SaucyRossyBBQ KCBS Helper

← All teams

Cluster Cluck Barbecue

Cluster Cluck Barbecue is a competition barbecue team with 24 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2022 and 2025. They have won 1 Grand Championship, at the Miles City Cowtown Cookoff (2023). They are ranked #3054 of 6,491 teams in the KCBS power rankings.

⚔ Compare with another team

At a glance (the record in numbers)

Power ranking

#3,054
of 6,491 rated · rankings

Rating

1504
peak 1523 · rated over 24 contests

Contests

24
in the data

First seen

May 6, 2022
latest May 2, 2025 · 3 years on the trail

Best ToY finish

#180
Master 2023 · every season

Grand champs

1
0 reserve · wins it all 4% of the time

Category wins

1
4 podiums

Overall top-10s

5
21% of 24 contests

Avg finish

top 59%
overall standings

Best overall

703.3944 / 720
Master · Miles City Cowtown Cookoff

Perfect 180s

0

Current form

670.39 ▲
last 5 Master vs avg 642.86 (+27.54)

Walk rate

63%
contests with a top-10 call

Best single call

178.8572
Chicken · Miles City Cowtown Cookoff

Consistency

±102.73
spread of their Master overall scores (lower = steadier)

Strongest meat

Chicken
avg 170.46 · weakest Pork (161.07)

Road miles

8,719
across 24 mapped stops · furthest 733 mi

Schedule strength

62%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1579)

Purse competed for

$291K
listed at 24 contests — purses, not winnings

State championships

1 🏅
won from 23 state-championship entries

Master avg

642.86 / 720
24 Master contests · 1 GC

Storylines (14 found in their record)

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

Against the odds

15-in-100 shot on pre-contest ratings

The ratings favoured the top seed the other 85 times in 100

Their Grand Championship at Miles City Cowtown Cookoff (Jun 16, 2023) came as the ratings underdog — roughly a 15-in-100 shot against the field's top-rated team, Texas Smoke Whisperer.

They almost always walk

63% of contests with a top-10 call

A call in 15 of 24 contests

A top-10 category call in 63% of their 24 contests — they get to the stage more often than not.

High-water mark

703.3944 career-best overall

97.7% of a perfect 720

Their best day on record: 703.3944 at Miles City Cowtown Cookoff — 97.7% of a perfect 720.

  • Master
  • Jun 16, 2023

State champions

1 state championship won

They've taken 1 state championship from 23 entries at contests carrying the title.

  • 23 state-championship entries

The one to beat

2× one call ahead of them

Hooligans Barbecue has finished one call ahead of Cluster Cluck Barbecue 2 times — their closest competition in the data.

A tough matchup

18–3 behind in the head-to-head

Colorado Bulldawg BBQ ahead in 86% of their meetings

Colorado Bulldawg BBQ has come out ahead in 18 of their 21 shared contests.

The weak link

−9.4 points behind their best meat

Pork is where the weekend gets away from them — it averages 9.39 points below their chicken, and turns into a call 22% of the time against 38%.

  • Pork avg 161.07
  • Chicken avg 170.46
  • 5 calls in 23 entries
Show 7 more storylines

A strong matchup

5–2 ahead in the head-to-head

Ahead in 71% of their meetings

They've finished ahead of Frank's BBQ Trading Post in 5 of their 7 shared contests.

Chicken nemesis

14 of 21 shared chicken entries lost

Colorado Bulldawg BBQ ahead 67% of the time

Even in their strongest meat, Colorado Bulldawg BBQ has out-cooked them in 14 of 21 shared chicken entries.

Looking over their shoulder

2× one call behind them

SCORE ONE SMOKIN' has landed one call behind them 2 times.

Boom or bust

±14.27% swing around their own average

Their overall swings ±14.27% of a perfect score around its own average — when it lands they're dangerous, and when it doesn't the weekend is gone by lunch.

  • averages 89.3% of a perfect score
  • best 97.7%

A June team

Top 47% average finish in June

Something about June: average finish in the top 47% across 6 contests, versus top 59% the rest of the year.

  • 6 June contests
  • top 59% the rest of the year

The long haul

8,719 road miles between contests

Contest to contest, they've covered roughly 8,719 miles across 24 mapped stops — the longest single trip being 733 miles to BBQ & Brew Fest - Best in the Southwest.

