SODBUSTER BRIAN SIMMONS was fourth in the Men’s Championship division at the World Horseshoe Tournament in South Carolina last month.
 
FLORENCE, S.C. — Eleven members of Bristol’s Sodbusters Horseshoe Club competed in the World Horseshoe Tournament in Florence, S.C., from July 9 to 22, and many excelled at an event that drew more than 1,000 competitors, including 25 Vermonters.
Women winning their classes were Sodbusters Debra Brown, first in Women’s Class C with a 14-1 record and a 72 percent ringer rate and 15th in the overall women’s championship; Vicki Pelletier, first in Women’s Class G with a 12-3 record and a 38.67 percent ringer rate; and Destinnie Wilke, first in Women’s Class H with a 14-1 record and a 42.67 percent ringer rate.
Tops among the Sodbuster men were Tyler Howard, who was third in the men’s championship with a 12-3 record and a 78.44 percent ringer rate, and Brian Simmons, fourth in the men’s championship with a 12-3 record and a 78.42 percent ringer rate.
Simmons topped Howard in the Men’s Class A competition, taking second with a 13-2 mark and 79.17 percent ringer rate, while Howard was fifth at 11-4 and a 73 percent ringer rate.
Other locals competing were:
•  John Remy, seventh in Senior Men’s Class B at 9-6 with a 43.83 percent ringer rate.
•  Mike Brown, ninth in Senior Men’s Class C at 7-8 with a 35.33 percent ringer rate.
•  Ken Cassidy, 11th in Men’s Class E1 at 5-10 with a 26.33 percent ringer rate.
•  Nate Pelletier, third in Men’s Class H2 at 11-4 with a 30.83 percent ringer rate.
•  Zach Prescott, first in Men’s Class J2 at 14-5.5 with a 21.17 percent ringer rate.
•  Juanitta Ratta, 16th in Women’s Class at 1-14.