Cowboy Cup Cannabis Championship
An Oklahoma cannabis competition and festival, held in Stillwater in 2022, that hands belt buckles to winning growers. Its founder is Daniel Lewis, who previously worked in commercial construction.
- 528results on record
- 2019–2026years in our data
- 8editions
- 222matched to strains
- Rocklahoma – Pryor, Okla.latest location
01How it began
The Cowboy Cup Cannabis Championship is an Oklahoma cannabis competition and festival founded by Daniel Lewis12. The Oklahoma Gazette covered the first edition and reported that winning cultivators received the event's first round of jewel-encrusted belt buckles1.
The first edition took place at Tumbleweed Dance Hall on December 13 and 14, and more than 800 people attended1. Our sources do not give the year of that first edition, so we cannot state a founding year.
Lewis came to the Cup from construction. He worked first as an engineer and then as a commercial superintendent, and in 2014 he left to start his own company building and remodeling homes2. He lists Stillwater, Oklahoma as his location, and the 2022 edition of the Cup was also held there23.
02The story so far
Lewis said he had hoped the first event would draw around 2,000 people, and he blamed the smaller crowd on wariness left over from a High Times event1. The Gazette still described a smooth debut, with no major problems, no injuries and no arrests1. Awards covered 14 categories, ranging from raw flower to concentrates and topicals. Second and third place received plaques, and first place won ornamental belt buckles1.
Judging for the first edition was done online. Judge Matt Powell collected numbered samples and scored more than 60 indoor entries and about 20 outdoor entries1. Purple Tangie Cannabis Co. won both the grand champion flower and indoor flower categories with its Gelato Cake #11.
By 2022 the format had changed. A press release dated April 14, 2022 announced a judging partnership with Ganjier, a certification program for cannabis sommeliers, and the event called itself the Cowboy Cup Championship Powered by Ganjier3. The release was published by the vendor itself, so its framing should be read with that in mind. Under the new system, hand-picked judges first scored entries on points across five areas. Certified Ganjiers then took the top 15 entries in each of the three flower categories and picked the winners3.
Lewis also qualified as a Certified Ganjier himself, graduating in June 2022. He said the training helped him improve the Cup's grading scales2.
03Culture and community
The Cup has been a festival as well as a contest from the start. At the first edition, local bands played in the dance hall, a second stage in the vendor tents hosted more live music, and the awards ceremony took place on that stage1. People came from all over Oklahoma, and brands from the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas had a strong presence1.
For 2022, the program listed an exhibition of work by Oklahoma artists, glass blowing demonstrations, vendor booths, educational seminars, food trucks and alcohol sales for guests over 213. The release also said winners would be recognized as leading Oklahoma growers or processors, which it suggested could raise wholesale demand and prices for their products3.
Jeremy Jones of Purple Tangie, a company based in Eufaula, described his first-edition win as a personal turnaround after seven years of doing business in Arkansas1. Ganjier instructor Patrick King had attended the Cup for a few years and become friends with Lewis, and that friendship led to the partnership2. Lewis jokingly calls himself the "THC EO" of the Cowboy Cup, which he bills as Oklahoma's top cannabis championship2.
04Where it stands
The most recent information we found is from 2022. The April 14, 2022 press release called that year's event the fourth annual Cowboy Cup and scheduled it for December 2 and 3, 2022, in Stillwater3. The same release said the Cup takes place every December and is open to Oklahoma growers and processors, outdoor flower included3.
On November 29, 2022, Lewis said the Cup was still accepting entries. He said five or six of the flower entries were the best he had seen, and the sun-grown flower had not been collected yet2. We found nothing dated after November 29, 2022, so we cannot confirm whether the event is still running.
05What comes next
We found no announced plans for any edition after 2022. The April 14, 2022 release said tickets for the two-day December 2022 event would go on sale on July 10, and that full details would be posted on the Cup's website3. After the first edition, judge Matt Powell said he hoped to be chosen as a judge again the next year, but that was his personal hope, not an announcement from the organizers1. For newer information, contact the organizers directly.
The results, in our data
CannaLib holds 528 results from this cup across 8 years (2019 to 2026), 222 of them matched to a strain in the catalogue.
Recent first-place strains
| Year | Strain | Category | Entrant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Blue Dream | INDOOR FLOWER - SATIVA | Kind Love |
| 2026 | Palo Santo | INDOOR FLOWER - INDICA | Excommunicado |
| 2026 | Slapz | BHO | Chill |
| 2026 | Black Maple | PREROLLS | F5 Farms |
| 2025 | Super Boof | SUNGROWN | Sol Terra Farms |
| 2025 | Candy Drop | INFUSED PREROLLS | Icy Melts w/Skyeflower |
| 2025 | Marshmallow Og | SOLID BHO | Xen Xtracts w/Kraft |
| 2025 | Gummy Bears | HARD/SOFT CANDIES | Lake And Bake |
| 2024 | Tropic Runtz | INDOOR FLOWER - SATIVA | F5 Farms |
| 2024 | Garlic Cocktail | INDOOR FLOWER - INDICA | Greenleaf Cannavations |
| 2024 | Tropicana Runtz | INDOOR FLOWER - HYBRID | Lost Brothers Cannabis |
| 2024 | Black Cherry Gelato | SUNGROWN | Sol Terra |
| 2024 | Garlic Icing | ROSIN | Chill |
| 2024 | Candy Fumez | ICE WATER HASH | Zen Labs Oklahoma, Power Plant Processing, M&M Connection |
Editions on record
- 2019
- 2020
- 2021 · Oklahoma
- 2022 · Tumbleweed Dancehall & Concert Venue, Stillwater, Oklahoma
- 2023 · Tulsa, OK
- 2024 · Tulsa Expo Square, Tulsa, OK
- 2025 · Exchange Center at Tulsa Expo Square
- 2026 · Rocklahoma – Pryor, Okla.
Sources
- Inaugural cup - Oklahoma Gazette
- Ganjier ProFile: Cannabis Cowboy - The Ganjier (November 29, 2022)
- Cowboy Cup Cannabis Championship Now Powered By Ganjier - The Ganjier (April 14, 2022, vendor-sourced press release)
Written from the sources above and checked on 2026-10-29. Spot an error? Tell us on the contact page.