The Iola Underhogs may have been the underdogs, but somehow they managed to climb to the top of the pile.
Iola High School’s brand new barbecue team did so well at the first-ever Kansas High School BBQ competition last weekend, they qualified for a national contest in Branson, Mo., in June.
IHS took two teams to Campus High School in Wichita to compete on March 23. One IHS team brought home a third-place overall finish. The other finished fifth. Both qualified for the national competition.
“We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into,” Coach Doug Kerr, who also teaches special education and is a longtime football coach, told USD 257 board members at a meeting earlier this week.
When Iola’s team showed up, they noted other schools were much better prepared. One school had converted two 500-gallon propane tanks into smokers. Most schools had large tents, tables and carpets surrounding more professional barbecue grills and smokers.
“We set up with our two pit barrels and two Walmart grills we bought for $50. Some of them had $60 silicone gloves. We had an oven mitt that caught on fire,” Kerr said. “We were at a disadvantage. Our kids were a little intimidated at first.”
He joked: “We were able to clean up faster than they were, though.”
A chilly breeze sent students running back and forth to the van to warm up. Even so, Kerr said, “The kids had a blast.”
Kerr told his students to do their best. Their first time would be a learning experience.
“I said if we get everything on the plate and it’s not raw and no one falls into the fire, I’m going to determine it a success,” Kerr said.
“In my 26 years of coaching football, this was the hardest coaching job I’ve ever done. I literally couldn’t do anything. The coach can’t even touch a fork.”
Iola brought two teams of four people. Most teams have five students each, so the Underhogs started with yet another disadvantage.
The IHS barbecue club started this semester by joining the Kansas High School BBQ Association. The state organization also is new. A National High School BBQ Association was founded in 2018 by a Texas barbecue fan, chef and educator, Mike Erickson.
High school barbecue is taking off, Kerr said. Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri each have hundreds of school-based teams. Each year, Texas and Oklahoma face off for friendly competition. Erickson hopes a similar rivalry develops between Kansas and Missouri.
When the Iola Underhogs stepped onto the podium to accept their third-place award, Erickson noted the team was made of all freshmen except for one sophomore. That bodes well for the future.