  • 24 mapped stops
  • furthest 733 mi

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

YearSeriesOverallChickenRibsPorkBrisket
2025 ↗ Master #1076 (80 pts) #857 (160 pts) #1020 (120 pts) #1451 (55 pts) #1107 (80 pts)
2023 ↗ Master #180 (1,100 pts) #122 (1,332 pts) #241 (985 pts) #118 (1,355 pts) #210 (985 pts)
2022 ↗ Master #216 (992 pts) #127 (1,333 pts) #198 (1,117 pts) #249 (933 pts) #173 (1,152 pts)

Overall rank by season

Teams like this (closest power rating)

The teams rated closest to Cluster Cluck Barbecue, each with one reason worth a look.

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

M Squared Smokin' Q
#3,046 of the rated field
1504 power rating
Contests
33
GCs
0
Top-10s
9%
Peak
1508
1–0 in 1 shared contest (100% to Cluster Cluck Barbecue)

One contest in common so far: too few to settle anything, but a team Cluster Cluck Barbecue has actually stood beside rather than a stranger on the same rating.

  • rated over 32 contests
  • last seen Oct 13, 2023
⚔ Head-to-head
WE'RE BURNIN DAYLIGHT BBQ
#3,049 of the rated field
1504 power rating
Contests
43
GCs
1
Top-10s
12%
Peak
1552
0–1 in 1 shared contest (0% to Cluster Cluck Barbecue)

They've been 1552 at their best, 48 points above where they sit today — they're arriving at this rating from above.

  • rated over 43 contests
  • last seen Jul 1, 2022
⚔ Head-to-head
Clean Smoke BBQ
#3,070 of the rated field
1504 power rating
Contests
26
GCs
1
Top-10s
35%
Peak
1508

Careers of much the same size, 26 contests to 24, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.

  • rated over 24 contests
  • last seen Jul 11, 2026
⚔ Compare careers
Unknown Smokers
#3,068 of the rated field
1504 power rating
Contests
30
GCs
1
Top-10s
33%
Peak
1532

Their rating is built on 1 Grand Championship in 30 contests, alongside a 33% overall top-10 rate.

  • rated over 29 contests
  • last seen Aug 15, 2026
⚔ Compare careers
BUTTS, BELLIES & BUDDIES
#3,048 of the rated field
1504 power rating
Contests
19
GCs
0
Top-10s
0%
Peak
1512

Their last contest in the data was back in 2018, 7 years before Cluster Cluck Barbecue's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.

  • rated over 19 contests
⚔ Compare careers
COLONIAL EMBERS
#3,051 of the rated field
1504 power rating
Contests
17
GCs
0
Top-10s
18%
Peak
1519

They were already cooking in 2014, 8 years before Cluster Cluck Barbecue's first contest.

  • rated over 17 contests
  • last seen Mar 23, 2018
⚔ Compare careers

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

OpponentMeetingsAheadBehindWin rate
Colorado Bulldawg BBQ 21 3 18 14% ⚔ compare
Bushmaster BBQ 17 1 16 6% ⚔ compare
BRACKEN RACKS BBQ 14 8 6 57% ⚔ compare
Heifers, Butts, & Clucks BBQ 14 3 11 21% ⚔ compare
Brinkerhoff BBQ 13 4 9 31% ⚔ compare
POPPA PIG AND PORKCHOP 13 4 9 31% ⚔ compare
ROCKET BOYS PYRO BBQ 12 5 7 42% ⚔ compare
Needs More Cowbell BBQ 12 4 8 33% ⚔ compare
PROUD SOULS BARBECUE 12 0 12 0% ⚔ compare
Texas Smoke Whisperer 11 2 9 18% ⚔ compare
Meat Machine BBQ 10 2 8 20% ⚔ compare
SMOKIN HOT BUTTS BBQ 10 2 8 20% ⚔ compare
SMOKIN' BOXERS BBQ 9 3 6 33% ⚔ compare
GRILLIN' BEAVERS 9 2 7 22% ⚔ compare
AMERICAN HEROES BBQ 9 1 8 11% ⚔ compare

By meat

CategoryEntriesCallsWinsPodiumsBestWorstAverageAvg finish
Chicken 24 9 0 2 178.8572 158.2400 170.46 top 42%
Pork Ribs 23 5 0 0 175.4400 145.6344 165.86 top 56%
Pork 23 5 1 1 178.8572 20 161.07 top 55%
Brisket 23 5 0 1 177.1428 156.4912 166.00 top 54%

“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

FieldContestsGCsAvg finish
Small (<20 teams)10top 79%
Medium (20–39)201top 60%
Large (40+)30top 44%

By state / province (where the contests were held)

