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PITTSTON — The brewery inside the Susquehanna Brewing Company took a new role Saturday as over 150 people from across the nation gathered to participate in the inaugural NEPA Cornhole Winter Classic Tournament.
Popular at backyard barbeques and tailgate parties, cornhole is a two- or four-player game, similar to a beanbag toss. Two wooden boards are placed 27-feet away from one another, each containing a hole at the top. Players must toss their bags across the playing field with a goal of getting their bag on or through the board.
The sport has advanced throughout the years, now offering official cornhole leagues in communities as well as spawning the American Cornhole Organization.
TJ Griffiths and Tony Lucarelli, co-founders of the NEPA Cornhole Association, ran Saturday’s event. Griffiths said he started NEPA Cornhole about a year ago to give local players a chance to get together, make new friends and compete.
Like many players, Griffiths said he began his cornhole journey playing in friends’ backyards, later going to a tournament in New York and deciding to start a group locally upon his return.
This is the group’s second tournament at the brewery, offering players the ability to enjoy a cold brew while they’re competing — activities he said that just go “hand in hand.”
“We thought it’d be a cool location,” he said. “We did (a game) here in October and it was a great success.”
Cash prizes and gift cards were offered to the top eight winners, with the number one player walking away with a cool $750. Raffle baskets and 50/50 chances were also available, offering prizes from local brews to lottery tickets.
The exact origins of the game is unknown.
“I’ve done some research online, but I couldn’t find out exactly how it began,” Griffiths said. “But some credit cornhole for starting in Cincinnati … at tailgate parties.”
According to the ACO, cornhole may have originated in Germany in the 14th century, eventually making its way across the world before landing in Kentucky about 100 years ago.
The game, he said, can be played with varying sets of rules, but Saturday’s tournament featured two players on each team, with each player getting four bags to toss. Players that can get a bag on the board or a “woodie” receive one point, and if the bag can go through the hole, they get three points. The first team to reach 21 points wins.
Across the brewery, teammates Doug Perry and Corey Whalen practiced their throws before the tournament began. Moving from one wooden board to the other, the teammates took turns tossing their bags, each trying to outthrow the other.
Perry’s girlfriend, Lori Paczewski, said Perry and Whalen have been playing together for years. While she’s only played for about the last two years, the Limerick resident travels with the duo as they compete in various tournaments across the region. Paczewski said Perry and Whalen are ranked second in the state by the ACO as doubles.
“I went to a Flyer’s game and saw it in the parking lot,” Whalen, of Plymouth, said of how he became involved with the sport. “I met (Doug) at another tournament.”
