 170.8228 · median 156.5656
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 — Cheese
6 entries · top 176.5600 · median 168.2972
| # | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BELGIAN BBQ TEAM FIVE Q | |
| 2 | It's spice that meats you | |
| 3 | SMOKE ON THE WILD SIDE | |
| 4 | ROASTING ROMANS | |
| 5 | WETTELS ON FIRE | |
| 6 | Just wing it BBQ team |