Graham ready for next step in cornhole
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Years of practice and national competition has paid off for one Mount Ayr senior.
Dylan Graham, son of Jentry and Daniel Graham of Diagonal, has been offered a scholarship to attend Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC to compete on their interscholastic cornhole team.
Last year, the Winthrop team won the Division I collegiate national championship.
Graham said the scholarship offer was entirely unexpected.
After following Dylan’s performance statistics from various regional tournaments (he’s currently ranked first in Iowa), Winthrop coach Dusty Thompson connected with Dylan first on Facebook to ask if he would accept a phone call.
During that call, Thompson inquired if Dylan had any interest in joining his team.
Days later, Thompson offered Dylan a scholarship to join the Eagles.
The call from Thompson was ironic because when Dylan first began thinking about choosing a college, he had considered reaching out to Winthrop but decided against it.
“I don’t know. I just never did,” he said. “I was just kind of set on going to Northwest, basically. And I don’t know, I just didn’t think you’re good enough.”
Not only is Rock Hill the home of Winthrop University, it’s also the headquarters of the Amercian Cornhole League, the governing body of professional competitive cornhole. Coach Thompson is a regional director of the sport.
Rock Hill is nearly 1,100 miles from home, but Dylan isn’t phased by the distance.
“I guess I’ve been traveling around so much lately, going to all the tournaments,” he said. “I’m pretty comfortable with being away from home for a period of time. I’m pretty excited.”
This past weekend he competed at Monroe, LA. Prior to that he threw in Sioux City and again in Sioux Falls, SD.
Coming up are tournaments in Michigan, Florida, Arizona, Colorado and Texas, with the world championships taking place in August in Rock Hill.
It’s then he will move into his dorm room on the Winthrop campus, ready to take the next step in the world of competitive cornhole.
