Inductees

A weekend activity on the lake turned into a new career journey for Brad Leighninger.

Trips to the lake often turned into cooking barbecue and watching shows like BBQ Pitmasters. A little bit of fate happened in 2012 when one of his friends was in the Rock N’ Ribs BBQ Festival in Springfield.

“We would watch competition shows and had been up to the American Royal in Kansas City, so the interest was there,” he said. “Living in Missouri, BBQ is kind of our birthright. We would cook at the lake over the summer.”

He and his brother-in-law entered and won $2,000 and a trip to Las Vegas. The winning dish? It wasn’t meat, but rather potato salad.

In the meat competition, Leighninger placed seventh.

But he kept at working on cooking and essentially traded in a day job in the technology field to be a pitmaster and owner of Gettin’ Basted BBQ restaurant in Branson. Along the way, he’s won over 150 grand or reserve championship awards and is regarded as one of the best pitmasters in the country, paving the way to be a part of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026.

A native of Stanberry, he graduated from Douglas High School in Rapid City, S.D., and then played football at Washington University in St. Louis. He later earned a degree in business administration and management from Missouri Southern State University in 2013.

About the same time he earned his degree, he was ramping up his BBQ competition schedule. Little did anyone anticipate he’d be ranked No. 1 by the Kansas City Barbecue Society from 2018 to now.

He said the Rock N’ Ribs event was fun, and three of the four meat categories they entered got a ‘call,’ which means they were among the finalists in those categories. His wife, Sarah, helped derive the team name for the next competition: Gettin’ Basted.

Two months later, he and his brother-in-law competed in another BBQ competition, this one with more than a one-week notice. Seven competitions and a year later, the duo won first place in a field of 80 competitors.

The usual lineup for meats for Leighninger is chicken, pork ribs, pork shoulder and brisket — and occasionally a whole hog.

When the BBQ bug hit, he was working in IT for White River Valley Electric Co-op in Branson.

“I would arrive at contests later than everyone else after long drives,” he said. “It was very difficult juggling my day-to-day obligations with cooking.”

Fast forward a few years from starting, Leighninger started the Gettin’ Basted food truck in Springfield in 2016. He then helped start a brick-and-mortar location in Branson, opening Downing Street Pour House in Hollister in 2017. A second Gettin’ Basted location opened in Nixa in 2019.

Leighninger said the success of the restaurants stems from the tireless efforts of Derrick Melugin, Jason Roberts and Tammy Zachary – business partners and allow him time to compete.

He’s also appeared several TV shows. The first came in 2018 for Guy’s Grocery Games with Guy Fieri. He won that event and $20,000. Since then, he’s been on BBQ Brawl with Bobby Flay and Best In Food on Food Network.

Leighninger’s resume landed him those TV appearances. He’s been the Grand Champion at the 2021 Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational BBQ. He also won the 2022 Memphis in May World Championship BBQ Grand Champion with Blues Hog, the 2018 Smithfield King of the Smoker Invitational, the Guy’s Grocery Games Bacon Champion and the 2025 Grand American BBQ World Championship Open.

He has been the Kansas City Barbecue Society Team of the Year winner for pork (four times), chicken three times, brisket four times and overall four times. In 2024, was part of the inaugural KCBS Hall of Fame.

The father of three — Molly, Ellie and Hudson — the BBQ gene is there for all of the Leighninger kids.

“My family is the most important influence in my success,” Leighninger said. “My wife has always supported my cooking when most would probably do the opposite. My kids are also great when it comes to traveling.”

“I’m the luckiest man alive, living my dream of cooking meat on Saturdays in a parking lot,” Leighninger said. “It has been a fun ride, and the fun is still going. I’m living proof that if you put enough passion and effort into something you love, the money will take care of itself.”