The Twisted Diggers is one of several five-person teams in a regional metal detecting competition earlier this month at the annual KaDoHa Treasure Fest event in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. This metal detecting tournament is the first of its kind called the “Masters Of Metal,” and was launched by Minelab, a leader in metal detecting technologies for gold prospecting and treasure hunting.
The Twisted Diggers—whose members include Brian Speaks from Kansas and Howie Rosser, Kim Hauger, Mike Lyons and Clint Yates from Oklahoma—got their name because of what the team members all had in common besides digging in the dirt: tornadoes in their home state.
Team Captain Howie Rosser was previously featured in a story for the Sapulpa Times when he found a 10-karat gold class ring from Sapulpa’s class of 1961 and reunited it with the family.
Rosser explained how the tournament consisted of three parts; “Target ID,” “Token Hunt,” and a “Claim Jumper Hunt.” Despite all participants being seasoned metal detectorists, “it was very challenging,” Rosser said. “Before completing our last contest, it seemed we lacked a lot of points to qualify for the playoffs, but I encouraged my team to hold onto hope and give it their best effort to the end.”
That pep talk must’ve made a difference, because when the points were tallied, the Twisted Diggers tied with another team for 3rd place, with the tiebreaker contest being a timed gold panning game to find four gold nuggets, which Twisted Diggers won.
Aside from the Arkansas tournament, there were three other regional playoffs, one in New York, and another in Florida. With the third-place win in Arkansas, the Twisted Diggers won the bronze medal and a $1,100 cash prize. They will also be one of nine teams to compete for the world championship in Alabama in the second week of November.
Brian Speaks, the lone team member from Kansas, said the Alabama competition often gets christened as “the SuperBowl of metal detecting,” but he thinks it goes even further. “To me, it’s more like the Olympics since there are more than just two teams playing and several states being represented. Whether we win the championship trophy or not, it will be an honor just to be a participant at the finals,” he said. Adding “we will have a ‘twisted time’ and ‘treasure’ this moment for the rest of our lives!”
