Twenty-four pitchers from across the State of Minnesota descended upon Becker last Saturday to play horseshoes at the American Legion’s four courts. The event is called the Reindeer Ringers Horseshoe Tourney and Becker is one of only four indoor courts in Minnesota.

In the tournament, the 8 a.m. Class C Champion was John Hustings of Mahtomedi with a 5-1/2-1/2 record. Second place went to Will Reed and third place went to Rick Wright of Rush City.

The Class B players took to the courts at 11:30 a.m. with Stan Bialek of St. Paul taking the championship with a record of 6-1 and a ringer percentage of 32.14%. Jerry Werk of Donnelly took second and Aaron Mead of Rogers finished third.

Brad Heath from a Minneapolis suburb captured the Class A title. After losing the first match, he won the last six to go 6-1 with a ringer percentage of 50.36%. Jerry Hokkala, the top average pitcher in Minnesota, finished second with a 63.21% ringer average. Russ Girtz of rural Big Lake, the tourney director, too the thrid spot.

Michelle Foard, publicity director of the Minnesota Horsehoe Association, was on-hand to help with the tournament. She won her last three games in Class A to finish fifth. Hokkala, who comes from South Haven, hit 32 ringers out of 40 pitches for an amazing 80% in his final match.

Other participants were: Jeff Washburn, Josh Olson, Don Claseman, Tom Prokop, David Losen, Brian Wipper, Lance Van Wyhe, Colin Wanous, Jerry Rajkowski, Anthony Stach, Wayne Stach, Bruce Swenson, Ron Ruch and Robert Ciaciura.