Matt Van Cise yelped and cutt his way into history Feb. 16, winning his second straight and fourth overall National Wild Turkey Federation Grand Nationals Senior Division Finals calling contest. Competition for his latest title was very tough, as Van Cise beat runner-up Jesse Martin, of Mt. Sterling, Ky., by just one point, 466 to 465.
The win places Van Cise, of Brookville, Pa., firmly among the all-time greats in the calling world. His four Grand Nationals Senior Finals wins tie him for second place with Jim Pollard. Only Walter Parrott has more, with five.
And consider this: Van Cise has also won four World championships and three U.S. Open championships, giving him 11 major titles since 2000. To top that off, he also won the 2007 Grand Nationals Friction title and the 1997 and 1998 Grand Nationals Intermediate Division.
Let’s compare that resume to some of the all-time greats. As mentioned, Parrott won five Grand Nationals and one World title. Paul Butski won three Grand Nationals titles and six U.S. Open championships. Pollard won four Grand Nationals and two Worlds. Chris Parrish has taken two Grand Nationals titles, three World championships and three U.S. Open titles. And the legendary Ben Lee won five World championships.
If Van Cise manages to win another World or Grand Nationals title, folks will probably start talking about him as the greatest competition turkey caller in history. The 2013 World Championship Turkey Calling Contest will be held March 1 through 3 in Arkansas. Stay tuned!
Congratulations to Matt on his victory. He is an awesome caller. I also want to congratulate Scott Ellis. Not only did he win the Head to Head Calling Championship, he placed in the top twelve and had the highest cumulative score by a wide margin from all of the individual calling events: Gobbling, Owl Hooting, Friction and Senior Division. I am not sure why this is not a recognized category??? It could be called “The Best of the Best!”
Yes, absolutely, congrats to Scott and all the winners at the 2013 Convention. I’ll post more on the other contests tomorrow.
Interesting idea about the best-of-the-best category. Some events are already doing this. It would sure recognize all-around excellence in many calling disciplines.