Becker again hosted a prominent horseshoe tournament at their courts a couple weekends ago called the Reindeer Ringers Tourney.

Jerry Werk of Herman (Western MN) won the Class A Frosty Division. The contest was so close that one game separated first place from fifth. Werk tied Brad Heath of Blaine with a 5-2 record on 51.79% ringers and won first place on the tiebreaker.

Third place went to Tom Prokop of Roseville, who was tied with two others at 4-3. He also won the tiebreaker.

Jim Bilderback, one of Wisconsin’s top pitchers, came in with the top entry average with 70.87% ringers. He won his first two games and had the top game of the tournament in his second contest where he had 31 ringers in 40 tosses for 77.5%. He found the going tough, however, in the last five games, finishing 2-5 for seventh place due to the handicap.

The Class B Elf Division was won by Denise Kleven of Savage. She finished 6-1 with a 40.07% ringer average. Second place went to Ross Girtz of Rural Big Lake, who was 5-2 with a 45.6%. Girtz was co-director of the tournament.

Local pitcher Brian Wipper of Palmer captured third place with a 4-3 record. He also pitched in Class A, taking fourth with a 4-3 record.

The Class C Reindeer Division winner was Barry Schilling. Schilling went undefeated with a 7-0 record on 27.86%. Mike Hoffman and John Hustings tied for second place with 4-1/2 wins and 2-1/2 losses. Hoffman took second on the tiebreaker with Hustings finishing third.

Sad News

The horseshoe community was saddened to hear of the death of a friend and forever horseshoe pitcher, Marlin (Boots) Skelton of Clearwater who passed away Nov. 11. Skelton pitched many years in the Santiago Horse Club and at the Becker Courts. In 2009, he pitched almost every weekend in tournaments around the state and won the pitcher of the year award.

Up Next

The next tournament at the Becker Courts is Sat., Jan. 18.