The Pumpkin Drop Is Back! 1,551-Pound Pumpkin Dropped From 200-Foot Crane Explodes

WORLAND — More than 5 tons of humongous pumpkins, marrows, and watermelons were weighed and came to spectacular and explosive ends Saturday at the Wyoming State Championship Weigh-Off and Pumpkin Drop.

Dropped from a 200-foot crane, the gigantic produce obliterated an inflatable swimming pool and an old clothes dryer as the crowd cheered each impact that sent chunks of pumpkin all over the arena at the Washakie County Fairgrounds.

After four records for two states were set in the weigh-off, the largest pumpkin in this year’s competition — a 1,551-pound monster from Lovell — was dropped into an inflatable swimming pool filled with red water.

Then, Jay Richard dropped one of his giant pumpkins onto a giant mock-up of the University of Hawaii logo to show support for the winning University of Wyoming football team, which beat the Rainbow Warriors 27-10 at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

“What a bunch of fruit this year,” Richard said. “They should call Worland the Pumpkin Capital of Wyoming.”

'1,422 Pounds Of Third-Grade Power'

Hundreds of people were at the Washakie County Fairgrounds on Saturday, enjoying food trucks and inflatable bounce houses when the weigh-off got underway.

Richard served as master of ceremonies during the weigh-off, and knew the story behind every fruit on the scales that day.

Last year, Richard gave a pumpkin seed and a pumpkin-growing lesson to every third grader in Washakie County. The first thing on the agenda Saturday was weighing the fruits of their labor.

“They sanded the seed and prepared the soil with the promise that they didn’t tell Mom and Dad how big the plant would grow,” he said.

Eight of the now-fourth graders brought their pumpkins to the weigh-off. Together, their pumpkins weighed 1,422 pounds, with Hazel Hoopes growing the largest (between a garage and a fence) at 356 pounds.

“That’s 1,422 pounds of third-grade power,” Richard said. “We hope we’re planting the seeds of future generations.”

Eight young growers competed in the Youth Giant division at the weigh-off. That means their pumpkins would be recorded by The Great Pumpkin Commonwealth, which Richard described as “the NFL of all things growing big.”

Twelve-year-old Joley Reed’s pumpkin named “Miss Katniss Everdeen — the Pumpkin on Fire” won the division at 539 pounds. It was her new personal best, beating last year’s 473-pound “Pug-kin.”

The Youth King division totaled 2,349 pounds of pumpkins, which Richard called “the largest youth division ever” for Wyoming.

Green Squashed

Wyoming's pride at the weigh-off was Ron Hoffman of Riverton, dubbed “the master of growing things” by Richard.

Last year, Hoffman set a new Wyoming state record with an 81-pound marrow. This year, he outdid himself.

His first marrow tipped the scale at 106 pounds.

“That’s not even the big one,” Richard said.

Hoffman’s second marrow set a new Wyoming record at 121 pounds.

Hoffman also brought the most unique pumpkin of the weigh-off. He’d spent months carefully cultivating a green squash.

“A green squash doesn’t have a speck of orange on it,” Richard said. “Growing a green one isn’t an accidental thing.”

Richard said that Hoffman’s green squash, named “Fiona,” was grown from 11-year-old seeds from the last record-setter, a 621-pound green squash. That record had also been set by Hoffman.

This year’s effort squashed Hoffman’s old record at 921 pounds for his second state record of the day.

He had mixed feelings about it.

“I think I had a bigger marrow, but it split,” he said.

Pound For Pound

Nineteen pumpkins were weighed in the Adult Giant division at this year’s weigh-off.

Worland veterinarian Steven Tharp seemingly abandoned a bunch of his pumpkins at the fairgrounds and disappeared. He didn’t show up until his “real pumpkin” was weighed at 347 pounds.

“I was in surgery,” he said when he arrived.

Tharp said he’d lost his best pumpkins to what he called “pumpkin wasting disease.”

“Some deer have chronic wasting disease,” he said. “Mine had pumpkin wasting disease. They ate all the tops off all my best ones.”

Tharp’s collective total was 1,457 pounds of pumpkin spread across six entries.

Stacy Martinez’s 713-pound pumpkin won the Howard Hill Award for the prettiest pumpkin. 

The award is named after the man who crossbred the first Giant Atlantic pumpkin seeds, setting off the ongoing international craze for growing ever-bigger pumpkins.

“They call him ‘The Gourd-Father,'” Richard said.

