First Shot Cook Off Winners

The 4th Annual First Shot Cook-off came to a tasty close Saturday evening during the awards ceremony.

Fifty cooks descended on J.B. Wells Park intent on showcasing their delicious wares and getting one step closer to an International Barbecue Cookers Association state title.

Darwin Hoel of Giant BBQ was named the Overall Champion and Hampton Pratka of Bottle Cap Cookers earned the Overall Reserve Champion award. Big Russ Schmidt of Wild-N-Wooly Cookers won the special award of Classy Pit.

Plaques and cash prizes were given in four different categories – brisket, chicken, ribs and beans.

Tinker Brown of PPI BBQ won first place in brisket, with Perry Vernon of Vernon Brothers and Richard Middleton of Red, White & Que coming in second and third place respectively.

Hoel took fourth place in the division and Russell Boedeker of Shiner Smokers was fifth. Sixth place went to Pratka, Johnny Condel of Rawhide Cookers came in seventh and Don Wright of Moonlight Cookers finished eighth.

Kimberley LaGrange of (P-Town Cookers) and Bubba Reinke of Bubba’s BarBBQ Rub rounded out the top 10.

Hoel won the chicken division and Pratka took second place. Darrell Hull of Family Tradition, Robert Pavelka of Rounders and David Kapavik of Lone Star Bank were the third, fourth and fifth place winners respectively.

Robert Mason of South TX Que & Brew was sixth and Lawrence Kuntschik of Smokehouse Cookers was seventh. Brian Pirkle of Big G Cookers took eighth place with Wright and LaGrange rounding out the top ten.

Hoel was also tops in the ribs division with Ira Green of Texas Rib Runners finishing in second. Pratka was third, Boedeker was fourth and David Kotzebue of No Clue Bar BQ was fifth.

Pavelka took sixth place, Wright was seventh, and Hull claimed eighth. The last two spots in the top ten went to Brown and Becky Fisher of The Good, Bad, Ugly & Confused.

Robert Lowry of Colet Inn #1 was awarded first place in the beans division. Sequipua Janacek of Just Twisted was the runner-up and John Dubose of The Producers was third. Boedeker came in fourth, Mason was fifth, and Eddie Richter of Deerslayers Chili was sixth.

Ronnie Chymchal finished in seventh, Danny Patton of Patton Cookers was eighth, W.R. Low of Cottonwood Creek Cookers was ninth and Wright came in tenth.