Larry Workman Jr. takes End of Winter Classic

The Nevada State Horseshoe Pitching Association held their sanctioned End of Winter Classic tournament at Lone Mountain Regional Park in Las Vegas over the weekend.

The tournament featured 22 participants who were split up into three classes – the A class, the B class and the C class.

In the A class, Larry Workman Jr. took home first place. He finished with an undefeated record of 6-0 in the tournament. This was Workman’s second consecutive singles tournament win. He also won his class in the Ice Breaker Open to start the season.

Workman Jr. finished with tournament-highs in both points, with 293, and ringers, with 101.

Scott Hardy and Joe Kalache followed Workman Jr. with their second-and third-place finishes.

Hardy ended the tournament with a 4-2 record. He finished with 205 points and he threw 95 ringers. Hardy came into the tournament with a 41.86 ringer percentage, the highest of all the participants.

Kalache finished in a tie for third place with Larry Workman Sr. Even though they tied in their head-to-head matchup, Kalache won the tiebreaker because he finished with more points. Kalache ended the tournament with 220 points, the second highest, behind only Workman Jr.

In the B class, Dave Barefield also finished with a perfect 6-0 record. He finished the tournament with 183 points and 53 ringers. His point total was the highest for the B class.

George Mallory and Don Brown finished in second and third places, respectively.

Mallory ended the tournament with a record of 4.5-1.5. He had 179 points and threw 51 ringers on the day. His only loss of the day came against class champion Barefield and he tied against Lathan Dilger.

Brown finished with the highest ringer count and the highest ringer percentage in the B class. He had an overall record of 3-3 in the tournament and scored 171 points with 56 ringers.

In the C class, there was a two-way tie for first place. Mike Dedeic and Christy Russell both finished the tournament with a 6-1 record. Dedeic took the tiebreaker to get the class win because he beat Russell in their head-to-head matchup.

Dedeic had 172 points and a class-high 48 ringers on the day. His only loss of the day came in his opening game against fourth-place finisher Chuck Smith.

Russell, who finished in second place for the C class, ended the tournament with a class-high 180 points and had 40 ringers.

A tie also occurred for third place between Willy Zuloaga and Chuck Smith. Zuloaga won the tiebreaker by defeating Smith in the head-to-head match. Both players finished with a tournament record of 5-2.

Zuloaga ended the day with a total of 113 points and he threw 27 ringers.

For their wins, each class champion received a patch. Barefield and Dedeic each received a “Class Champion” patch, while Workman Jr. received a “Tournament Champion” patch for winning the top class of the tournament.

The next sanctioned NSHPA tournament will be taking place on Saturday, March 5, at Leavitt Park in Las Vegas. Sign-in for the tournament must be done by 10 a.m. to participate.