COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State Livestock Judging Team had a productive start in their first two contests of the year at the National Western Stock Show and Dixie National. The National Western Stock Show (NWSS) in Denver, Colo. held its livestock judging competition and truckload evaluation from Jan. 17-18 at the Denver Coliseum. The judging contest included 12 classes and 8 sets of oral reasons. The truckload competition included six classes of four carloads of cattle (four head per load) and 10 questions on one of the classes. OSU students competed against nearly 140 individuals and 28 teams for these competitions. In the carload portion, the team placed ninth overall and Justin Bachman received reserved high individual. The judging team brought home more success from their contest at the Dixie National in Jackson, Miss. on Feb. 8-9. In the Mississippi Coliseum, OSU finished fourth overall and third in oral reasons. Individually, Emily Limes placed 10th in oral reasons and Duane Shawk was 4th in the market steer division. Team members who attended these two contests included: Bachman, Lancaster, Ohio, Adam Fennig, Celina, Ohio, Paige Guenther, Rushylvania, Ohio, Limes, Bowling Green, Ohio, Shawk, Bucyrus, Ohio, and Rebecca Wallen, Urbana, Ohio. Megan Moorman, Xenia, Ohio, will be joining the team when she arrives home from a study abroad trip to Brazil. OSU judging coach Kyle Culp was pleased with the rapid progress the team is making and looks forward to seeing even better results in upcoming competitions. For more information about the OSU Livestock Judging Team, please contact Kyle Culp at culp.1045@osu.ed or 614-292-2201.