Top throwers compete in state meet today

Almost 1,200 horseshoe throwers from across the state are expected in Oran today and Sunday for the Missouri State Horseshoe Tournament sponsored by the Knights of Columbus.

Games begin at 9 a.m. today and are expected to last through early evening. Games resume at 9 a.m. Sunday with championships expected to start at about 2 p.m.

The field will include 578 men's and women's teams with two players per team. They will try to work out of eight men's brackets and four women's brackets to reach the finals in one of eight divisions.

"We'll have a lot of really good throwers here this weekend," said Gregg Trankler, a chairman with the host Knights of Columbus of Oran. "We haven't gotten to host this in 10 years, so we're happy to have the event here again."

The 22nd annual event will include Knights of Columbus teams from Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Scott City, Leopold and Oran. Teams qualified by throwing 100 shoes through the season, then were put into appropriate brackets based on their scores.

Sixty-two men's pits and 24 women's pits will be in use this weekend, allowing for as many as 86 games being played simultaneously.