Eli Stevens's Cornhole Biography

Eric Ryder

I am ACL Pro Eric Ryder from the Carolina Conference and this is my story of how and when I started playing cornhole and worked my way up to an ACL Pro. Back in 2009 I was invited to a friends house for a cookout. He had some cornhole boards made and pulled them out and explained the game to me. I had never heard of cornhole prior to that day. We played all afternoon and I was hooked. I bought my first set of 2x4/plywood Red Sox boards with corn bags and started playing in the neighborhood with neighbors. Soon heard about a tournament that Trey and I would play in and get our butts handed to us. We met some good players and learned about throwing a flat bag and resin bags and how there were tournaments every week in the area. It was at that point I knew this was a game I would be playing for a very long time.

Cody Henderson

I am ACL Pro Cody Henderson from the Mid-East Conference and this is my story of how I became a professional cornhole player for the American Cornhole League.

Yetty Irwan

I am ACL Pro Yetty Irwan from the Mountain South Conference and this is my story of how I became a professional cornhole player for the American Cornhole League. My now-husband, Harry Stoltzfus, moved to Colorado with me in 2017 and set up a cornhole court in the basement. Eventually I joined him during his practice session and started throwing bags with him at the local league and tournaments. When he qualified to be an ACL Pro for 2019-2020 season, he convinced me to be his pro doubles partner.

Dave Sutton

I am ACL Pro Dave Sutton from the Great Lakes Conference and this is my story of how I became a professional cornhole player for the American Cornhole League.

Josh Bordelon

I am ACL Pro Josh Bordelon from the SouthWest Conference and this is my story of how and when I started playing cornhole and worked my way up to an ACL Pro. Playing in the backyard early Summer of 2018, I decided it was time to search for some tournaments in the New Orleans area only to find that their really wasn’t much competitive. I decided to start my own league (GNO Cornhole) and it has taken off over this past year. Since then, I have traveled to a couple Conferences and Nationals to gain experience and improve my game to achieve enough points to qualify to be an ACL Pro. I am grateful for the ACL for giving me this opportunity and look forward to many great experiences along the way to improving my game as a Pro.

John Fuentez

I am ACL Pro John Fuentez from the Mid-West Conference and this is my story of how I became a professional cornhole player for the ACL.

About 16-17 yrs ago we had an adult wiffle ball league in my home town. They always had boards on the side lines. Peaked the interest obviously. The older man that owned the land we played on was always beating up on everybody. His name was Ronnie Mac. He was the only one, well the only one I remember at least, with that perfect spinning flat bag. Back then I held the bag on the corner and flipped it. I was good, but inconsistent depending on how the bag landed. So after playing there all the time, we of course decided to make our own boards so we could play more often. Then it just became what we did at all family stuff and most weekends. In the beginning there was never a thought of becoming a professional cornhole player..... but look at me now. I love this sport. I mainly love the people. The cornhole family is amazing. Don't know what I would do without it. There is nothing better in life than walking into a tournament on opening day and hearing the sound of hundreds of bags hitting the boards.

Matt Guy

I am Matt Guy ACL Pro from the Mid-South Conference and this is my story of how and when I started playing cornhole and worked my way up to an ACL Pro. Former horseshoe pitcher that switched over to cornhole. Began playing in tournaments since the year 2000. Formerly an ACO Pro and switched over to an ACL Pro in the 2020/21 season.

Paul Hardie

I am ACL Pro Paul Hardie from the Southeast Conference and this is my story of how I became a professional cornhole player for the ACL. Like everyone, I started playing in the backyard and BBQ’s. I always have been athletic and played all sports, then a good friend of mine Kevin McCord got a set of boards and challenged me to this new game and just kept beating my Butt. So he made me a set of Michigan CH boards and beating me didn’t come that easy anymore. I knew nothing about tournament CH and about 3 yrs ago, 2017, I saw a blind draw at a local bar called Mugs and Jugs (the home of CornHole Life/CornHole USA) and did pretty good in it. I also met some great people like Kevin Smith Jr and Tex Christman, who told me about the ACL and how they traveled all over playing and said I should come check it out. So I did and played in all Regional's, Conference’s and Nationals. But I did not play 1 competitive level game ever. I always played everything in the advanced level from the start and like with Kevin McCord, I got my butt whooped by them but managed to put together some great tourneys with some awesome finish’s