A-QUE

A-QUE is a competition barbecue team with 11 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2016 and 2019. Their best overall finish is 4th of 53 at the Hudson Valley Ribfest (2019). They are ranked #4758 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#4,758

of 6,476 rated · rankings

Rating

1468

peak 1468 · rated over 11 contests

Contests

in the data

First seen

Apr 8, 2016

latest Aug 16, 2019 · 3.4 years on the trail

Best ToY finish

#1206

Master 2018 · every season

Grand champs

0 reserve

Category wins

0 podiums

Overall top-10s

9% of 11 contests

Avg finish

top 72%

overall standings

Best overall

670.7884 / 720

Open Comp · Hudson Valley Ribfest

Perfect 180s

Current form

626.68 ▲

last 5 Master vs avg 606.46 (+20.22)

Walk rate

36%

contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

172.5600

Chicken · Sun BBQFest

Consistency

±39.46

spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Brisket

avg 155.89 · weakest Chicken (141.37)

Road miles

971

across 11 mapped stops · furthest 107 mi

Schedule strength

50%

of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1564)

Purse competed for

$45K

listed at 3 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

0 🏅

won from 3 state-championship entries

Master avg

606.46 / 720

11 Master contests · 0 GCs

Storylines (7 found in their record)

Each card leads with the number behind the story, straight from their results.

High-water mark

670.7884 career-best overall

93.2% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 670.7884 at Hudson Valley Ribfest — 93.2% of a perfect 720.

Open Comp
Aug 16, 2019

Their season

2019 their best year

2019 was the year it came together: 3 contests, 0 Grand Championships and 0 category wins, at an average finish in the top 47%.

3 contests
1 overall top-10
0 category wins
average top 47%

A tough matchup

8–0 behind in the head-to-head

SMOKIN HOGGZ BBQ - MA ahead in 100% of their meetings

SMOKIN HOGGZ BBQ - MA has come out ahead in 8 of their 8 shared contests.

The weak link

−14.5 points behind their best meat

Chicken is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 14.51 points below their brisket, and turns into a call 9% of the time against 18%.

Chicken avg 141.37
Brisket avg 155.89
1 call in 11 entries

A strong matchup

4–0 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 100% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of BRONX BOMBERS BBQ in 4 of their 4 shared contests.

Brisket nemesis

6 of 10 shared brisket entries lost

Top Gun Barbecue ahead 60% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, Top Gun Barbecue has out-cooked them in 6 of 10 shared brisket entries.

An August team

Top 59% average finish in August

Something about August: average finish in the top 59% across 4 contests, versus top 72% the rest of the year.

4 August contests
top 72% the rest of the year

Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Year	Series	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
2019 ↗	Master	#1445 (125 pts)	#1208 (205 pts)	#1259 (190 pts)	#1578 (120 pts)	#1536 (120 pts)
2018 ↗	Master	#1206 (200 pts)	#1264 (200 pts)	#1354 (180 pts)	#1342 (180 pts)	#1086 (265 pts)
2017 ↗	Master	#1722 (120 pts)	#1802 (120 pts)	#1822 (120 pts)	#1296 (235 pts)	#1476 (180 pts)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to A-QUE, each with one reason worth a look.

151 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.

No Money No Honey BBQ

#4,741 of the rated field

1468 power rating

Contests: 11
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1512

They've been 1512 at their best, 44 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.

rated over 11 contests
last seen Oct 30, 2024

⚔ Compare careers

Wubba's BBQ

#4,740 of the rated field

1468 power rating

Contests: 10
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1468

Careers of much the same size, 10 contests to 11, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

rated over 10 contests
last seen Oct 30, 2024

⚔ Compare careers

Crooked Que BBQ

#4,751 of the rated field

1468 power rating

Contests: 14
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1468

14 contests and no Grand Championship yet.

rated over 13 contests
last seen Aug 21, 2026

⚔ Compare careers

Back 40 BBQ

#4,764 of the rated field

1468 power rating

Contests: 10
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1468

Level with A-QUE on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.

