(March 1, 2010)  Contestants competed in the 2010 National Western Stock Show (NWSS) International Sheep Shearing Contest in Denver, Colo., on Jan. 24. Taking top honors in the professional competition was Don Metheral of Ontario, Canada.

The contest is for skillful, experienced shearers from throughout the world. Each of the 23 professional contestants sheared four sheep in a preliminary round. The eight shearers receiving the highest score competed in the final round, in which they sheared four additional sheep. The contest winners were determined from only the scores on the final four sheep.

As this is an international competition, international scoring techniques were implemented. These techniques are used to enhance the overall quality of the shearing. The shearing scores are a combination of the absence of second cuts in the fleece, skin pieces on the fleece, breaking up of the fleece, before or after work time, wool left on the sheep, condition of the fleece after shearing, total time to shear four sheep, manner of handling the sheep while shearing and the appearance of the shorn sheep. The winner has the lowest combination of time points, board points and pen quality points.

Placing was as follows:

1. Metheral
2. Loren Opstedahl, South Dakota
3. Tony Troendle, South Dakota
4. Hilary Geitzen, North Dakota
5. Doug Rathke, Minnesota
6. Wade Kopren, South Dakota
7. Alex Moser, Iowa
8. Pieter Demooy, British Columbia, Canada

The National Intermediate Sheep Shearing Contest is intended to bridge the gap between the junior and professional competitors. All past winners of the junior contest as well as other qualified shearers capable of shearing 14 sheep or less per hour were invited to compete. Contestants each sheared three sheep in the preliminaries and the top eight moved on to shear three more sheep in the finals.

Placing was as follows:

1. Brian Fitzpatrick, Minnesota
2. Steve Kennedy, Indiana
3. Symeon Caryl, Michigan
4. Rindy Harkness, Wyoming
5. Nolan Abel, Iowa
6. Dave Owens, Michigan
7. Frank Schwartz, Oklahoma
8. Joe Schwartz, Oklahoma

In addition, a National Junior Sheep Shearing Contest was also held. Contestants had to be at least 16 years old and not over 20 years old by Jan. 1. Juniors could have also entered at the age of 14 as long as they have attended a legitimate shearing school and have a signed statement from the instructor. Junior contestants had to be U.S. residents of a state for at least six months prior to Jan. 1 for the competition. Each contestant sheared two sheep in the preliminaries and two more in the finals.

Placing was as follows:

1. Jayson Foley, Wyoming
2. Peter Larradle, Colorado
3. Collin Kennedy, Indiana
4. Dylan Weaver, Wisconsin
5. Kyle Hoogendoorn, Iowa
6. Mick Hofmann, Iowa
7. Grant Kennedy, Indiana

Heiniger Shearing Equipment of Buffalo, Wyo., the National Western Stock Show, the American Sheep Industry Association, Harper Livestock, Roswell Wool and Utah Wool Marketing were the sponsors of the 2010 sheep shearing contest.