East Bow Que IA
Rating
1550
peak 1550
Contests
13
in the data
First seen
2024-06-21
latest 2026-06-26
Best ToY finish
#78
Backyard 2025
Grand champs
1
2 reserve
Category wins
3
7 podiums
Overall top-10s
5
of 13 contests
Avg finish
top 42%
overall standings
Best overall
674.7428
Perfect 180s
1 🔥
Current form
472.15 ▲
last 5 vs career avg 393.56 (+78.58)
Walk rate
62%
contests with a top-10 call
Top-10 streak
2
best run (overall)
Consistency
±124.82
std dev of overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Brisket
avg 172.30 · weakest Pork (167.10)
Road miles
2164
mi across 13 mapped stops · furthest 645 mi
Storylines
🎯 The one to beat
Poppin Smoke BBQ has finished one call ahead of East Bow Que 2 times — their closest competition in the data.
⚔️ A tough matchup
BBQ Pit Bros has come out ahead in 7 of their 9 shared contests.
⚔️ A strong matchup
They've finished ahead of BUCKSHOTBBQ in 4 of their 4 shared contests.
🏕️ Happy hunting ground
Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) is their spot: 1 Grand Championship in 2 visits.
💔 The heartbreaker
Came within 1.2000 points of the Grand Championship at Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) (2025-06-20).
🃏 Against the odds
Their Grand Championship at Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) (2024-06-21) came as the ratings underdog — roughly a 30-in-100 shot against the field's top-rated team, Curly Bird BBQ.
🐣 Announced themselves early
Finished 1 of 17 at their very first tracked contest, Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) (2024-06-21).
Teams like this (closest power rating, IA first)
By meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 12 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 176.0000 | 163.9656 | 169.88 | top 45% |
| Pork Ribs | 13 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 180.0000 🔥 | 153.0972 | 167.40 | top 51% |
| Pork | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 167.3828 | 166.8228 | 167.10 | top 99% |
| Brisket | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 173.7372 | 170.8572 | 172.30 | top 47% |
“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 state / province
| Where | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| IA | 7 | 1 | top 46% |
| TN | 2 | 0 | top 61% |
| MO | 2 | 0 | top 26% |
| NE | 1 | 0 | top 8% |
By contest size
| Field | Contests | GCs | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small (<20 teams) | 5 | 1 | top 51% |
| Medium (20–39) | 2 | 0 | top 9% |
| Large (40+) | 5 | 0 | top 45% |
The story so far
- Busiest season: 2026 (6 contests)
- Cooks mostly in IA (7 of 13 contests)
- Most-entered category: Pork Ribs (13 entries)
- First Grand Championship in the data: Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) (2024-06-21)
- Wins it all in 8% of contests
- All-time average overall score: 393.56
- 1 perfect 180 on the books 🔥
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
Category scores over time
Overall finish over time (top-% of field, lower is better)
Where they finish (overall)
Best vs average (by meat)
Team of the Year rank by season
Season by season
| Season | Contests | GCs | Category wins | Best overall | Avg overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 674.7428 | 472.15 |
| 2025 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 353.7144 | 339.54 |
| 2024 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 348.0228 | 334.62 |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-26 | Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Sioux City, IA | 6 / 19 (340.5256) | 11 (163.9656) | 1 (176.5600) | — | — |
| 2026-05-24 | 8th Annual KCBS World Invitational: Master Series Invitational and the Backyard Series Invitational (Sunday, May 24, 2026) Lebanon, TN | 30 / 82 (341.0856) | 16 (174.2628) | 37 (166.8228) | — | — |
| 2026-05-23 | 8th Annual KCBS World Invitational: Wells Cup, Cocktail Ancillary, Dessert Ancillary (Saturday, May 23, 2026) Lebanon, TN | 99 / 117 (674.7428) | 90 (168.5372) | 105 (165.0856) | 88 (167.3828) | 34 (173.7372) |
| 2026-05-22 | 8th Annual KCBS World Invitational: World Rib Finals (Friday, May 22, 2026) Lebanon, TN | — | — | 55 (170.8228) | — | — |
| 2026-05-01 | SmokeHouse Barbeque Showdown (OPEN FORMAT) (REGISTRATION FULL) Cambridge, IA | 11 / 17 (669.0288) | 25 (165.1088) | 23 (166.2400) | 21 (166.8228) | 11 (170.8572) |
| 2026-04-03 | Iowa State BBQ Championship Altoona, IA | 23 / 42 (335.3484) | 24 (168.5256) | 25 (166.8228) | — | — |
| 2025-07-11 | Goose's 1st Annual Pitmaster Showdown Papillion, NE | 2 / 24 (351.4172) | 4 (171.4172) | 1 (180.0000) | — | — |
| 2025-06-27 | Art of the Que (Backyard 2) Spencer, IA | 15 / 17 (323.9544) | 9 (166.8572) | 16 (157.0972) | — | — |
| 2025-06-27 | Art of the Que (Masters and Backyard 1) Spencer, IA | 10 / 15 (329.0628) | 10 (166.8344) | 13 (162.2284) | — | — |
| 2025-06-20 | Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Sioux City, IA | 2 / 20 (353.7144) | 3 (176.0000) | 1 (177.7144) | — | — |
| 2024-10-26 | Boo-B-Que BBQ Championship (Day 2) (MASTERS and BACKYARD) Oak Grove, MO | 13 / 56 (327.8972) | 10 (169.6800) | 13 (158.2172) | — | — |
| 2024-10-25 | Boo-B-Que BBQ Championship (Day 1) (MASTERS and BACKYARD) Oak Grove, MO | 15 / 53 (327.9428) | 3 (174.8456) | 16 (153.0972) | — | — |
| 2024-06-21 | Camp High Hopes Rib Fest (BACKYARD ONLY) Sioux City, IA | 1 / 17 (348.0228) | 2 (172.5828) | 2 (175.4400) | — | — |
Team of the Year standings (rank per category by season — year links to the full board on kcbs.us)
| Year | Series | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 ↗ | Backyard | #99 (345 pts) | #106 (340 pts) | #70 (515 pts) | — | — |
| 2026 ↗ | Master | #791 (60 pts) | #866 (60 pts) | #733 (120 pts) | #823 (60 pts) | #814 (60 pts) |
| 2025 ↗ | Backyard | #78 (685 pts) | #88 (645 pts) | #82 (715 pts) | — | — |
| 2024 ↗ | Backyard | #125 (456 pts) | #108 (571 pts) | #132 (426 pts) | — | — |