PIT VIPERS T
he 2021-22 academic year was fantastic for the Tallulah Falls School Pit Vipers competition barbecue team.
winning streak. In three competitions the team has won the championship in all three primary categories.
The team racked up awards including a state championship, Team of the Year in the Georgia BBQ Championship (GBC) Series, Reserve Champions in the Southeast Region in the Rufus Teague Series, eighth in Team of the Year in the Kansas City BBQ Society and World Junior BBQ League champions (WJBL).
“This is super rare in the barbecue competition world,” Tilley said. “Teams are fortunate to win one championship per season.”
The Pit Vipers competed exclusively against adult teams except for the WJBL which included other high school teams. The Pit Vipers won every category at the WJBL championship including chicken, ribs, pork and brisket at the event held in Memphis and hosted by seventime World Champion Melissa Cookston. “The Vipers are the future of barbecue and these kids sure can cook,” Cookston said. She’s also referred to as the “Queen of Que.” The competition season starts in March and is completed by November and the Vipers are showing no signs of slowing a winning tradition, said Head Pit Master Tom Tilley. The 2022 season has the Pit Vipers on an unprecedented
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The Pit Vipers include eighth-grader Frankie Pribyl of Canon, freshmen Teyrk Tilley of Tallulah Falls, Jake Owensby of Cornelia, Zach Freeman of Clarkesville, Jackson Carlan of Baldwin, Lily Turpin of Demorest, sophomores Brooke Hayes of Cornelia, Marc Crotta of Cornelia and Matthew Wolfe of Clarkesville. “The highlight of the year was a perfect KCBS pork score of 180 at Pigs-n-Peaches in Kennesaw this past fall,” Hayes said. The Vipers will have a nice break before the second half of the 2022 season. According to the Kansas City BBQ Society the Vipers are ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in Ribs and No. 3 in Chicken in the team of the year race. In the GA BBQ Championship [Backyard] rankings, the Pit Vipers are ranked No. 1 in every category.
