Grilling on Main was held this past weekend and, even though a series of thunderstorms swept through the area on Saturday, participants created some fantastic barbecue. The contest was judged by Barbecue Competitors Alliance (BCA), and brought in many competitors from the surrounding areas as well as local cooks, all of whom wanted to show off their skills.
For the People’s Choice Award the winners were Daryl Walker of Sweetie’s Bar-B-Q in 3rd place, Duane Anderson of Real Smoke BBQ in 2nd place, and Scotty Bryce of East Texas Smokers in 1st place. There were 29 teams competing for People’s Choice this year.
For the Chicken competition, the winners were George “Tator” Hickman of Southern Pride BBQ in 10th place, Howard Suggs of Shake A Bone BBQ in 9th place, Micah Boudreaux of Boukite BBQ in 8th place, Brady Baudin of Sweet Bayou BBQ in 7th place, Scott McCullough of BTI Smokers in 6th place, Gerry Vallee of Vallee AC Cold Smoke in 5th place, Jason White of Cajun Juju in 4th place, Scotty Bryce of East Texas Smokers in 3rd place, Daryl Walker of Sweetie’s Bar-B-Q in 2nd place, and Duane Anderson of Real Smoke BBQ in 1st place.
For the Ribs competition, the winners were Danny Titus of Roadtoad’s Smoke “n” BBQ in 10th place, Mike Steele of Pig and Cows Gone Wild in 9th place, Jason White of Cajun Juju in 8th place, George “Tator” Hickman of Southern Pride BBQ in 7th place, Bob Zannini of Galaxy BBQ in 6th place, Gerry Vallee of Vallee AC Cold Smoke in 5th place, Scotty Bryce of East Texas Smokers in 4th place, Benjy Lewis of Bayou BBQ in 3rd place, Duane Anderson of Real Smoke BBQ in 2nd place, and Brady Baudin of Sweet Bayou BBQ in 1st place.
For the Brisket competition, the winners were David Hamlin of Code Blue Smoke in 10th place, Micah Boudreaux of Boukite BBQ in 9th place, Gerry Vallee of Vallee AC Cold Smoke in 8th place, Benjy Lewis of Bayou BBQ in 7th place, Brady Baudin of Sweet Bayou BBQ in 6th place, Mike Steele of Pig and Cows Gone Wild in 5th place, Scotty Bryce of East Texas Smokers in 4th place, George “Tator” Hickman of Southern Pride BBQ in 3rd place, Jason White of Cajun Juju in 2nd place, and Howard Suggs of Shake A Bone BBQ in 1st place.
Scotty Bryce was named Grand Champion of the competition, finishing with 22 points.
BCA also chose winners from the local contestants.
In the Local Chicken competition, JD Cottle of Pop’s Cook Shack came in 3rd place, Slade Frith of Ace Hardware came in 2nd place, and Scott McCullough of BTI Smokers came in 1st place.
In the Local Ribs competition, Mark Griffith of G-Team BBQ came in 3rd place, JD Wood of Woody’s Smokin’ Que came in 2nd place, and Jordan Cupples of Roosters came in 1st place.
In the Local Brisket competition, JD Cottle, of Pop’s Cook Shack came in 3rd place, Scott McCullough of BTI Smokers came in 2nd place, and David Hamlin of Code Blue Smokers came in 1st place.
The final award of the evening was the Gardner Award, given in memory of Mayor Terry Gardner who first brought the grilling competition to Minden seven years ago. This award was presented to Scott McCullough by Terry’s wife, Debbie Gardner.
On Friday the main competitions were those of the Cornhole Tournament and the Little Grillers competitions. After a fierce Cornhole Tournament that evening, three teams came out on top, with 3rd place going to Mick Watson and Mike Osborn, 2nd place going to Brian and Jaxon Smith, and 1st place going to Jacob White and Trace Francis.
In the Little Grillers competition, the kids and young teens get a taste of the namesake of Grilling on Main, taking part in a grilling competition among their peers. For the Little Grillers Senior Division, Kaycee Cottle was the winner. In the Junior Division, 2nd place went to Cruz Bryce with 1st place going to Peyton Lewis.
