Special to the Herald Times
RBC | On Jan. 16 the RBC 4-H Wool Judging Team, comprised of Junior and Intermediate 4-H members, earned top honors at the 2025 National Western Stock Show Youth Wool Judging Contest, placing Grand Champion Overall in the 4-H Junior Team Division and Third Overall in the 4-H combined Senior and Junior Division. This was only the team’s second year competing in the NWSS Youth Wool Judging contest, so their progress has been huge. They competed against teams from Colorado, Wyoming and Kansas.
Each 4-H team member was also placed individually. A special congratulations to each of them for their honors:
• Blake Smith (age 11): 2nd High Individual Jr. Overall; 2nd in “Grading Rail,” 2nd in “Questions,” and 4th in “Class Placings.”
• Dani Osborn (age 12): 3rd place High Individual Jr. Overall; 10th place in “Grading Rail,” 10th in “Questions” and 1st in “Class Placings.”
• Kemry Osborn (age 9): 4th High Individual Jr. Overall; 9th in “Grading Rail,” 9th in “Questions” and 3rd in “Class Placings.”
• Ethan Summers (age 12): 5th High Individual Jr. Overall; 4th in “Grading Rail,” 4th in “Questions” and 6th in “Class Placings.”
Earlier in the week, the team also competed at the 7220 Wool Judging Contest in Laramie, Wyoming, taking home Reserve Champion honors in the Junior Team Division. This was the team’s first year to compete at the Wyoming contest, at which they were the only team representing the state of Colorado.
“The team, who studied harder than ever this year, came far this week. Taking their time and space to focus paid off big! Our multi-state trip included two practice contests and two competitive contests packed into four days. This team has been working hard at practice since November. They shined and showed what they’ve learned at these contests! I couldn’t be prouder of their accomplishments! Now we just need these contests to grow!” said Coach Silvia Smith.
The Rio Blanco 4-H Wool Judging Team would like to thank the community for their support. A special thanks to the Chintala family and Theos Swallow Fork Ranch for providing fleeces for practice. Also, a special thank you to Macy Collins, a former RBC 4-H member and MSU PhD graduate student, who gave her time and energy to support our team’s learning and development this fall.
This multi-state trip wraps up the 4-H Wool Judging contests available to 4-H youth in our state and region. Next up, this RBC 4-H Judging team will start practice for horse judging and meat judging competitions. There is still time to join the fun, no experience is needed. If you’re interested in participating or learning more, please stop by the Rio Blanco County Extension 4-H office located at the fairgrounds or give them a call at 970-878-9490.
(Left) National Western Stock Show, Denver: Ethan Summers, Dani Osborn, Kemry Osborn, Blake Smith, Coach Silvia Smith; Champion Junior Team. (Center) Laramie, Wyoming: Dani Osborn, Blake Smith, Kemry Osborn and Ethan Summers; Reserve Champion Junior Team. (Right) Ethan Summers, Kemry Osborn, Blake Smith, Dani Osborn; behind Targhee wool fleeces wearing aprons donated by The Pie Stand.
Did you know?
Q: What does it mean to compete “on the Grading Rail”?
A: Each youth individually sorted 15 unknown fleeces (each being timed with a limit of 2 minutes/fleece) into 3 categories – blood system (level of fineness/coarseness of the fiber), spin count/length of staple, and yield percentage and then marked their scantron accordingly. An official judge graded the rail and the youth judgers earned a higher score, the closer they got to the official grading.
Q: What does it mean to compete “in Questions”?
A: Each youth individually answered 16 questions evaluating the four fleeces in the breed or commercial classes, 96 questions in total; anything from “which fleece is the highest yielding” to “which has the longest/shortest staple.” An official judge ruled what the correct answer would be and the closer the youth judger got to that targeted answer, the higher their score.
Q: What does it mean to compete “in placings”?
A: Each judger placed 6 individual classes of 4 fleeces, (24 fleeces total) based on specifications like: weight, yield, staple length and breed characteristics against an official judge or panel of judges. The closer the judger was to placing like the officials, the higher their score.
Q: How do 4-H judgers place individually and overall?
A: Each youth judger’s scantron is run against official placings and scores for each category. Those points are totaled to rank the competitor in overall placings against their competitors. Then, the top three highest teammate’s scores make up the team’s overall score. Thus, it’s great to have a full team of four.