HORSESHOE TOURNAMENT DRAWS 3,500; 455 TEAMS WHITTLED DOWN TO 8 WINNERS

SCOTT CITY Two full days of horseshoe pitching reduced a field of 455 teams to just eight champions in the 11th Annual Missouri State Knights of Columbus Horseshoe Tournament held this weekend in Scott City.

The tournament, which organizers said was possibly the largest horseshoe tournament in the nation, drew Knights of Columbus members and their families from throughout Missouri.

It was the first time the state event was held here since its inception in 1981, when Scott City hosted the first tournament. Organizers estimated about 3,500 people were in Scott City for the two-day affair.

The double-elimination tournament featured 372 men's and 83 women's teams.

Robert Kraenzle of Ste. Genevieve is the state athletic chairman for the Knights of Columbus. He said the tournament continues to grow each year.

"The first year, we had 54 teams, all men's," Kraenzle said. "So you can see how much this thing has grown over the years.

"It's the third year we've included women, and they're getting more and more interest too."

Kraenzle said the event is open to all Missouri Knights of Columbus members and their families.

As host of the tournament, the Scott City Knights of Columbus Council began preparations last October. In all, 48 horseshoe pits were set up to accommodate eight divisions, with a separate tournament in each division.

Kraenzle said the tournament will likely continue to grow. But he said the real success of the event isn't measured by the number of participants, or even the quality of horseshoe pitching.

"You see some fabulous horseshoe pitchers and you see others that aren't too great," he said. "But everyone's having fun and that's what it's all about."

Winners of the various classes included:

Women's Class A, Marilyn Landewee and Rosalie Burrett of Jackson; Women's Class B, Sharon Boyer and Marcia Politte of Old Mines; Men's Class A, Brad and Jeff Miller of Scott City; and Class B, Tim and Ken Mueller of St. Paul.

Champions in men's Class C were Gary Mattingly and Rick Brandt of Florissant; Class D, Ed Pashia and Randy Portell of Old Mines; Class E, Don Krodinger and Carl Oberle of DeSoto; and Class F, Richard Randolph and Larry Chastetter of Oran.

Participating teams were divided according to their qualifying scores, with the highest scores in Class A.

Burrett and Landewee have pitched in each of the tournaments that have included a women's division. They've apparently improved their game each year. After finishing fifth in 1989, the Jackson team was second last year before winning the championship this year.

Landewee said that although this year's accomplishment can't be topped, it can be repeated. "Hopefully we can come back next year and do it again," she said.

"But it's some very good competition. It seems to get better each year."

Landewee said she pitches horseshoes in various tournaments throughout the year, but that the state Knights of Columbus event is the biggest.

Burrett said the tournament was a natural for the Southeast Missouri area. "Horseshoes is real popular in the area," she said.

Randolph and Chastetter, the men's Class F champions, certainly couldn't be called die-hard horseshoe pitchers. They said the state tournament is the only time they pitch shoes all year, and Chastetter didn't hesitate to credit luck for his team's success.

"There was some really good competition, but it's a lot of fun," he said. "We don't care about the winning, we're just in it for the fun."

Although they had to play eight matches to win their division, Randolph said he doubted his pitching arm would be sore the next day.

"It won't be that sore, except maybe from packing this around," he quipped, indicating the four-foot championship trophy.

Tournament directors Bud Holden and Ron Burger said the two-day event went off without a hitch.

"We had a lot of help," said Burger. "It takes a lot of good people to get it to come off this well."

Teams from as far away as Hannibal and Branson competed in the tournament, and Burger said four or five councils entered teams for the first time this year.

"Horseshoes are big in Southeast Missouri," he said. "In places like Ste. Genevieve and Bloomsdale, they play a lot of horseshoes. They live and breathe it."

Gene Diebold of Scott City is the man credited with the genesis of the state tournament.

"I had the idea in 1981 when I was the Knights of Columbus District Deputy," Diebold said. "I knew there were a lot of people around here who pitched horseshoes, and the state was doing some bowling and softball tournaments, so I brought up the idea of a state horseshoe tournament.

"It's just really snowballed. This is the largest one ever."

Diebold was quick to credit the local Scott City council for the success of the tournament.

"Out of the 380 members of the Scott City Council, probably 350 have done something, somewhere with the thing," he added.

Proceeds from the tournament went to the Cardinal Glennon Developmental Center in St. Louis, the Knights of Columbus Religious Information Bureau and the organization's Catholic Education Program.