WSF posts wool show results
During the 111th Wyoming State Fair (WSF), held in Douglas Aug. 14-19, wool producers from around the state had the opportunity to show off their best fleeces, which were judged on a common set of criteria including estimated clean wool content, staple length, fineness, fiber strength, purity, color and crimp.
According to the 2023 WSF Premium Book, eligible fleeces had to be shorn in 2022-23 and represent 12 months of growth or less. Fleeces were faulted for including paint or tar brands, excessive dung locks or tags, moisture discoloration, cotting, a break or weak staple and excess burrs or vegetable matter.
The WSF Wool Show included fleeces shown by both youth and open exhibitors, broken into divisions by species, breed and sex.
Youth show results
In the youth show, Lance Rabel of Buffalo had an impressive showing, taking home titles of Champion Purebred Ram Fleece, Reserve Champion Purebred Ram Fleece and Overall Grand Champion Fleece of Show.
Fellow Buffalo resident Hayden Geis exhibited the Champion Purebred Ewe Fleece and Gillette’s Maria Geis had the Reserve Champion Purebred Ewe Fleece.
Maria kept her winning streak rolling, earning honors with both the Champion and Reserve Champion Commercial Ram Fleece, the Champion and Reserve Champion Commercial Ewe Fleece and the Overall Reserve Grand Champion Fleece of Show.
Maria was also crowned the 2023 WSF Youth Wool Premier Exhibitor.
Open show results
In the open show, Rabel was awarded the Champion Purebred Ram Fleece and Makayla Mette of Douglas had the Reserve Champion Purebred Ram Fleece, while Hayden earned honors with the Champion Purebred Ewe Fleece and Bobbi Geis of Gillette had the Reserve Champion Purebred Ewe Fleece.
Mette’s name graced the leaderboard in the commercial wool division as well, exhibiting both Champion and Reserve Champion Commercial Ram Fleece, while Maria won both the Champion and Reserve Champion Commercial Ewe Fleece.
The title of Champion White Wool Fleece went to Thomas Reed of Douglas and Shea Churches of Laramie had reserve.
Hannah Danford of Casper exhibited the Champion Alpaca Fleece and Erin Danford of Evansville exhibited the Reserve Champion Alpaca Fleece.
Hannah also took home honors as with the Grand Champion Natural Spinning Fleece of Show and was crowned the Premier Spinning Animal Fiber Exhibitor. She was followed by Reed, who exhibited the Reserve Champion Natural Spinning Fleece of Show.
To round out the open show, judges handed out overall wool awards to the exhibitors.
The Overall Grand Champion Fleece of Show was awarded to Mette and the title of Reserve Grand Champion Fleece of Show went to Rabel. Mette was also crowned as the Premier Wool Show Exhibitor.
Barbara Price of Cheyenne went home with several awards including the titles of Best White Wool, Best Yarn and the Premier Natural Fiber Arts Exhibitor.
Lastly, Marion Severson of Carpenter received Best of Show Natural Fiber Arts honors.
Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to rounudp@wylr.net.