WhereContestsGCsAvg finish
CO100top 68%
WY30top 47%
KS20top 72%
MT21top 24%
AZ20top 78%
NM10top 67%
TX10top 12%
UT10top 68%
SD10top 75%
NE10top 28%

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

ContestVisitsBestGCsAvg finishLast visit
Pepsi Wyoming State BBQ Championships & Bluegrass Festival 2 9 0 top 34% Aug 18, 2023
Beat the Heat BBQ & Brews 2 18 0 top 65% Aug 11, 2023
Wild West BBQ Cook-Off 2 13 0 top 70% May 12, 2023
Greeley Blues Jam (Day 2) 2 12 0 top 62% Jun 4, 2022

More numbers

Busiest season 2023 12 contests · 1 GC
Contests a season 8 across 3 seasons in the data
Most contests held in CO 10 of 24 contests · 10 states in all
Contests visited 20 4 of them more than once
Most-entered meat Chicken 24 entries · 0 wins · 9 calls
First title Jun 16, 2023 Miles City Cowtown Cookoff
Opponents faced 404 finished ahead 345 times, behind 474
Longest layoff 1.7 yrs Aug 25, 2023 → May 2, 2025

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

20251 milestone
  1. Most recent contest The All American Comeback BBQ, Bourbon, & Bands
20236 milestones
  1. First category win (Pork) Miles City Cowtown Cookoff
  2. First overall podium Miles City Cowtown Cookoff
  3. First Grand Championship Miles City Cowtown Cookoff
  4. First state championship Miles City Cowtown Cookoff
  5. Career-best overall score703.3944 Miles City Cowtown Cookoff
  6. Career-best single call (Chicken)178.8572 Miles City Cowtown Cookoff
20226 milestones
  1. First tracked contest Wild West BBQ Cook-Off
  2. First call Wild West BBQ Cook-Off
  3. First overall past 90% of a perfect score670.7884 Wild West BBQ Cook-Off
  4. First overall top-10 Central Plains Ribfest
  5. Peak power rating (1523) Pepsi Wyoming State BBQ Championships & Bluegrass Festival
  6. 10th tracked contest Smoke & Soul Fest

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

📈 Biggest rating jumps

SwingContestDate
+18.4Miles City Cowtown CookoffJun 16, 2023
+14.1Cedar Fest BBQ CookoffMar 31, 2023
+11.2Central Plains RibfestJun 17, 2022
+9.4Pepsi Wyoming State BBQ Championships & Bluegrass FestivalAug 19, 2022
+7.4Greeley Blues Jam (Day 1)Jun 3, 2022

📉 Toughest weekends

SwingContestDate
-13.2Wild West BBQ Cook-OffMay 12, 2023
-11.2BBQ & Brew Fest - Best in the SouthwestMar 10, 2023
-10.1Greeley Blues Jam (Day 2)Jun 4, 2022
-7.1Keating Tractor Antique Tractor ShowAug 25, 2023
-6.8Art of BarbequeJun 30, 2023

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

SeasonContestsGCsTop-10sCategory winsWalk rateAvg finishBest overall (% of perfect)Avg overall (% of perfect)
20251000 100% top 67% 94.4% 94.4%
202312131 58% top 60% 97.7% 86%
202211020 64% top 57% 95.1% 92.4%

