Four area horseshoe pitchers will compete at theWorld Horseshoe
Pitching Championships from July 27to Aug. 8 at the Prairie Capitol
Convention Center in Springfield, Ill.

Competing from the area will be John Mathys of Bradford, Chris
Sebastian of Shinglehouse, Christopher Sebastian of Shinglehouse
and Irv Serafini from Kersey.

The National Horseshoe Pitchers Association is celebrating the
100th Anniversary of its championships this year.

This two-week tournament is held once each summer to crown a
World Champion horseshoe pitcher in each of eight divisions: Open
Men, Open Women, Senior Men, Senior Women, Elder (short-distance)
Men, Junior Boys, Junior Girls and Junior Cadets (9-years old and
under).

Pitchers are competing for approximately $170,000 in prize
money, trophies and scholarships as well as the right to call
themselves “World Champion.”

Many extra-curricular activities are planned to help celebrate
this historic anniversary. They include an NHPA Open House,a golf
outing and much more.

Current Men’s world champion, Alan Francis of Defiance, Ohio,
who recently appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America will be
defending his title as well as trying to set arecord for
championships. He currently has 14.He boasts a ringer average of
89.56%.

Franciswill have stiff competition for this year’s title.He is
the top-ranked pitcher in the U.S., and is being contended by
numbers 2, 3 and 4: Brian Simmons, Jim Walters and Dan Watson. Also
in the mix is Canada’s number one, Tom Galina, as well as their
2nd-, 4th- and 6th-ranked men, Drew Becker, Andre LeClerc and Stan
Leis.

Sue Snyder of Kentucky, seven-time Women’s World Champion, will
be defending her title again this year. She tops the Natstat
women’s rankings with an 86.62% ringer average. The rest of the top
10 ranked women in the United States and Canada’s top female,
Sylvianne Moisan, will be vying for the title as well.

Moisan, who held the world title in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003,
was runner-up last year following a tie and playoff game
againstSnyder and currently holds an 85.93% ringer average. She is
joined by two-time world champ Joan Elmore with 84% and Marlene Ray
with 83.18%.