On a cloudy Friday night just outside of Minneapolis, the world of professional cornhole bestowed itself upon Adrenaline Sports Center in Ramsey. A small warehouse-type building just off Highway 10, it’s a place built for all-season training.
The American Cornhole League, or ACL for short, made one of its many tour stops at the Adrenaline Sports Center for a pro tour stop and a Johnsonville SuperHole IV preliminary. The Johnsonville Superhole is a celebrity pro-am featuring Minnesota Vikings running back Alexander Mattison and the energy in the building was palpable.
What is the ACL?
The sport has a catchy tagline that is the epitome of cornhole, or as many in the midwest call it, bags.
“Anyone can play, anyone can win.”
Those times when you play in your friend’s backyard at a barbeque or even at a professional tournament, it holds true.
The ACL was founded in 2015 and is the sanctioning body of cornhole in the United States and aired its first championships on ESPN in 2017. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 helped spur the sport’s popularity since you could socially distance and air live events for six-straight weeks.
The second I walked into the building, the vibe was different. It felt like walking into an amusement park or arcade as a kid. Everyone was having a great time and you could see the enjoyment across the room. As many as 30 games were going on right as you walk into the door.
The setup for television feels like a spectacle, something that is needed for television with the celebrity element.
“We created this Superhole series four years ago,” said ACL commisioner Stacey Moore. “The original premise was we’re doing a cornhole event over Super Bowl weekend. Let’s do something cool with some NFL players and let’s call it Superhole. The first one we did was Daniel Jones vs. Sam Darnold, we had the battle of New York. It went really well so we decided to expand it into a series with eight different events plus a championship with celebrities.”
Celebrities playing for charity
What stood out about the event was how everyone was having fun, especially the celebrities. Each Superhole event has four celebrities competing to make the final round, and Friday’s event in Ramsey, Minn. was no different. The competitors were:
- 12-time Olympic swimming medalist Ryan Lochte
- Actor and Loverboy founder Kyle Cook
- Actor Scott Porter (best known for playing Jason Street in Friday Night Lights)
- Vikings running back Alexander Mattison
The event winner would advance to the finals in Rock Hill, SC on August 4th with each celebrity winning money for their charity with the winner netting $100,000.
Mattison embraces the opportunity
Having grown up in San Bernadino, CA, there was plenty for Mattison to do, but cornhole wasn’t one of those.
“I actually didn’t know about cornhole until I was in Boise and we played it at one of the team barbeques,” Mattison said. “Before that, I didn’t know what it was, didn’t know any of the rules or anything.”
Despite lacking experience, Mattison smiled from ear to ear as he prepared for the event. The celebrities, often considered “experts” in their field, are paired with professional cornhole players for SuperHole. Mattison’s partner was Noah Almanza, who was the seventh-ranked singles player in the world in 2022.
“It’s definitely a different realm,” said Mattison when asked about how technical cornhole is. “I love to be in atmospheres like that (paired with the expert) and learning something new. It’s pretty awesome to see how flawless these pros are and how unphased they are.”
Mattison continued: “It’s pretty crazy like, when I’m out there on the football field, it’s a different type of level of performance that you have to tap into and being around them is pretty awesome. It puts me in awe to see the hard work that they’ve done to get into this realm and this space to have this profession, it’s just a whole different side of life than what I do, so that’s pretty awesome.”
Players have a few weeks off between the conclusion of summer workouts and the beginning of training camp, a time Mattison uses to unwind and relax. Mattisson is currently set to take over as the Vikings starting running back in 2023.
“I’m always pushing myself to the limit when we’re training and giving 110% when we’re in the building with practice, meeting, and everything,” Mattison said. “Outside of that, I love to do stuff where I can just relax my mind, have a good time, and whether that’s with family, or friends or some great people like this, it’s always awesome.”
The semifinals were fiery
The format was very simple. There were two semi-final rounds with Kyle Cooke vs. Ryan Lochte and Scott Porter vs. Alexander Mattison.
The first match was between Cooke and Lochte with Cooke’s partner being pro Josh Thielen, Adam Thielen’s cousin.
During the match, Cooke hit four in the hole and was more consistent than Lochte, sending them to the finals with a 13-5 victory.
They showed a lot of fun during the match, as Cooke took a timeout for a Loverboy social with the crowd, which is a very unique element. It’s something that you would only see playing in your backyard and not on national television
The matchup between Mattison and Porter was really intense. Right at the beginning, Mattison got a SKOL chant going and scored eight points in his first set of throws. Porter’s teammate Ryan Windsor followed that up with a six-point round and we were off to the races.
Halfway through, someone yelled Jason Street at Porter (his character on Friday Night Lights) and he responded in kind.
“Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose!”
Going into the final round of 10, Mattison’s team was up by two and Porter didn’t hole out one bag (he did have one go in later in the round). Porter answered the call with three of his four bags going in the hole tying the match and sending it into overtime.
Ultimately, Mattison’s teammate Alamanza tossed four into the hole, sending the duo into the final.
“Look, we’ve been down 33 before and we came back,” said Mattison. “The pressure was nothing to me, ice in the veins Noah came through and hey, we did it.”
Finals
Cook started off the finals with two in the hole and ended up with five. Mattison also had five in the hole, but by the final round Mattison and Almanza were up 17-6. While it wasn’t close at the end, Cooke and Thielen made things interesting, but it wasn’t enough with Mattinson and Almanza throwing lights out.
With the game essentially in hand, Mattison threw his last bag as a jump shot. Mattison later compared his throwing style to that of a basketball player.
“Normally I shoot it (a bag) like a basketball,” Mattison said. “But I don’t want to embarrass myself.”
Mattison never truly embarrassed himself either, winning the preliminary round with gusto and a smile on his face.
