Joseph Smith of Gladbrook has won the Mens Iowa State Horseshoe Pitching Championship for the eighth time. The competition took place at the Iowa State Fair on August, 17th -18th. The top twelve pitchers in the state played a round robin format over the course of two days. All games were played to forty points. It would be a tough tournament. Besides Smith, there were four other former champions. After day one there were five undefeated pitchers. When ten games had been played only one remained undefeated, 2017 champion Tom Tabot from Fort Dodge. Smith was 9-1 and would have to beat Tabot to remain in the hunt for the title. They were the top two seeds and fittingly would meet in the final game of round robin play. Joseph was on target winning 42-17, pitching 35 ringers out of 48 shoes for a 72.92% game. This would give them an identical 10-1 record and force a playoff game for the championship. In the playoff game Smith jumped out to a 21 -0 lead tossing ringers with deadly precision. Tabot would make a comeback but fall short as Joseph clinched the championship winning 41-14 and finishing the tournament with an 11-1 record and ringer average of 65.72%. He had a high game of 79.12%. Joseph successfully defended his 2018 title, last year he was undefeated with a 11-0 record. He won six state titles in a row from 2006-2011, then placed 2nd five times, 3rd once, and 7th one time. He also won nine Iowa State titles as a junior and was the 1995 Junior Boys World Champion.