Gas Department Sweeps Pitmaster Competition

Member for

6 months 3 weeks

Oct 15, 2025

Blake Beddard, Briley Sutton, Justin Oakes, Tony Richards, and David Telfair

1st Place Winners: David Telfair, Tony Richards, Justin Oakes, Briley Sutton, and Blake Beddard

In the late evening of Tuesday, October 7th, Pitmaster Challenge teams started rolling into the Operations Center.

From pulling 100-plus pound pigs out of the coolers to cleaning up the pig cuts and dressing them before grilling, preparation time and technique varied across the board for the ten teams who were competing.

Cooking techniques ran the gamut, as well. One team cooked with wood, another with coal, and others fired up their grills with gas. At around 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 8th, a rain shower came through, making the grill tops sizzle, and by 4:00 a.m., all the pigs were cooking.

By 7:00 a.m., teams who used the flip technique had their skins down on the grill grates, and all the teams patiently waited for the pigs to reach the competition standards.

At 11:00 a.m., Charlie Martin, Whole Hog Cook-Off Master Judge; Nick Haase with Sam Jones BBQ; and Matt Jones with Jones Southern BBQ began judging. As grills opened one by one, the judges noted the pig’s appearance. They then folded the pigs in half on the grill making pig skin crackle and crunch. They judged the skin, the way the meat fell off the bone, and the flavor. Judges finished by sampling the sauce.

2nd Place Winners: Jessica Hardy, Amanda Wall, Melinda Sampson, Erin Walton, and LeAnne Wetherington

At 1:00 p.m. the results were in.

There was only one team that took all the individual award ribbons, the belt buckles, and the No. 1 trophy back to their department – making it the first time a team was ever able to do a clean sweep of all the categories.

The Gas Department’s team, led by Justin Oakes, swept the competition, winning in the categories of best skin, best taste, best BBQ sauce, and best appearance, and claiming the No. 1 spot as the 2025 Pitmaster Champion. This team included Justin, Tony Richards, Blake Beddard, Briley Sutton, and David Telfair.

Another first-time for the 2025 Pitmaster Challenge was the all-women's team competing under the flag of the Main Office. This team hailed from multiple departments and took the Second-Place Overall trophy. The Main Office Team led by Amanda Wall (Finance), included Jessica Hardy (Finance), LeAnne Wetherington (Customer Relations), Erin Walton (Pub Info), and Melinda Sampson (Pub Info), with special assistance from Paige Wallace (General Manager’s Office).

Coming in Third Place Overall was the Water Department’s team led by Corbin Congleton. His team included Kyle Veneski, Hayden Hardy, George Fuller, and Matthew Gupton.

GUC employees came out to enjoy the hard work that all the Pitmaster competitors put in.

Thank you to everyone who took their time and expertise to compete in making the Pitmaster Challenge a success, along with all the support staff who ensured it was coordinated and executed without issue.