Wheelers part of BBQ Cooking Contest winning team

Photo: John Dalton and John David Wheeler, part of the Ribdiculous Bar-B-Krewe team that won the Grand Champion and Ribs Division championships at the World Championship BBQ Cooking Contest Saturday. (John David Wheeler/Facebook)

Once again, the sweet smell of BBQ has a DeSoto County touch to it. The Memphis in May World Championship BBQ Cooking Contest took place the past week at Tom Lee Park and the Grand Champion team includes DeSoto County pitmaster John David Wheeler and his son John Dalton Wheeler.  

Named Grand Champion at this year’s contest was Ribdiculous Bar-B-Krewe with the Wheelers as part of the team.  The team won the ribs division as well, making it the first time in 21 years that the ribs winner was also the Grand Champion.  

With the Grand Championship, the team won a $25,000 first prize. The ribs division winner took home a $11,000 check, so it marked a very profitable week of cooking and judging for the team.  

John David Wheeler was the head pitmaster for Ribdiculous Bar-B-Krewe, coming back to compete after retiring from his former team, Natural Born Grillers.  

The complete list of winners is found on the Memphis in May website.