Ken Smith Jr's Cornhole Biography

Greg Collins

I am ACL Pro Greg Collins from the West Conference and this is my story of how I became a professional cornhole player for the American Cornhole League. Started playing competitively in 2018 at the age of 58. I Live in the Central Valley of California, in a small farming town called Escalon. I work in the Director of Sales for All West Select Sires which provides genetics to dairy and beef producers. In October of 2018, my wife, Tamara saw on Facebook, her friends, Maybelle and Paul Abplanalp playing cornhole and inquired to when and where. That night we joined up with the Manteca league and we haven't looked back since. I remember my first Regional tournament in West Sacramento, it flamed a desire to really build my game. We would often drive into the San Francisco Bay area to play in locals and regionals with ACL pro Blake Demale, Nick Renevitz, Ken Jones and Brett Holland all highly skilled players, they pushed my game. 2019 I competed in my first King and Queen competition in Madera, CA and also went to Spencer McKenzie's Throw Down and placed well in the lower bracket partnering with Raymond Thomas. That was my first experience around many pros, it was very inspiring. In November 2019, I played at my 1st conference in Las Vegas and was noticed by Richard Morgan and a couple months later Mark Pryor invited me to play as part of Team Ultra. I then went to my first National in Florida in January 2020. Then Covid hit and messed up the chase for many of us. I went to Cleveland only to have it cancelled. I did go to the Final Chase, in Rock Hill.
20/21 is my first year as a pro. Mark Pryor, Ultra Cornhole will be sponsoring me this season. The bags I throw best and most are Widow-B's because of the two sided options they give you. Slick side is fast but not to fast and the slow side gives a soft landing block. I will be teaming up with Rudy Ai to make our chase. We both started within 6 months of each other and live only about 45 minutes apart. We regularly play in the same clubs together, many times we have partnered and are at most all Western conference events together. We approach the game similarly with solid steady heads and a never give up resolve .
I have never believed in luck. I believe you develop your game by playing smart, practicing hard and competing against challenging players. It's fun. That's why you'll hear me say "Have fun" at the start of a game. I use the Bible verse Proverbs 27:17 as my motto "As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens the countenance of another..." I try to do this all day long not only in my game but in work and relationships also. So there you have it a little about me.

Kaylee Hunter

I am ACL Pro Kaylee Hunter from the Carolina Conference and this is my story of how I became a professional cornhole player for the American Cornhole League. Started out with Backyard cornhole with family and friends, I started getting good and putting in work then Jamie Graham introduced me into competitive cornhole. Ever since, I have fell in love with the game!

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.

Tom Gorski

I am ACL Pro Tom Gorski from the Great Lakes Conference and this is my story of how I became a professional cornhole player for the ACL.

After winning a backyard tournament, I searched Facebook and discovered a group called Midwest Baggers that listed competitive tournaments and decided to test the waters

Matthew Creekkiller

I am Matthew Creekkiller, ACL Pro from the Southwest Conference and this is my story of how I became a professional cornhole player in the American Cornhole League. My sister brought her husbands cornhole boards over on my birthday, got hooked and haven’t stopped playing!

Ken Smith Jr

I am ACL Pro Ken Smith Jr from the Atlantic Conference and this is my story of how I became a professional cornhole player for the ACL.

I started playing cornhole when COVID started. I was at my apartment and I saw someone throwing and I asked to join him. After that he told me about these blind draws at a bar in Chesapeake, Virginia on Thursday’s. After that someone told me about The ACL and I went to my first regional in Franklin Virginia. And now here I am, an ACL Pro!

John Kitchin

I am ACL Pro John Kitchin from the NorthEast Conference and this is my story of how and when I started playing cornhole and worked my way up to an ACL Pro. I started playing cornhole in Philadelphia, PA during tailgates at professional sporting events. I was approached by a co-worker who was interested into getting me out to his local league on Tuesday Nights where they played $5-$10 Blind Draws. I instantly feel in love with the game and what competitive cornhole seemed like at the time. After I started doing well, I branched out playing in the more organized leagues & tournaments which led to traveling nationally to test myself against the countries best.
After 1 year of traveling, I found myself in a position to qualify as a Pro in 2016. After two seasons I made the jump to becoming an ACL Pro. I’d classify my years as an ACL Pro to be currently successful in regard to accolades but was fulfilled the most by representing our small section of the cornhole world and setting the example that truly “Anyone can play, anyone can win”.

CONGRATULATIONS to John for winning the 2019 Devour Man of the Year award!

Derrick Mentzer

I am ACL Pro Derrick Mentzer from the Atlantic Conference and this is my story of how and when I started playing cornhole and worked my way up to an ACL Pro. Started out in a back yard and it took off from there