rated over 9 contests
last seen Oct 10, 2025

⚔ Compare careers

Lazy Bones BBQ

#4,747 of the rated field

1468 power rating

Contests: 9
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1502

They've been 1502 at their best, 34 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.

rated over 9 contests
last seen Aug 4, 2023

⚔ Compare careers

BuBByQ

#4,778 of the rated field

1467 power rating

Contests: 11
GCs: 0
Top-10s: 0%
Peak: 1508

Both teams' first contest in the data came in 2016.

rated over 9 contests
last seen Jun 24, 2022

⚔ Compare careers

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

Opponent	Meetings	Ahead	Behind	Win rate
Top Gun Barbecue	10	2	8	20%	⚔ compare
BLAZIN' BUTTZ BBQ	8	2	6	25%	⚔ compare
Chicken Chokers	8	1	7	13%	⚔ compare
SMOKIN HOGGZ BBQ - MA	8	0	8	0%	⚔ compare
BACKDRAFT BAR-B-Q CT	7	1	6	14%	⚔ compare
Dr. Pearl's Medicinal Smoke BBQ Team	7	1	6	14%	⚔ compare
MILLER'S BACKYARD BBQ	7	1	6	14%	⚔ compare
RIBS WITHIN	7	0	7	0%	⚔ compare
SMOKIN IRISH	6	2	4	33%	⚔ compare
FIRE DOWN BELOW	6	1	5	17%	⚔ compare
THE BEARDED ONE BBQ	6	1	5	17%	⚔ compare
Smokin' Addiction	6	1	5	17%	⚔ compare
MOON RIVER BARBEQUE	6	0	6	0%	⚔ compare
PULLIN' MY MONEY MUSCLE	6	0	6	0%	⚔ compare
Chain Smokers	5	3	2	60%	⚔ compare

By meat

Category	Entries	Calls	Best	Worst	Average	Avg finish
Chicken	11	1	172.5600	20	141.37	top 72%
Pork Ribs	11	0	169.2000	141.1084	155.07	top 68%
Pork	11	1	170.9372	142.2628	154.14	top 68%
Brisket	11	2	166.2744	141.6572	155.89	top 56%

“Calls” = top-10 category finishes (getting called to the stage). Scores here are the final weighted totals KCBS publishes; per-criterion appearance/taste/tenderness marks aren’t in the public results feed.

By field size and state

By contest size

Field	Contests	GCs	Avg finish
Medium (20–39)	3	0	top 79%
Large (40+)	8	0	top 69%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Where	Contests	Avg finish
NY	6	top 66%
CT	2	top 64%
PA	2	top 88%
NJ	1	top 93%

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

Contest	Visits	Best	Avg finish	Last visit
Hudson Valley Ribfest	3	4	top 49%	Aug 16, 2019
Que for the Troops	2	54	top 88%	Jun 1, 2018
NYC BBQ Cookoff	2	21	top 78%	Apr 6, 2018

More numbers

Busiest season 2019 3 contests

Contests a season 2.8 across 4 seasons in the data

Most contests held in NY 6 of 11 contests · 4 states in all

Contests visited 7 3 of them more than once

Opponents faced 250 finished ahead 159 times, behind 367

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

20196 milestones

Jun 1 First overall past 90% of a perfect score660.6400 Sun BBQFest
Jun 1 10th tracked contest Sun BBQFest
Jun 1 Career-best single call (Chicken)172.5600 Sun BBQFest
Aug 16 First overall top-10 Hudson Valley Ribfest
Aug 16 Career-best overall score670.7884 Hudson Valley Ribfest
Aug 16 Most recent contest Hudson Valley Ribfest

20171 milestone

Apr 7 First call NYC BBQ Cookoff

20162 milestones

Apr 8 First tracked contest NYC BBQ Cookoff
Apr 8 Peak power rating (1489) NYC BBQ Cookoff

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

Swing	Contest	Date
+16.9	Hudson Valley Ribfest	Aug 16, 2019
+9.2	Sun BBQFest	Jun 1, 2019
+2.3	NYC BBQ Cookoff	Apr 6, 2018
+1.8	Hudson Valley Ribfest	Aug 18, 2017

