AMERICAN CORNHOLE LEAGUE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP!
If you weren’t able to attend the ACL World Championship, let me tell you, it was EPIC! A week completely dedicated to all things cornhole, yep, sign us up! We had the opportunity to set up a Gladiator vendor booth which is awesome because it gave us the time to meet so many great people and catch up with friends as well as our sponsored players. If you didn’t have the opportunity to pick up merch at the event, our exclusive 2022 World Championship Jersey, T-shirt & 36 Logo T-shirts are all available on our website…but only till the end of this month!
TEAM GLADIATOR
As you may know, we are a small family run business so if you were at the event, you likely saw our son Dylan helping man the booth, taking pictures, and getting some games in throughout the week. We are lucky & proud that he used his last full week of summer to help us with no complaints and a smile (most of the time) on his face.
Team Gladiator came to Worlds and made their presence known. ACL Pro’s Adrian Johnson, Leston Allen, Philip Lopez Jr, and Mark Richards showed the world of cornhole what true professionals look like. These men are the examples we want the younger generation to look up to. They hold themselves to a higher standard. They are humble, respectful to all, and really take the time to show their fans and up-and-coming players what it means to be an ACL Pro.
MARK RICHARDS
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you have undoubtedly heard about ACL Rookie Mark Richards this week. This man was a powerhouse and earned every single award received last week…and the list of awards is a long one! Mark was presented with:
- Rookie Of The Year
- MVP
- Man Of The Year
- Doubles Team Of The Year (with Philip Lopez Jr)
- Worlds Singles Champion
- Co-Ed Doubles Champion (with Daniela Gerardi Luna)
- Worlds Open Teams Champion
If that isn’t an impressive list of accomplishments, I don’t know what is. Mark ended being the #1 player in the world and #1 doubles team in the world. Many guys would have gotten cocky throughout the season. Mark has continued to remain humble & respectful showing the community what a true champion looks like. Congratulations Mark on your accomplishments. Nothing but love & respect for you!
PHILIP LOPEZ JR
This was Philip Lopez Jr’s rookie year and he did not disappoint! He flew under the radar this season and ended the season coming in at #11…NOT an easy thing to do. Philip threw solid all season in both singles and doubles. With wins under his belt during national events, pro shootout, and opens he stays cool and calm under pressure and continues to impress us with his professionalism he displays each time he competes. Philip received some well-deserved awards this weekend and we couldn’t be more happy for him! Philip earned:
- Doubles Team Of The Year
- Blind Draw Champion
- Worlds Open Teams Champion
Congrats Philip on a killer season. We couldn’t be more proud to say you are part of Team Gladiator!
LESTON ALLEN
Leston Allen may be the most genuinely nice, happy cornhole player I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Leston worked hard this season and scored himself a spot for ACL Pro for the 2023 season. While we were at Worlds, a fan was so excited to see Leston. It also happened to be her birthday. Leston had her come to the boards to warm up with him before pro singles (how awesome is that?!). He had a killer day and ended up placing 5th in bracket (17th overall) in Pro Singles. Congrats Leston, we can’t wait to see you rock the boards next year!!
ADRIAN JOHNSON
Adrian Johnson has a major presence on the cornhole social media community and did it ever show at Worlds this year. Every time we saw Adrian (if he wasn’t playing) he was taking photos with people, making TikTok's with other players, signing autographs for fans, interacting, and giving tips to up-and-coming players. He is always smiling, spreading positivity and joining the community together. I think the highlight of our son’s week was Adrian throwing some bags with him, giving him a few tips and telling him he has got a good throw. We can’t thank you enough for everything you have done this season. Can’t wait to see what you do in the future!
Cornhole NFTs
You may have read in our past couple of newsletters that we have ventured into a new sister company Gladiator Cornhole NFTs and we debuted this at the ACL Worlds! We set up a photobooth to get a free NFT made, and we definitely had some fun with it! If you haven’t already checked out the Gladiator Cornhole NFT site we hope you do. Keep an eye out for some info and videos that will be coming out on sports collecting and NFTs.
We couldn’t ask for a better season or a better team. We watched history be made right in front of us and can’t wait to see what is in store for Gladiator in the future. Looking forward to next season and to announcing next year's lineup! Stay tuned :)
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