Pahrump hosted multiple horseshoe tournaments at their annual Fall Festival on Saturday, Sept. 25 and Sunday, Sept. 26.
The Nevada State Horseshoe Pitching Association held a sanctioned tournament that featured a total of 21 participants who were split up into three classes of seven players. The classes were decided based on ringer percentage, with the A Class having the highest average and the C Class having the lowest percentage. With the event being sanctioned, it means that only players who are registered with the Horseshoe Pitching Association are eligible to participate.
The A Class of the tournament finished in a three-way tie between Steve Lopez, Dan Dunn and Dennis Anderson. All three pitchers finished with a record of 4-2 for the tournament. Lopez won the tiebreaker because he finished with the most points out of the three pitchers. He had 257 total points, while Dunn finished with 254 points and Anderson finished with 234 points. Lopez finished with a tournament-high of 113 ringers out of a total of 240 throws, good for 47.08 percent.
The winner of the B Class was Mark Kaczmarek. He finished as the only player in the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record. He had 189 points with 81 ringers, good for 33.75 percent. Rai Adams and Neal Schulte rounded out the top three in the B Class. Adams finished with a record of 4.5-1.5, due to a tie with fellow pitcher Lawrence Workman, and Schulte finished with a record of 3-3. Adams had 63 ringers to go along with his 165 total points. Schulte had 65 ringers to go along with his 137 points.
The winner of the C Class was DJ Zuloaga. Zuloaga finished with a record of 4.5-1.5 and had 21 ringers to go along with his 152 points. Zuloaga tied his game against fellow pitcher Dave Barefield. Jefferson Counts and Kevin Chael rounded out the top three in the C Class. Counts finished with a record of 4-2 and had 19 ringers to go along with his 154 total points. Chael finished with a record of 4-2 as well, but Counts won the points tiebreaker. Chael finished with 149 points and 22 ringers.
“I thought it was a pretty good turnout,” said Lathan Dilger, President of the Nevada State Horseshoe Pitching Association. “Whenever you have to double up like we did, then you know it’s a good turnout.”
Each class winner receives a monetary prize to go along with their class patch. For Lopez, since he won the A Class, he received a Tournament Champion patch.
Sunday was a non-sanctioned doubles tournament put on by the Southern Nevada Horseshoe Pitching Association. Sixteen players participated in the tournament and they were split up into eight teams of two players each.
The team of Steve Lopez and Larry Workman took home first place in the non-sanctioned tournament. They walked away with the grand trophy and a money prize of $80 each. The second-place team was made up of Rai Adams and Keven Chael. They each received a trophy and $50. The third-place team consisted of Ty Frazier and Russ Jacobs. They each received a trophy and $30.
A special thanks goes out to a few people. First and foremost, Jenn Chael. She directed both tournament days and organized everything to make sure the tournaments went off without a hitch.
Another thanks goes out to Jesse at American Family Insurance, who provided the trophies for the Sunday tournament. A thank you also goes to Jimmy Martinez and the town of Pahrump for holding the Fall Festival and allowing the horseshoe tournament to take place at the festival.
“It’s so nice with those six pits right there,” Mike “Nico” Nicosia, secretary treasurer of the NSHPA, said of the horseshoe pits in Pahrump. “With the fire station right there, it’s a real nice location.”
The Nevada State Horseshoe Pitching Association will be holding their State Horseshoe Tournament this weekend in Tonopah. The sanctioned event will be taking place on Saturday, Oct. 2 and will begin at 10 a.m. This tournament is only available to Nevada players.
The Southern Nevada State Horseshoe Pitching Association will be holding their State Doubles Tournament on Sunday, Oct. 10. This tournament is open to anyone who wants to play.
Contact Sports Editor Danny Smyth at dsmyth@pvtimes.com