The University of Wyoming wool judging team competed and won at the National Western Stock Show on Jan. 17 in Denver, Colorado, with a member of the team earning overall champion.
The team is comprised of 13 members in addition to professor and coach Whit Stewart and two assistant coaches, Katie Hazlewood and Bryce McKenzie.
UW has not had a wool judging team since 2002, even though Wyoming as a state is a leading wool producer within the United States. This year, however, assistant animal science professor, UW Extension sheep specialist and coach Stewart joined the University and re-founded the team.
“With Wyoming being renowned for the wool it produces in quality and quantity and fourth in sheep numbers in the U.S., it was a no brainer,” said Stewart. “Wyoming should be a leader in sheep research, extension and education, and wool judging is a logical fit in working toward that goal.”
Stewart said the win was rewarded given the time they have invested in the team.
“We competed against teams that have been dominant for many years likeTexas A&M, Texas Tech, Kansas State, Angelo State University so my expectations were for us to be a top five team, but to win the National Western was a real surprise,” he said.
“We really focused on accountability,” Stewart said when asked about preparation for the National Western Stock Show. “Not just accountability to the team but to ourselves in recognizing where we needed to improve individually. We re-shifted our focus away from the sheer quantity of practices towards learning about where we were falling short.”
The competitions for wool judging are comprised of three areas: grading rail, commercial and breed class placings, and oral reasons for three of the six classes.
Within the grading rail students examine 15 different fleece sets – a year’s worth of growth sheared off of a single sheep – and judge their quality. In the commercial and breed class placings, students are given four fleeces within each class, and then rank them based on the quality of production for commercial and the quality based on the breed. Finally, the oral portion of the competition is where students explain their judgments of the wool.
The team will compete next at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in March, and will be practicing with hopes to continue a winning streak.
For more information on the wool judging team contact Whit Stewart at (307) 766-5374 or whit.stewart@uwyo.edu.
