Unique Wyoming State Championship In The Books
Wyoming is full of intense competitions and activities like, rodeo, skijoring, mountain climbing and the Wyoming State Champion Giant Pumpkin Drop.
The last one on that list is truly a Wyoming tradition that's extreme and taken seriously.
The Wyoming State Champion Giant Pumpkin Drop began 11 years ago and is held in Worland every year. The day isn't just about smashing pumpkins, it's also about those that put time and effort into growing the biggest pumpkins in the state.
WyoGiants is part of the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth and an official weigh-off site. The event held in Worland every year, always draws a great crowd and every year the field of growers is getting bigger.
According to WyoDaily, this year there were 16 entries into the 2022 Wyoming State Champion Giant Pumpkin contest. The winner was a 1,410 lb pumpkin, that was grown by Ron Hoffman of Riverton. 2nd place was a 1,153 lb pumpkin named Blanche that was grown by one of the organizers of the event, Jay Richard.
This competition is taken very seriously and pays out pretty good money.
- First place took home $1,000
- 2nd place $500
- 3rd place $400
- 4th place $300
- 5th place $250
To close out the event, 3 giant pumpkins were dropped from a tall crane giving the crowd some literal smashing pumpkins. If you're going to drop the giant pumpkins, you need to smash items with them, right. The three targets in this years event were a piano and two cars.
If you'd like to see one of the pumpkins smash a car, Brandon Yule and Mike Ware captured the event on video.