Forty-three teams from 20 different states rose early and worked diligently to ensure the perfect flavor, tenderness and smoky aroma of their barbecue. They flocked to Lubbock on Saturday to compete in the Texas Tech Raider Red Meats BBQ State Championship.
“This is the 13th year the event has been sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbeque Society,” said Tate Corliss, executive director of Raider Red Meats, and is used to raise funds for the program at Tech.
“It is also our largest fundraiser for our scholarship foundation,” Corliss said.
For some participants, this was an opportunity to have fun and enjoy competition as their favorite hobby.
For others, however, it is a chance to earn points and a spot at the American Royal – the World Barbecue Championship.
Competitors can compete in a variety of categories, but in Texas, one category reigns supreme: beef brisket.
A team of West Texas Land Guys started smoking the brisket around midnight. It took a total of 13 hours. They maintained the simple flavor profile of a Texas brisket.
Others, like the team from Re/Max in Lubbock, grilled their meat for 12 hours. The team, consisting of Trevor Lee, Johny Hamcheck and Moe Evans, have been grilling for many years, but Evans said he has been doing it for 40 years and started in college when he attended Texas Tech.
For one participant, however, barbecue is a family sport. John Schmidts came with his family from Oklahoma and used a drone instead of a conventional smoker to cook his brisket in 5 hours. Sitting next to him at the grill was a budding barbecue master, Schmidt’s six-year-old daughter.
This was her second year of competition and she competed in the ribeye portion of the competition.
Age and experience aren’t a factor in this state championship, though. Chance Vinson, who has been competing for a year, finished second in this region last year and also made the top 25 in the state. He says he approaches the flavor profile differently.
“I want something no one has had before,” Vinson said. “Something different, something no one has tried before.”
And indeed, his hard work and creativity paid off.
His team – I’ll Tell You Later BBQ – took first place in the pork category and 10th place overall. The Re/Max team came in 20th place, the West Texas Land Guys came in 26th and the Schmidts came in 9th place overall.
Here is the full breakdown of the winners in each category and the overall winner.
Overall winner
- 1. — Rollin’ Smoke BBQ Texas
- 2. — 3 Cow Cartel
Chicken
- 1. – 3 Cow Cartel
- 2. — Rollin’ Smoke BBQ Texas
Ribs
- 1st place – TCB BBQ
- 2. — Pit Pirates BBQ
pork
- 1. — (simultaneous) I’ll Tell You Later BBQ & La Pasadita
- 2. — 3 Cow Cartel
Brisket
- 1. – Loot N’ Booty BBQ
- 2. — Scooter’s BBQ
Ribeye
- 1. — Pit Pirates BBQ
- 2. – Limp Brisket with Linkin Pork
Complete championship results can be found at: mms.kcbs.us/members/evr/view_scores.php?org_id=KCBA&evid=46364803
