An athlete in multiple sports all through grade school, Gage Landis was playing volleyball for Chambersburg as a high school junior in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic altered his aim.
Landis started playing cornhole with his dad for something to do while normal life was in limbo, but today his life revolves around the competitive version of the classic backyard game.
Landis turned pro just a year after he started playing. Today, he is ranked 21st in the U.S. in the American Cornhole League's pro singles division. He and his professional cornhole partner, Florida native Zach Schibner, are ranked 18th among 128 pro doubles teams.
Next Friday, Landis and Schibner will be in Canton, Ohio, to compete in the ACL pro doubles national championship. Four teams will compete in what ACL calls the "national format," which is the version common in backyard games where teams race to 21 points.
Landis and Schibner previously made it to the top four in the pro "shootout" championship for doubles, in which teams have 10 rounds to rack up as many points as they can.
“COVID obviously sucked, but if it never happened, I don’t know if I would have gotten into cornhole,” Landis said.
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Landis achieved professional status by finishing as one of the top 32 players in a qualifying event at the ACL world championships in South Carolina in 2021, which he said had 500-some participants. He came close to failing out when he lost two games in a row, but a phone call to his parents boosted his confidence to succeed in the next must-win game.
“It was pretty surreal because I was only playing for a year,” he said.
Landis said he had some natural skill when he started playing cornhole, but he discovered it takes mental strength to play as a top-ranked competitor. Top players can sink bags in the hole all day, so winning comes down to strategy.
“My first two years, I let a lot of my emotions get the best of me. I worked on deep breathing in certain situations, trying to be more positive," he said.
Landis got help from fellow pro player Devin Harbaugh, who is also set to compete in the pro doubles tournament next week.
"He was a mentor to me when I was starting," Landis said of Harbaugh, who lived in Greencastle before moving to Virginia. "He would send me positive messages. It's pretty cool we're both in the final four."
Landis met Schibner by chance at a tournament about three years ago. The person he was supposed to play with couldn’t make it, so Zach stepped in.
“We had pretty good chemistry and the same playing style,” Landis said.
The rest of the summer will be busy for the duo. Landis hopes the national championship tournament will help them maintain good momentum to compete in the world championship in August in Rockhill, South Carolina.
October is the only off-season for competitive cornhole, Landis said. While the sport keeps him busy throughout the year, he also takes online college courses through Eastern University and hopes to become an elementary teacher.
"It helps balance me out. In cornhole you have to travel a lot at the top level," Landis said.
The ACL "Final Chase 2" will be televised live July 19-21 on ESPN 2. Landis will compete in the pro national doubles tournament starting at 8 p.m. July 19.
Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopinionnews.com.
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