The University of Minnesota placed 1st overall in the collegiate dairy cattle judging contest hosted November 5 by the North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE), Louisville, KY. The margin of victory was a whopping 64 points over 2nd place Penn State with all four team members among the top 10 individuals. The University of Minnesota has won 7 consecutive Louisville contests and 10 of the past 12 Louisville contests.
In addition to placing 1st overall, the University of Minnesota team was 1st in oral reasons, 1st Ayrshire, 2nd Guernsey, 2nd Jersey, 3rd Brown Swiss, and 3rd Holstein. Team members were Ben Styer, Menomonie, WI; Kendra Waldenberger, Spring Grove, MN; Isaac Rott, Elgin, MN; and Matthew Gunst, Hartford, WI.
Individually, Styer was 1st overall, 5th reasons, 2nd Ayrshire, and 5th Jersey. Waldenberger was 3rd overall and 3rd Brown Swiss. Rott was 8th overall, and Gunst was 9th overall, 8th reasons, 1st Brown Swiss, 3rd Jersey, and 4th Guernsey. Coaches were Dr. Les Hansen and alumni Eric Houdek and Gabriella Houdek.
Top 10 teams: 1. University of Minnesota, 2. Penn State, 3. Iowa State, 4. UW-River Falls, 5. UW-Platteville, 6. Purdue, 7. Michigan State, 8. Illinois, 9. Ohio State, 10. North Dakota State.