"Horseshoe". The word for some evokes an OSU home game, a cartoon magnet, a purple marshmallow in Lucky Charms or equestrian footwear (because "hoofwear" isn't a word).

For me, horseshoe meant the old guys at family reunions cussing and laughing at each other.

To Bellefontaine products Don Epps and Ed Hildreth, however, it means world rankings, championships and the chance to compete on the biggest stage in the sport.

The fast friends are competing this week at the World Horseshoe Championships in Wisconsin, organized by the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association.

Epps, 78, and Hildreth, 72, discovered their talents at very different times in their lives, even if they may not have realized it at the time.

In Don's case, his horseshoe story began early. He captured a Junior Championship as a middle schooler in 1961 at Harmon Field. Being the athlete he was, high school and college sports eventually took center stage and his horseshoe talent lay dormant for decades.

Then came retirement. After careers in teaching, coaching and even serving as mayor of DeGraff, Don picked the shoes back up. And released the Kraken.

Ed's path was different.

An accomplished athlete himself, Ed (also a Harmon Field regular as a kid), discovered his love for horseshoes much later... and promised himself he would pursue it once life slowed down a little during retirement.

Upon retiring, Ed finally got serious about horseshoes, only to discover that Ohio wasn't nearly as committed to the sport during the winter months. Looking for a place to practice during uncooperative weather, he discovered Don, who welcomed him to indoor practice facility.

But it wasn't just Ed who made a discovery. Don quickly recognized raw talent in the newcomer and began helping him refine it.

As it turned out, Ed happened to be in Don's own age division. Some call it coincidence, though I'm pretty sure they refer to it as “doubles championships” now.

Somewhere along the way, mentor and protégé became teammates, competitors and eventually two of the sport's elite senior players.

They joined up on a recent piping-hot July afternoon at Don's indoor facility on State Route 508 between Bellefontaine and West Liberty, though the pair occasionally can be found blessing the pits at Lions Park in West Liberty.

Don's practice site is equal parts horseshoe facility and man cave, complete with the usual comforts and decorations, including a working jukebox and basketball hoop. But the business end of the operation is unmistakable: clay, wood and steel.

The stakes stand 30 feet apart for competitors in the 65+ division, quietly awaiting the next barrage.

There is scarcely a pause in tossing, with a shoe seemingly airborne throughout conversation, almost all ending with the unmistakable clang of a ringer settling into the clay.

Their throws, while breathtakingly accurate, perform their own airborne gymnastics: Don's horseshoe spins one and a quarter turns in flight, while Ed's completes a full backflip before settling around the stake. Because of those differing styles, their horseshoes, while still meeting competition specifications, are customized for each pitcher’s delivery.

As Ed and Don breezily chatted, it seemed the horseshoes and stake were so highly magnetized that they simply could not miss (the author’s own two pitiful tosses confirmed there was, in fact, no magnetism involved).

The hard part of the interview was pulling the accolades out of this duo, both of whom humbly insisted they "didn't want to brag," while simultaneously insisting the other one was better. But what followed after they joined forces was nothing short of the Obi-Wan and Luke Skywalker of horseshoes.

For the uninitiated, horseshoes is a deceptively simple game. Players toss competition horseshoes toward a metal stake embedded in a clay pit, scoring points by landing closer than their opponent or, better yet, throwing a "ringer” - a throw in which the shoe surrounds the stake after landing. No strategies, defenses, or special tactics: just try for the ringer every toss.

Like cornhole, the game can be played individually or in teams, and opposing scores can cancel each other out.

Simple to explain, perhaps. Considerably less simple when watching two elite competitors make it look easy.

Their credentials speak for themselves, both together and individually.

Among a long list of accomplishments, Epps has been first in State and fifth in Nationals in both Singles and Doubles, third at Team World, and got an exclusive invite to the prestigious Hall of Fame games, where he placed fifth.

Hildreth's recent ascension through the sport has also been impressive, including State titles in singles and doubles competition, a third-place finish at Team World and a National Individual C Class Championship in his first attempt. Ed quickly continued his ascent through the ranks, reaching the sport's top A division shortly thereafter.

Don's horseshoe journey began with a Junior Championship at Harmon Field in 1961. Sixty-five years later, his long journey and Ed's meteoric rise through the sport meet on horseshoe's biggest stage this week at the World Horseshoe Championships in Wisconsin.

Local fans unable to make the drive to Wisconsin can still follow Epps and Hildreth through the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association's tournament live camera feeds

and online scoreboards, or on FB Live. Thankfully, unlike my own brief horseshoe career, the internet records everything.

This isn't just making county, state, regionals or nationals; this is as high as the sport goes.

For one week, Wisconsin becomes the center of the horseshoe universe, and two of Bellefontaine's own will be right in the middle of it. Not bad for a couple of retired Harmon Field alumni.