The newest cornhole national champions are two Auburn students from Phenix City
Blaine Rosier and Travis Moore grew up together. They met in seventh grade at Glenwood School in Phenix City and attend Auburn University.
They’ve been friends since their Glenwood days but recently reconnected at Auburn after Moore attended Central High School in Phenix City.
Now, they’re national champions for the Tigers.
The duo won the American Cornhole League’s Collegiate Doubles National Championship in January.
Moore and Rosier beat Draven Sneed and Alex Lippard from North Carolina State at the three-day National College Cornhole Championship in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
“It was a surreal experience,” Moore said. “We knew we had to take advantage of it. Just being down there, it was an experience I’ll never forget. I know I loved it, and I know Blaine did too.”
Viral beginnings
Those who frequent social media video-sharing app TikTok have likely come across one or two videos by Rosier.
Rosier, under his username brosee24, began sharing videos of cornhole trick shots in early 2020. Some of posts went viral, and many have received over 100,000 views. He performed a trick shot over the Cam Newton statue at Jordan-Hare Stadium in one clip.
Rosier calls himself “that cornhole guy on TikTok” in his Instagram bio.
“Blaine got really freakin’ good at it,” Moore said. “I used to play back in high school in small tournaments and stuff. I kind of stopped playing when I got to college.”
The two played cornhole together in high school at tailgates before football games. Moore thought to himself, “Man, I should really start playing with (Rosier) again.”
So, the two started playing together and got “really good,” according to Moore. They soon started winning tournaments on campus, but figured they could do even better.
“We started looking at the college national championships in Myrtle Beach, and we were like, ‘We should try to get signed up for this,’” he said.
Championship weekend
The championships were held over New Year’s weekend. Rosier and Moore arrived at Myrtle Beach on Dec. 28 and were the No. 5 seed in the doubles tournament.
From there, the two competed in a 64-team single-elimination tournament. They won their first two games in the tournament to make the quarterfinal round, which allowed them to play Jan. 2 on ESPN.
“It was awesome, really nerve-wracking,” Rosier said. “But once we got the first game under our belt, we were pretty comfortable up there.”
The championship match went into overtime on the Disney-owned sports broadcast network.
After a tense final round, North Carolina State’s Sneed missed his final shot, granting the Phenix City natives the title. Moore nearly tackled Rosier as the two celebrated.
“I couldn’t believe we actually did it,” Moore said. “Our phones were just blowing off the hooks, like ‘Y’all really just won that crap!’”
