Coach Thompson and players share their thoughts on the season and winning big at Myrtle Beach
Following a recruitment process and inaugural season that saw much national media attention, Winthrop cornhole lives up to the hype and wins national titles in doubles and singles at the American Cornhole League (ACL) National Competition.
The ACL National Competition took place over winter break on January 2-3 at the Myrtle Beach Sports Center, with over 40 college teams from across the nation participating.
Much of the Winthrop cornhole team participated in the competition, but it was players Luke Bryant, Josh Quinn, Jaxson Remmick and Gavin Hamann who took home titles.
Luke Bryant and Josh Quinn won the doubles championship against fellow Winthrop teammates Colson Clary and Jacob Harrison.
When the Johnsonian talked with Coach Thompson before the championship, he mentioned one of his goals was to see Winthrop vs. Winthrop in the national competition. When we asked him about it this time around though, he described it as “nail-biting.”
“So it was not fun. I didn’t want to see them play each other. I mean, I did, but ultimately somebody’s gotta lose,” said coach Thompson. “If you noticed during that broadcast, I just kept looking [away] because I didn’t really want to watch.”
Quinn echoed a similar sentiment.
“Playing against my Winthrop teammates, Colson and Jacob, was a bit strange. We’ve spent a lot of time together, so it felt odd to compete against them,” Quinn said.
In the teams division, Quinn and Bryant teamed up with Remmick and Hamann to take home the championship.
Bryant, a state champion in high school football and wrestling in Virginia, compared his victories at the ACL National Competition to those championships.
“Winning doubles and teams felt a lot like winning in football and winning big matches in wrestling as a team, because not only are you excited for yourself but you are even more excited you get to celebrate with your teammates,” said Bryant.
Hamann and Remmick made national headlines in Feb. 2024 when Winthrop offered them the first collegiate cornhole scholarships in history.
While this kind of publicity can seem daunting, Hamann said “it gave us a drive to want to win even more.”
It is also not lost on Hamann and Remmick when it comes to their impact on collegiate cornhole.
“Seeing the impact I am making on this sport along with my team here at Winthrop shows me there is so much more we are doing,” said Hamann. “With this sport growing more and more every year, it is a good feeling to know Jaxson and I helped pave the way for these kids.”
Winthrop’s investment in the cornhole program is already paying off, and it appears to be getting even stronger.
“Right now you know the iron’s hot, you got to strike while it’s hot, so I am in the process of letting our first recruit of the year go this week. It is a 5-star recruit, so I’m pretty excited to announce that they’re coming,” said coach Thompson.
Winthrop will also be adding multiple women’s players to the team.
“I have multiple girls coming this year to expand the program and I’m pretty excited about that,” said coach Thompson. “I have two that’s already committed that are top players on the female side, and will give a lot of the guys a run for their money.”
The cornhole team’s dominance even has players from other universities entering the transfer portal to join the program, which includes two women’s players as well.
“Obviously since then I get lit up all the time with kids trying to come to [our] school, but I actually got hit up with requests from people that are at other schools to hit the transfer portal,” said coach Thompson. “Some good players from other schools too, so we’re gonna see what happens there, but it’s pretty awesome to see.”
Bryant, Quinn, Remmick and Hamann will be awarded a purse prize, which can be put toward their scholarship.
While this was certainly a banner first season for Winthrop cornhole, players are still striving to take it to a higher level for next season.
“Well, there is really only one thing I want, and that is to get all three national championships,” said Hamann.
