For most college students, cornhole is a game to be played with friends and family in the summer during cookouts and gatherings. For two Baldwin Wallace students, it is a highly competitive sport.

Anthony Kissel, sophomore, and Timmy Jonas, senior, competed in the 2018 American Cornhole League National College Cup in Myrtle Beach, SC over winter break from Dec. 29-30. The duo took second place at the tournament and were featured on ESPN.

Jonas started playing cornhole with his dad at the Thistledown Racetrack and Casino, where they went to play in a tournament for fun. The runner of the American Cornhole League was at this tournament and invited Jonas to join a league in Broadview Heights. It was through this league that Jonas met Kissel.

Kissel began his cornhole journey with his dad as well when they found and joined a league in Parma. Their goal was to participate in a shared activity that would allow them to spend more time together.

Jonas and Kissel first met in October of 2018. Jonas proposed that he and Kissel become a team and represent Baldwin Wallace in the national tournament, and an award-winning partnership was formed.

“This experience was truly amazing,” said Kissel. “I enjoyed meeting so many people from different areas in the U. S.”

Both Jonas and Kissel plan on competing in professional cornhole tournaments in the future. Professional tournaments, they said, offer cash prizes that can be hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Cornhole has its own community,” said Jonas, “and you can make [really] good friends and earn some good money.”

To learn more about competitive cornhole and how to get involved in local cornhole leagues and tournaments, visit www.clevelandcornhole.com.