Monkeyball

The day began with all of the participants meeting at the McGrawsville United Methodist Church for a great turkey drop. 27 turkeys were taken to the Estates at Eagles Point on Grissom Aeroplex and delivered to needy families. The group returned to the church to the Monkeyball Arena at the youth center. Four courts were set up and 20 players began in a double elimination tourney.

The group was full of many rookie players, and three individuals fresh from this summer’s first-ever Monkeyball tourney in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dan Wyant, Ryan Jorgenson, and Sarah Lane all had good early showings as their Bosnia experience showed. Early on, the “Mayor of McGrawsville” Scott Kenworthy, showed his prowess with quick defeats of his opponents. The eldest offspring of this year’s Monkeyball World Champion, Jill Hintz, also took off to an early lead winning out of the box. She was finally eliminated by a young and upcoming new player, Becky Ousley, in a two-match play off for elimination.

The real interest came when the tourney was down to the final three. The first was Matt “Little Man” Brennan, a prodigy of the great Chuck T, taught on the gritty back alleys and seedy areas of many
campgrounds around central Indiana. Next was “the Jorgey” Ryan Jorgenson, fresh off his recent south central European tour to Bosnia, felt he could carry his pastoral connection to God into the final round. The final was the Mayor; standing a mere 5′4″, he is a fierce competitor. He has trained with the hard-core convicts of a Miami correctional facility as the facility sports coordinator — this competition seemed mild compared to his daily grind. Little Man Matt towered over the Mayor by a foot and a half, but the Mayor’s confidence was not shaken and Little Matt was quickly sent to the third place position by the Mayor.

This left the final to the man of the cloth – the Jorgey – and the Mayor. The Jorgey entered the finals with one loss to his name, while the Mayor entered with no blemishes on his record. The Jorgey would have to defeat his fierce competitor twice to hold on to the title. The first match went to the Jorgey with what seemed like a flawless defeat. The Mayor, however, would not go quietly into the night with his unusual traddy throwing style – kind of like a bullet throw toward the ladder which nearly pulls the ladder over backward. The Mayor played opossum for the first half of the final match then snuck in for the kill at the end, eliminating the Jorgey back to his knees in prayer.

The tourney – which I believe might be the first alcohol-free tourney in Monkeyball history – has left its mark on this small town. The Monkeyball aura still lingers with a spring tourney planned for the outdoors.

Champion: Scott Kenworthy
Runner-Up: Ryan Jorgenson
# of Players: 20

Bracket (PDF)

– Written by Troy Hintz