Community Corner

SJ Resident Holds New Jersey State Horseshoes Title

Blackwood resident Paul Sexton is the reigning New Jersey horseshoe pitching champion.

Paul Sexton's been throwing horseshoes since he was 15.

This September, the Blackwood resident became a two-time New Jersey State Horseshoe Pitchers Association champion. Now 24 years old, Sexton won his first state title in 2010.

Sexton won the 2012 state title on Sept. 15, defeating 2011 champion Bill Rizzulo in the final match by a score of 40-19.

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"I shot really well my last game," he said.

The Blackwood resident went 5-1 in the state championship tournament at Middlesex, connecting with ringers on 48 percent of his pitches during the competition.

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In August, Sexton finished ninth in the world in class A2—the second-highest class in the 40-foot men's division—during a competition held in Tennessee. He hit ringers on 58 percent of his throws in the world tournament, with a best game of 29 ringers out of 40 pitches.

"I'm real proud of him," his father and doubles partner, Al Sexton, a veteran class II Gloucester Township police officer, said. "There's a lot of pressure when you're 24 and playing against the top guys from around the world."

You can catch Paul Sexton pitching horseshoes at the Gloucester Township Democrat Club in the Best of the Best League—the top South Jersey competitive league—Monday nights when the weather is nice.

"It's kind of like a dying breed because nobody really wants to throw shoes anymore," Paul Sexton said. "Everyone's more into washers or beanbags...It's a dying breed, but it's still, just to go through the different stages with these guys and the different competitions, it's a blast."


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