CENTER TWP— Ed Cypher pitched a winner — a world-wide winner.

Cypher, 74, was one of 16 Butler County Horseshoe League members to compete in the National Horseshoe Pitching Association World Tournament July 7 to 20 in York, Pa.

The event featured 1,320 horseshoe pitchers from all 50 states, Norway, Canada and other countries on 56 indoor courts.

Cypher picked up $500 for finishing first in Elder Men's Division I. Guy Rider, his O'Donnell's teammate in the Butler County league, finished second in that division.

"I've never seen anything like that,"Cypher said. "It was more than I expected. I just wanted to go. ... I was hoping to place, but never even thought about finishing first."

To prepare for the world competition, Cypher said he pitched 100 horseshoes a day in his backyard pits.

"It definitely paid off," he said.

This marks the first time Cypher competed in the world tournament, an annual event. Next year's tournament will take place in Springfield, Ill.

Divisions range from A through Z, with competitors placed in divisions based on their percentage of ringers thrown. Amarks the highest-skilled division, Z the lowest.

Pitchers must compete in at least four tournaments to attain a ringer average, which makes them eligible to enter the world tournament.

Cypher entered the event with a 38 percent ringer rate. He won Division I with a ringer percentage of 44.69.

"There's 16 competitors in each division and it's a fine line between top and bottom,"said Rider, 73. "In Division I, the top (entering) average was 41, the low was 37."

Rider has been in the Butler County league for 12 years and competed in his fourth world event. He averaged 42.65 to place second behind Cypher.

Other Butler County league pitchers to place among the top five in their respective divisions were Clarence Dixson, Phil Doyle, Larry Steiner and Chuck Olson.

Dixson, 77, lives in Indiana, Pa., and drives as far as 85 miles to league matches as a member of the County Line team. He's been in the league for eight years.

He finished second in Elder Men's Division F.

"I just love the game," he said. "I've finished second at the World Tournament two or three times before. This time, I missed winning by half a percentage point."

Dixson's ringer rate was 53.67 percent this year.

Doyle, 66, pitches for Roadhouse and finished third in Men's Division B2 with a 53.167 ringer rate. After seven years in the Butler County league, this was his first trip to the world event.

"In a way, I liked it. In a way, I didn't,"Doyle said. "There were so many people there. It was a madhouse."

Steiner, 71, pitches for Hooker and has been a county league member for 20 years. He finished fourth in the Elder Men's Division G with a 42.33 ringer rate.

The world tournament's overall champion, Alan Francis of Ohio, had a ringer rate of 89 percent.

"A lot of people are dedicated to this game," said Steiner, who has two outdoor and two indoor horseshoe pits. "But our league keeps getting older. We can't seem to get any younger people interested."

Dixson said three members of his County Line team have died in the past year.

The Butler County league used to toss horseshoes from 40 feet away. The distance was shortened to 35 feet and now stands at 30 feet.

"We had to move it up to keep the older pitchers in the league,"Doyle said.

Two female Butler County leaguer members, Judy Steiner and Hilda Eyth, kept score at the world event for 16 hours a day.

Rider said the league's average age is in the upper 50s, if not higher. But many of its members will be heading to Illinois for the 2009 world tournament.

Butler County Horseshoe League members who competed in the National Horseshoe Pitching Association World Tournament recently in York, Pa.:Top-five finishers• Ed Cypher (O'Donnell's): first, Elder Men's Division I• Guy Rider (O'Donnell's): second, Elder Men's Division I• Clarence Dixson (County Line): third, Elder Men's Division F• Phil Doyle (Roadhouse): third, Elder Men's Division B2• Larry Steiner (Hooker): fourth, Elder Men's Division G• Chuck Olson (Hooker): fifth, Elder Men's Division FOthersButch Neff, Homer Page, Bill Enslen, Bob McKee, Bob Korson, Ron Jack, Bill Kilgore, Jim Kile, Marly McPherson, Barb Sharp