But the top prize went to Chad Kurtenbach of Lovell, with a 1,551-pound pumpkin. This is his second consecutive Wyoming Weigh-Off win, having won last year with a 1,788-pound pumpkin.

Two notable names were missing from this year's weigh-off. Richard didn’t submit either of his two pumpkins.

“I feel it would be unfair for me to compete and win money in a competition I put on,” he said.

Meanwhile, Andy Corbin of Cheyenne decided to keep his unbelievably large pumpkins close to home.

Corbin and his wife, Amy, hold the current Wyoming state record with a 2,085-pound pumpkin they grew in 2025. 

The couple has been growing two pumpkins this year, which Richard said they’ll be taking to weigh-offs in Colorado next month.

“I’m confident Andy’s going to set another record,” he added.

The total tonnage at Saturday's weigh-off was 10,342 pounds of pumpkin, 426 pounds of marrow, more than 85 pounds of zucchini, 150 pounds of watermelon, and one 3.7-pound tomato from Fort Collins, Colorado.

Go Pokes

Kurtenbach decided to celebrate his second consecutive Wyoming Weigh-Off win by donating his 1,551-pound pumpkin to the main event: the Pumpkin Drop.

Once again, Worland's Swing Trucking Inc. donated its time and crane for the annual drop. Thirteen pumpkins, a marrow, and two watermelons were also donated to the drop.

Using a custom harness made by Ed Keller of Wyoming Bucket LLC, the pumpkins were raised — some two at a time — 200 feet into the air. 

With a loud and enthusiastic countdown, each plummeted and hit the sandy arena with a powerfully hollow thud.

Reed’s 473-pound award-winner dropped onto an old clothes dryer. She pulled the cord that untethered her pumpkin and sent it tumbling down.

“She looks pretty tiny up there,” she said.

Kurtenbach’s pumpkin was perfectly positioned over an inflatable pool. The pumpkin, the pool, and gallons of red water inside were sent everywhere.

The grand finale was one of Richard’s pumpkins. It had cracked before being harvested, disqualifying it from any weigh-off, but its fate had been sealed months ago.

Before the drop, Richard unveiled a 9-foot-tall University of Hawaii logo, adorned with a sign reading “Who-Waii?”

“This one’s for the Hawaiian Rainbow Warriors,” he said.

When his pumpkin smashed it, the University of Wyoming was beating Hawaii with a minute left in the game.

With “Go Pokes” painted on the side and a giant yellow cowboy hat on top, Richard’s 702-pound pumpkin pulverized the logo in one fell swoop.

Idaho Records

Two growers left the weigh-off with state records.

Brian Christensen came to Worland from Rexburg, Idaho, with the cream of his crop: a giant marrow and a comparatively small — but impressive — field pumpkin.

Connecticut field pumpkins are the type that most people buy for jack-o’-lanterns and pumpkin pie. They’re much smaller than the Atlantic Giant variety that breaks state, national, and international records.

The Great Pumpkin Commonwealth has different records for field and Atlantic pumpkins. On Saturday, Christensen set a new Idaho record with a 200-pound field pumpkin.

Christensen’s field pumpkin would have been a record for Wyoming as well, which is around 150 pounds, and wasn’t too far from the world record of 245 pounds. As of Saturday, it was the second-biggest field pumpkin yet recorded in 2026.

“He’ll be in the top five this year, for sure,” Richard said.

Christensen wasn’t done at the weigh-off, either. His 88-pound marrow also set a new Idaho state record.

Christensen also brought an 800-pound Atlantic pumpkin to Worland. His 2,400-pound pumpkin is back in Rexburg, where he hopes to set another Idaho state record before the season ends.

Testimony To Wyoming

This season was “a difficult year” for pumpkin growers nationwide, Richard said. Excessive heat and low moisture were problems across the West, while growers in the Eastern U.S. also had issues cultivating pumpkins.

Everyone at the Wyoming Weigh-Off shared stories of struggle, but that didn’t stop them from bringing “the most (pumpkins) ever, by double,” Richard said.

“I’ve gone to weigh-offs in much bigger cities where they weigh 10 pumpkins total,” he said. “We weighed 36 today. It’s a testimony to the people of Wyoming.”

Worland resident Ray Butz, another pumpkin grower, shared in the struggles of 2026. He didn’t let that stop him from bringing a pumpkin to the weigh-off and was glad it didn’t dissuade others.

“It’s not about trying to outgrow somebody else,” he said. “You grow it, and you bring it.”

Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.