The State 4-H Livestock Judging Contest was held on July 25 at the Lodi Agricultural Fairgrounds in Lodi.  This annual venue allows the top junior and senior county 4-H Livestock judging teams the opportunity to apply their skills in evaluating beef, swine, sheep and meat goat classes in hopes of qualifying for a national livestock judging event this fall. 

TOP SENIOR TEAM: A team from Juneau County Team won the State 4-H Livestock Judging Contest. Team members are, from left, Bailey Miller, Michaela Honnold, Daniel Walsh and Clayton Walsh.

In 2016, there were nine senior teams and eight junior teams that participated. The contest involved evaluating classes of market and breeding beef, market and breeding swine, market and breeding sheep, as well as answering questions and giving oral reasons. These teams qualified for the state contest by being top teams at the district Area Animal Science Days that were held around the state in June. 

The top two teams in the senior division will go on to represent Wisconsin at a national livestock judging contest this fall. A team from Juneau County took top honors in the senior division. Team members include: Daniel Walsh, Bailey Miller, Clayton Walsh and Michaela Honnold. They are coached by Lisa Walsh and Todd Cherney. The second place senior team is Waukesha County. Team members include:  Hannah Tremaine, Mason Roscizewski, and Ceara Cull. They are coached by Karen Tremaine. The third place team is: Manitowoc County, Vanessa Roberts, Megan Greif and Alek Konopacki.  The fourth place team is Iowa County. Team members are Bailey Fritsch, Martina Steffes, Logan Schmitz and Brady Palzkill. The fifth place team is from Jefferson County. Team members are Alexis Schultz, Alexis Timmel, Hannah Schultz and Colton Klecker.

The top 10 senior individual judges are:  1^st:  Vanessa Roberts, Manitowoc, 2^nd: Daniel Walsh, Juneau, 3^rd: Bailey Miller, Juneau, 4^th: Mason Roscizewski, Waukesha 5^th: Alek Konopacki, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, 6^th: Hannah Tremaine, Waukesha, 7^th. Bailey Fritsch, Iowa, 8^th: Alexis Schultz, Jefferson 9^th: Alexis Timmel, Jefferson, and 10^th: Clayton Walsh, Juneau

The top reasons team is Manitowoc County. Team members include: Vanessa Roberts, Megan Greif and Alek Konopacki.  The top five reasons individuals are:  Vanessa Roberts, Manitowoc, Alexis Timmel, Jefferson County, Daniel Walsh, Juneau County, Mason Roscizewski, Waukesha County, Bailey Fritsch, Iowa County.

The top beef team is Juneau County; the top sheep team is Juneau County and the top swine team is Jefferson County.

The top junior team is from Iowa County. Team members are: Emma Steffes, Blaine Springer, Morgan Vondra and Brandon Spring.  They are coached by Jeff Thomas. The second place junior team is from Dunn County. Team members include:  Addie Grossbier, Andrew Zukowski, Kittrick Singerhouse and Emily Zukowski. They are coached by Jesse Singerhouse. The third place is from  Juneau County. Team members are Trenna Cherney, Ethan Lulich and Dawson Miller.  The fourth place team is from Grant County. Team members are Will Esser, Mason Crooks, Luke Patterson and Jessica Patterson.  The fifth place team is from Pierce County. Team members are Kaylee Bazille, Cora Capatske, Erin Boatman and Jake Bazille.

The top 10 junior individual judges are: 1^st: Trenna Cherney, Juneau County, 2^nd: Emma Steffes, Iowa County, 3^rd: Blaine Springer, Iowa County, 4^th: Addie Grossbier, Dunn County, 5^th: Kaylee Bazille, Pierce County, 6^th: Will Esser, Grant County, 7^th: Andrew Zukowski, Dunn County, 8^th: Cora Capatske, Pierce County, 9^th: Ethan Lulich, Juneau County and 10^th: Kittrick Singerhouse, Dunn County.

The top sheep team is from Iowa County; the top swine team is from Marathon County and the top beef team is from Dunn County. 

The top reasons individual for juniors went to Kailen Smercheck of Marathon County and the top reasons team for the junior division is Iowa County.