Dexter resident shines in competitive cornhole world

Many Dexter residents might not realize there is a world-caliber cornhole player living in their midst.

In just his third season of competition, Richard Jones has become one of the best in the world at cornhole, earning professional status and taking second in doubles — and 25th in singles — in the senior division at the ACO World Championships of Cornhole in Owensboro, Kentucky in July.

So how did Jones make the jump from playing the popular backyard game to becoming one of the world's best at the sport?

“I just went to a local club and played,” Jones said. “ I got hooked on it, started playing for points and chasing the pro status. I've been doing it almost three years now.”

While getting started in playing competitive cornhole, Jones met Craig Ervin, a Sikeston resident who is a champion cornhole player known as the King of Cornhole.

“He asked me to come to a regional over in Sikeston, and I did,” Jones said. “I got beat 21-0 by him because they do it by seedings — and then I played his partner, and I got beat 21-0. … I was getting ready to leave, and he said, 'I hope you come back,' and I told him, 'I'll be back (and) I want to play you guys again.'

“The only way you're going to get better is to play the best players. After that, I started finding all the tougher tournaments from St. Louis, Kentucky, Arkansas and pretty much everywhere — and just started chasing the best players.”

Jones's rapid ascent to the top of the cornhole world was delayed some after his wife became seriously ill last year and he had to dial back his schedule some, but he earned his professional status earlier this year, won a major tournament in Utah and capped it with a second-place doubles finish at the world championships in Kentucky, teaming up with a player from Louisiana names Scott Beck.

“Last year, me and Scott were supposed to team up at senior doubles, but my wife had got sick, so I couldn't go,” Jones said. … “I worked and worked and worked this year after my wife got better, so me and Scott decided to team up again to try to make a run at it.”

Jones and Beck won their first six matches in Kentucky to reach the finals before settling for second place

“Unfortunately, we got double dipped,” Jones said. “The adrenaline got the best of me. Me and him were both throwing in the top four out of 116 players, but my adrenaline just started going through the roof, and I couldn't control it. I was happy that I got him there — and he got me there. … But we also beat the team that put him out last year, which that was one of his goals.”

Now that Jones has gotten a taste of playing among the best in the sport of cornhole, he wants to keep winning.

“I'd like to win a pro series and I'd like to win another major,” Jones said. “That's my goal is to win another major, like a a regular open major, and even senior majors, because they're hard to come by. I've been playing against people that've been playing 10 years and they never won one. Some of them are as good, if not better, than me. But everything's got to fall right.”

Jones also thanks his sponsors for helping him on his road to being among the best in cornhole — Brian Monaghan and Arcane Bagz, Fred Moeller and Chalk Bluff Paint and Body, Colton Davis at Show-Me Foam, Jim Bollinger and Son, Brandon Hubbard Hub's Pub and Grill in Bonne Terre, Steve Warner and Warner Commerical Roofing, Cris Boykin and Boykin's Custom Design, Eric Ross and Ross Construction, plus Burton Grimes and Whatever-It Takes Cornhole.

Last but not least, Jones also wants to introduce others to the sport he loves.

“I built a shop at my house here in Dexter, and I'm going to start holding tournaments there,” Jones said. “I'd like to see it grow in Dexter area and even some of the surrounding areas — Bloomfield, Essex, etc. … But I'd just like to see it grow in our area again — and I'm going to open my shop up for that.”

Dexter resident shines in competitive cornhole world

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