Signature meat
40%
pork ribs entries won
2 wins from 5 entries
When pork ribs is on the table, watch out — they've won it in 40% of their entries (2 of 5).
- best 173.7028
- average 165.70
- 3 calls
Little Wolf Foods
Little Wolf Foods is a competition barbecue team with 5 Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) contests on record between 2019 and 2023. Their best overall finish is 2nd of 40 at the Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown (2019), and they have finished Reserve Grand Champion once. They are ranked #1940 of 6,476 teams in the KCBS power rankings.
At a glance (the record in numbers)
Rating
1541
peak 1541 · rated over 5 contests
Contests
5
in the data
First seen
Jun 14, 2019
latest Jul 14, 2023 · 4.1 years on the trail
Grand champs
0
1 reserve
Category wins
3
4 podiums
Overall top-10s
3
60% of 5 contests
Best top-10 run
2
straight overall top-10s
Avg finish
top 27%
overall standings
Perfect 180s
0
Walk rate
100%
contests with a top-10 call
Consistency
±2.56
spread of their Backyard overall scores (lower = steadier)
Strongest meat
Pork
avg 174.29 · weakest Chicken (163.17)
Road miles
257
across 5 mapped stops · furthest 71 mi
Schedule strength
33%
of rated fields were softer than their average draw (1544)
Purse competed for
$20K
listed at 4 contests — purses, not winnings
State championships
0 🏅
won from 3 state-championship entries
Backyard avg
331.81 / 360
4 Backyard contests · 0 GCs
Backyard (3-meat) avg
491.38 / 540
1 Backyard (3-meat) contest · 0 GCs
These overall scores sit on different scales (Backyard out of 360, Backyard (3-meat) out of 540), so they're kept separate — averaging them together would be misleading.
This team cooks the Backyard series — its own boards, records and Team of the Year are here.
Teams like this (closest power rating)
The teams rated closest to Little Wolf Foods, each with one reason worth a look.
53 rated teams sit within a point of this rating, so a place on this list means the numbers match — no more than that.
#1,936 of the rated field
- Contests
- 5
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1541
Careers of much the same size, 5 contests to 5, so neither rating has had more chance to settle than the other.
⚔ Compare careers#1,933 of the rated field
- Contests
- 6
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 17%
- Peak
- 1541
Their last contest in the data was back in 2019, 4 years before Little Wolf Foods's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careers#1,934 of the rated field
- Contests
- 9
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 33%
- Peak
- 1541
They turned up 6 years after Little Wolf Foods did, first appearing in 2025.
⚔ Compare careers#1,946 of the rated field
- Contests
- 10
- GCs
- 1
- Top-10s
- 40%
- Peak
- 1540
Their rating is built on 1 Grand Championship in 10 contests, alongside a 40% overall top-10 rate.
⚔ Compare careers#1,932 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 29%
- Peak
- 1541
Level with Little Wolf Foods on power rating, which is the whole reason they're on the list.
⚔ Compare careers#1,943 of the rated field
- Contests
- 7
- GCs
- 0
- Top-10s
- 29%
- Peak
- 1541
Their last contest in the data was back in 2014, 9 years before Little Wolf Foods's most recent — their rating stopped moving when they stopped cooking.
⚔ Compare careersBy meat
| Category | Entries | Calls | Wins | Podiums | Best | Worst | Average | Avg finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 173.1428 | 150.2400 | 163.17 | top 32% |
| Pork Ribs | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 173.7028 | 156.5600 | 165.70 | top 31% |
| Pork | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 174.2856 | 174.2856 | 174.29 | top 3% |
“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) | 4 | 0 | top 32% |
| Large (40+) | 1 | 0 | top 5% |
More numbers
Busiest season
2023
3 contests
Contests a season
2.5
across 2 seasons in the data
Most contests held in
IL
5 of 5 contests
Contests visited
5
a different one every time
Opponents faced
150
finished ahead 156 times, behind 46
Longest layoff
3.9 yrs
Jul 19, 2019 → May 27, 2023
Milestones (the firsts, the round numbers and the personal bests)
20234 milestones
- Career-best overall score491.3828 Westmont Red White & BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Career-best single call (Pork)174.2856 Westmont Red White & BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY)
- Peak power rating (1541) Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown
- Most recent contest Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown
20197 milestones
- First tracked contest Hog Capital Challenge
- First call Hog Capital Challenge
- First category win (Pork Ribs) Hog Capital Challenge
- First overall top-10 Hog Capital Challenge
- First overall podium Hog Capital Challenge
- First overall past 90% of a perfect score335.3484 Hog Capital Challenge
- First Reserve Championship Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown
Power rating over time (1500 = average; recomputed nightly)
📈 Biggest rating jumps
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| +15.9 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown | Jul 19, 2019 |
| +14.5 | Hog Capital Challenge | Jun 14, 2019 |
| +7 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown | Jul 14, 2023 |
| +3.4 | Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) | Jun 17, 2023 |
📉 Toughest weekends
| Swing | Contest | Date |
|---|---|---|
| -0.1 | Westmont Red White & BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) | May 27, 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
| Season | Contests | GCs | Top-10s | Category wins | Walk rate | Avg finish | Best overall (% of perfect) | Avg overall (% of perfect) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% | top 39% | 91.6% | 91.3% |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 100% | top 9% | 93.2% | 92.8% |
Contest history (click a row for the event, a column to sort)
| Date | Event | Overall | Chicken | Ribs | Pork | Brisket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 14, 2023 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Eureka, IL | 7 / 25 (329.0740) | 7 (167.4056) | 10 (161.6684) | — | — |
| Jun 17, 2023 | Morris Rhythm & BBQ Festival (BACKYARD ONLY) Morris, IL | 13 / 33 (329.7028) | 3 (173.1428) | 24 (156.5600) | — | — |
| May 27, 2023 | Westmont Red White & BBQ (BACKYARD ONLY) Westmont, IL | 17 / 34 (491.3828) | 29 (150.2400) | 12 (166.8572) | 1 (174.2856) | — |
| Jul 19, 2019 | Central Illinois BBQ Throwdown 🏅 Peoria, IL | 2 / 40 (333.1200) | 4 (163.4172) | 1 (169.7028) | — | — |
| Jun 14, 2019 | Hog Capital Challenge 🏅 Kewanee, IL | 3 / 25 (335.3484) | 7 (161.6456) | 1 (173.7028) | — | — |