Shared from the Cattle Business Weekly:
By Kiera Leddy
In collegiate livestock judging, students are faced with a challenge each time they walk up to a class. The countless hours spent on the road and giving sets of reasons culminate at the National Collegiate Livestock Judging Contest in Louisville, Kentucky.
Preparing for the national contest this year was not much different than any other contest, Tyler Bush, SDSU Livestock Judging Team member, says. He adds, Brady Jensen, SDSU Livestock Judging Coach, told the team after the American Royal contest he trusted in their ability to mark cards so they focused on giving reasons at practice.
“In August 2019, the team set a goal to place in the top five at the national contest and to put themselves in the best position possible to win,” Jensen says. “I believe throughout the year this goal was in their minds and they were driven to give it their all day in and day out.”
Leading up to the national contest, Bush reflected on his junior collegiate national judging contest and decided to enter his final contest with a different mindset.
“In junior college, the national contest is at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo,” Bush says. “At that contest, I put a lot of pressure on myself and did not fare so well. It was the worst contest of my judging career. This time I decided to be myself and stick to my normal habits.”
After the contest, the SDSU Livestock Judging Team gathered together with Jensen to discuss their placings. Bush received a perfect score on nine out out of 12 classes and dropped the lowest amount of points on classes out of the team.
“The national contest is set up to be challenging for students as it goes from a class of extremely high quality to low quality,” Jensen says. “This can stumble evaluators. The ability to clear your mind at the start of each class was the deciding factor for an individual’s success.”
The following day the banquet took place to announce who would be named national champions. Bush says the morning started well. He received third place in sheep, fourth place in swine, and then the momentum slowed down. Bush received fourth overall. He acknowledges he was happy but expected the morning to have gone better.
After reviewing the coach’s packet of the team’s scores, Jensen shared with Bush he received 36 out of 50 points on his set of cattle reasons. Bush says he was surprised with the score and had a gut feeling something was not right. Jensen says he requested the contest officials to double-check the score.
“I wanted to know if that was the score I had talked,” Bush says. “I did not want to push it under the rug, but I was willing to accept the score if it was correct.”
After more than two hours of double-checking scores and tabulating, Bush was announced as the high individual overall, high individual in reasons, and eighth place individual in cattle. Bush says it was an emotional experience and admits he even threw up.
“To have a coach, friend, and mentor stand up for you and put themselves on the line was really special,” Bush says. “I have dedicated four years to collegiate judging, and put my faith into SDSU and Brady to reach this goal.”
The saying goes, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” How one handles difficult situations is a true reflection of one’s character.
“Skyler Scotten, the individual initially announced as high point individual, handled the situation with respect and poise,” Bush says. “When he came up to pass on the award, he shook my hand and said, ‘You earned it, I could not be prouder of you, and am glad this goes to someone who has the same passion and drive for judging as me.’”
Jensen adds this year there were many challenges in hosting an event, especially an event with a large group of people.
“Dr. Scott Greiner, the contest superintendent, handled this situation in the best way possible,” Jensen says. “We were fortunate the contest took place and commend the efforts of the contest officials.”
Jensen says the success of the team would not be possible without the tremendous alumni and school support.
“Since stepping foot on campus, the strength and quality of the animal science department have been evident to me,” Jensen says. “We run with the best of the best and showcased that in the national spotlight at Louisville.”
This is the third time in school history an SDSU student has won the national livestock judging contest. The two other individuals were Leon Spronk (1974) and Gary TeStroete (1962).