📉 Toughest weekends

Swing	Contest	Date
-12.3	NYC BBQ Cookoff	Apr 7, 2017
-11.3	NYC BBQ Cookoff	Apr 8, 2016
-8.9	New Jersey KnoQ-out CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES	Apr 27, 2019
-8.9	Que for the Troops	Jun 2, 2017
-8.2	Que for the Troops	Jun 1, 2018

Scores over time (% of a perfect score — tap a meat to add it)

Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Season by season

Season	Contests	Top-10s	Walk rate	Avg finish	Best overall (% of perfect)	Avg overall (% of perfect)
2019	3	1	33%	top 47%	93.2%	89.7%
2018	3	0	33%	top 76%	87.1%	86.5%
2017	3	0	67%	top 81%	87.5%	80.2%
2016	2	0	0%	top 90%	83.7%	81.9%

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Date	Event	Overall	Chicken	Ribs	Pork	Brisket
Aug 16, 2019	Hudson Valley Ribfest 🏅 New Paltz, NY	4 / 53 (670.7884)	46 (150.8000)	30 (160.5372)	37 (156.5716)	31 (157.1200)
Jun 1, 2019	Sun BBQFest 🏅 Uncasville, CT	24 / 61 (660.6400)	9 (172.5600)	11 (169.2000)	47 (156.0228)	29 (162.8572)
Apr 27, 2019	New Jersey KnoQ-out CAMPGROUND BBQ SERIES 🏅 Blairstown, NJ	40 / 43 (605.6344)	22 (163.4400)	29 (157.7372)	40 (142.8000)	40 (141.6572)
Aug 17, 2018	Hudson Valley Ribfest New Paltz, NY	47 / 58 (623.3944)	21 (167.9772)	44 (156.5600)	55 (142.2628)	34 (156.5944)
Jun 1, 2018	Que for the Troops Levittown, PA	54 / 61 (618.7088)	44 (158.2400)	43 (154.8000)	43 (153.7144)	54 (151.9544)
Apr 6, 2018	NYC BBQ Cookoff Staten Island, NY	21 / 36 (626.7660)	26 (158.8000)	26 (154.2744)	26 (153.1428)	9 (160.5488)
Aug 18, 2017	Hudson Valley Ribfest New Paltz, NY	34 / 59 (629.7484)	49 (151.4284)	58 (141.1084)	6 (170.9372)	13 (166.2744)
Jun 2, 2017	Que for the Troops Levittown, PA	55 / 63 (602.8800)	57 (148.5944)	57 (146.2628)	35 (156.6056)	47 (151.4172)
Apr 7, 2017	NYC BBQ Cookoff Staten Island, NY	42 / 43 (498.9256)	43 (20)	21 (158.9256)	25 (154.2628)	5 (165.7372)
Aug 13, 2016	New London's Best BBQ Chef Competiton New London, CT	22 / 25 (602.3428)	22 (149.1084)	20 (154.9028)	23 (150.2972)	21 (148.0344)
Apr 8, 2016	NYC BBQ Cookoff Staten Island, NY	32 / 35 (577.0396)	35 (114.1484)	23 (151.4628)	20 (158.8800)	17 (152.5484)

A-QUE

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

Rating

Contests

First seen

Best ToY finish

Grand champs

Category wins

Overall top-10s

Avg finish

Best overall

Perfect 180s

Current form

Walk rate

Best single call

Consistency

Strongest meat

Road miles

Schedule strength

Purse competed for

State championships

Master avg

Storylines (7 found in their record)

High-water mark

Their season

A tough matchup

The weak link

A strong matchup

Brisket nemesis

An August team

Team of the Year (rank per category by season — the year links to the full board on kcbs.us)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

Familiar foes (most-met opponents in overall standings — one meeting per contest)

By meat

By field size and state

By contest size

By state / province (where the contests were held)

Repeat visits (contests they've cooked twice or more)

More numbers

Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)

Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)

📈 Biggest rating jumps

📉 Toughest weekends

Scores over time (% of a perfect score — tap a meat to add it)

Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)

Where they finish (overall)

Best vs average (by meat)

How entries end (by meat)

Season by season

Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)

Career map (orange GC · green top-10 · grey the rest — tap a pin)