AgriLife Extension’s Irion County 4-H team wins national wool judging contest

Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, s-byrns@tamu.edu
Contact: Pascual Hernandez, 325-387-3101, p-hernandez@tamu.edu

SONORA – The Irion County 4-H senior wool judging team was named the top judging team in the nation during the 52nd annual National 4-H Wool Judging Contest held in Sonora.

The contest and its sister contest, the 12th annual FFA Wool Judging Contest, highlighted a number of youth contests held in conjunction with the 75th annual Sonora Wool and Mohair Show June 18-21.

4-H is the youth program of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

The 4-H team from Irion County scored 1,813 points to beat the Kendall County team, which took second with 1,605 points.

Winning team members were Cade Cordes, Gavin Atkins, Garrett Carlile and Tyler Davidson. Coaches were Randy Carlile and Ross Benson, AgriLife Extension agent in Irion County. Benson noted Randy Carlile is Garrett’s father and the senior Carlile judged in the same event when he was a 4-H’er.

Cordes was the National 4-H Wool Judging Contest’s high point winner with 614 points. Third place team honors went to the Natrona County Wyoming 4-H team.

The Seminole FFA team won the National FFA wool judging contest with a total score of 1,741 points. The team was coached by Joel Lanier, Seminole FFA instructor, and Terry Millican, AgriLife Extension agent in Gaines County.

Team members were Cheyenne Millican, Bryce Winfrey, Ty Froman and Kaley Johnson.    Winfrey, with a score of 594 points, was named the high point individual of the FFA contest.

Second place honors in the National FFA Wool Judging Contest went to New Braunfels ISD whose team racked up scores totaling 1,692 points.

The national 4-H and FFA wool judging contests are the premier events of the Sonora Wool and Mohair Show. The show features youth judging contests and wool and mohair fleece competitions. The event is sponsored by the Sonora Lions Club and Sonora Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the Sonora Wool and Mohair Company and AgriLife Extension.

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