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

DateEventOverallChickenRibsPorkBrisket
May 2, 2025 The All American Comeback BBQ, Bourbon, & Bands Ruidoso Downs, NM 20 / 30 (679.8856) 7 (176.5716) 12 (173.7028) 27 (162.8000) 20 (166.8112)
Aug 25, 2023 Keating Tractor Antique Tractor Show 🏅 Liberal, KS 15 / 19 (666.8228) 9 (169.1544) 15 (164.5828) 15 (164.5256) 11 (168.5600)
Aug 18, 2023 Pepsi Wyoming State BBQ Championships & Bluegrass Festival 🏅 Worland, WY 10 / 27 (683.8856) 9 (170.8228) 6 (174.8456) 13 (168.5372) 7 (169.6800)
Aug 11, 2023 Beat the Heat BBQ & Brews 🏅 Alamosa, CO 18 / 27 (663.8172) 12 (169.6684) 21 (159.3716) 5 (173.1200) 22 (161.6572)
Jun 30, 2023 Art of Barbeque 🏅 Sterling, CO 29 / 35 (657.5540) 23 (165.0972) 29 (161.6800) 9 (174.2856) 31 (156.4912)
Jun 16, 2023 Miles City Cowtown Cookoff 🏅 Miles City, MT 1 / 22 (703.3944) 2 (178.8572) 14 (168.5372) 1 (178.8572) 3 (177.1428)
Jun 9, 2023 Montana BBQ Cookoff 🏅 Absarokee, MT 16 / 36 (675.3484) 12 (172.5600) 18 (167.9772) 15 (169.7256) 21 (165.0856)
May 27, 2023 Veterans of Foreign Wars Colorado KCBS Pitmaster BBQ Contest 🏅 Castle Rock, CO 28 / 37 (661.6004) 26 (168.0116) 12 (173.1316) 33 (162.8116) 32 (157.6456)
May 12, 2023 Wild West BBQ Cook-Off 🏅 Lamar, CO 30 / 30 (514.7772) 15 (167.9772) 23 (161.1316) 30 (20) 15 (165.6684)
Apr 7, 2023 Smoke in the Spring 🏅 Osage City, KS 67 / 103 (670.7432) 43 (171.9772) 82 (161.6688) 30 (172) 67 (165.0972)
Mar 31, 2023 Cedar Fest BBQ Cookoff 🏅 Cedar Park, TX 7 / 57 (693.0856) 10 (174.2628) 9 (175.4400) 4 (177.7028) 25 (165.6800)
Mar 10, 2023 BBQ & Brew Fest - Best in the Southwest 🏅 Yuma, AZ 32 / 32 (177.1544) 4 (177.1544) — — —
Jan 13, 2023 Slab-O-Rama Barbeque Challenge 🏅 Bullhead City, AZ 25 / 45 (661.0744) 28 (165.1544) 26 (165.6800) 14 (171.4400) 32 (158.8000)
Oct 21, 2022 Meat Scream BBQ Competition-Day 1 🏅 Westminster, CO 23 / 32 (658.1832) 2 (175.4288) 32 (145.6344) 16 (167.9772) 9 (169.1428)
Oct 7, 2022 Smoke & Soul Fest 🏅 Casper, WY 21 / 29 (657.0060) 12 (170.8344) 27 (153.6688) 11 (169.1200) 19 (163.3828)
Sep 9, 2022 Western Legends BBQ Contest 🏅 Kanab, UT 21 / 31 (663.8972) 19 (169.1200) 5 (173.1200) 30 (157.7028) 19 (163.9544)
Aug 26, 2022 Hill City Wine, Brew & BBQ Fest 🏅 Hill City, SD 21 / 28 (668.5032) 17 (169.1544) 22 (167.3944) 25 (165.0972) 20 (166.8572)
Aug 19, 2022 Pepsi Wyoming State BBQ Championships & Bluegrass Festival 🏅 Worland, WY 9 / 29 (684.4568) 4 (177.7028) 16 (166.2284) 8 (171.4056) 10 (169.1200)
Aug 5, 2022 Beat the Heat BBQ & Brews 🏅 Alamosa, CO 22 / 35 (664.4912) 15 (167.9772) 26 (163.9656) 27 (160.5828) 11 (171.9656)
Jul 1, 2022 The Art of BBQ 🏅 Sterling, CO 16 / 28 (666.1140) 24 (158.2400) 4 (171.9656) 17 (166.2400) 11 (169.6684)
Jun 17, 2022 Central Plains Ribfest 🏅 Holdrege, NE 8 / 29 (678.7772) 22 (166.8572) 5 (173.7144) 13 (168.5372) 13 (169.6684)
Jun 4, 2022 Greeley Blues Jam (Day 2) 🏅 Greeley, CO 30 / 34 (638.6512) 22 (167.3828) 26 (158.2400) 32 (155.3828) 28 (157.6456)
Jun 3, 2022 Greeley Blues Jam (Day 1) 🏅 Greeley, CO 12 / 33 (668.5372) 14 (169.1428) 11 (168.5600) 28 (158.2744) 7 (172.5600)
May 6, 2022 Wild West BBQ Cook-Off 🏅 Lamar, CO 13 / 33 (670.7884) 4 (172) 20 (164.5484) 13 (168.5256) 16 (165.7144)

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

Heading out? 🔥

Are you sure you want to leave the KCBS Helper Tool and go to SaucyRossyBBQ.com?

Yes, take me there

Hey, I’m Ross

Most folks know me as SaucyRossyBBQ. I built this Helper App myself and put it out for free, because I wanted the tool to exist for our sport — no paywall, no account needed.

If you’ve got it in you to chip in, it means a whole lot. And if you’ve already bought me a coffee — thank you so much. Your support pays the server and hosting bills that keep a system like this running.

Buy me a coffee

You won’t see this again for a month. Now get back to it — good luck at your next cook. 🔥