UW Wool Judging Team Notches Honors Through Season

Earning high team overall at its first contest set the stage for the University of Wyoming wool judging team to maintain a strong season while building and creating leaders.

Wool judging team Coach Whit Stewart says Courtney and Amy Newman, from Fort Collins, Colo., and Dylan Laverell, from Big Timber, Mont., served as assistant coaches for the season.

Stewart says he would not be able to coach wool judging and organize contests without the help of his assistant coaches.

“For the past three years, we’ve had excellent coaches step up,” says Stewart, an assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science and UW Extension sheep specialist. “That’s really the cool part to me. We really get to train some excellent leaders through this.”

Stewart says he also is grateful to the producers who are all tremendously invested in the sheep program at UW.

“Bigger picture, we hope to let people know we are creating leaders and advocates in our industry,” Stewart says.

The season started for UW with highest team overall, high team placings and high team reasons at the Cowboy Classic in November in Laramie.

Jess Moody, from Big Timber, Mont., was high individual overall, high individual in reasons, third high individual in grading rail and second high individual in placings. Grace Gullatt, from Salem, Ala., was fourth high individual overall and high individual in grading rail. Tanner Wright, from Laramie, was third high individual overall, sixth in grading rail and second in reasons.

The team was third high overall out of 10 teams at the 7220 contest in Laramie.

Katie Costner, from Tomball, Texas, was ninth high individual overall; Wright was second in grading rail; and Gullatt was 10th in grading rail.

UW hosted the 7220 contest in January in place of the National Western Stock Show contest that was canceled due to COVID-19. The contest goal was to make the competition more industry relevant and make it a long-standing tradition, Stewart says.

UW was third high team out of four teams; second high team in placings; and second high team in reasons at the final contest of the season at the Feb. 5 Black Hills Stock Show in Rapid City, S.D.

Costner was seventh high individual overall, sixth in placings and fifth in reasons. Gullatt was fifth high individual overall, fifth in grading rail, eighth in placings and sixth in reasons. Wright was third high individual overall, eighth in grading rail, seventh in placings and fourth in reasons. Ally Marshall, of Gillette, was eighth high individual overall, 10th in grading rail and fourth in placings.