Animal Sciences

Purdue Livestock Judging Team hosts judging contest at Indiana State Fair

  • Story by Katy Kinker
  • Photos of winners provided by the Purdue Livestock Judging Team
  • August 14, 2025

The Purdue University Livestock Judging Team welcomed 182 participants to the Indiana State Fair Market Hog Judging Contest on Aug. 1.

Coaches Hattie McGrady and Clay Kretzmeier organized the event, which gave youth and young adults up to age 21 the opportunity to experience livestock judging firsthand. Age divisions were based on grade levels for the 2024-25 school year, with categories for novice (younger than third grade), junior (third through eighth grade), senior (ninth through 12th grade) and jackpot (high school graduates to age 21). Participants in the novice division judged one class and answered 10 questions, while all other divisions judged six classes and answered 30 questions.

The contest offered both individual and team competition in the junior, senior and jackpot divisions, with teams consisting of three members. Members of the Purdue Livestock Judging Team also volunteered their time to help run the event, assisting with setup and participant support throughout the contest.

Results

Junior Individual

  1. Grady Harrison
  2. Hayden Everhart
  3. Owen Hege
  4. Brody Hege
  5. Tucker Ashwill

Senior Individual

  1. Kolt Kyler
  2. Keagan Shively
  3. Jace Redden
  4. Will Morris
  5. Tessa Ortman

Jackpot Individual

  1. Matthew Strange
  2. Kadence Emenhiser
  3. Brooklyn Moore
  4. Jacobie Geiger
  5. Jacob Ziegler

Junior Team

  1. Owen Hege, Hayden Everhart and Landry Rodibaugh
  2. Grady Harrison, Brody Hege and TJ Rice
  3. Allison Liggett, Landon Glunt and Jacob Glunt

Senior Team

  1. Keagan Shively, Caden Hine and Bryson Cooper
  2. Will Morris, Colton Kephart and Mitchell Hogue
  3. Kolt Kyler, Makayla Spray and Kolby Butcher

Jackpot Team

  1. Matthew Strange, Kadence Emenhiser and Brooklyn Moore
  2. Jacobie Geiger, Holly Howard and Carle Sroufe
 

Photos from the contest are included below.

Kids holding banners.
Kids holding banners.
Kids holding banners.
Group of people standing behind a metal barrier with banners displaying placements for the Indiana State Fair Market Hog Judging Contest.
Children and teenagers standing behind a barrier, holding notebooks and pencils while participating in an event.
Participants filling out forms at registration tables during an indoor livestock judging event, surrounded by metal railings and event materials.
Crowd gathered in a large indoor arena at the Indiana State Fair, with bleachers full of spectators and a central sandy area used for livestock exhibitions.
Group of individuals standing behind a metal barrier in an indoor arena, holding papers and pencils during a livestock judging event.
Participants holding pencils and filling out answer sheets in an indoor area with metal railings.
Kids holding banners.
Young adults holding banners.
Individual kneeling with a pencil and notepad during the Indiana State Fair Market Hog Judging Contest, with banners and other participants in the background.
Group of people standing in line with pencils and papers, including one individual writing on an orange envelope near a staircase and railings.
Group of people seated on bleachers with notebooks and pencils, observing a livestock judging event indoors, with 'Second Place' banners in the foreground.
Person writing on a piece of paper with a purple pen behind a metal railing, surrounded by others.
Two individuals writing on forms with pencils in an indoor setting, surrounded by other participants.
Children sitting at a wooden table, writing or drawing on colored papers with pencils during an indoor activity.
Group of people standing in a line, holding papers and pencils, engaged in a writing activity.
Child in a pink and white checkered shirt holding a pencil and handwritten paper behind a metal fence during a livestock judging activity.
Person wearing a jacket, writing on a clipboard in front of bleachers with seated spectators.
Person in a blue jacket sitting on bleachers, holding a pencil and reviewing a paper.
Two individuals standing behind a metal railing in an indoor arena with a sandy floor, holding papers and writing utensils.
Group of people gathered around a table labeled 'TEAM CHECK-IN' with yellow envelopes and papers, including a person in a Purdue University shirt pointing at a document.
Group of people standing behind a metal barrier displaying two banners for the Indiana State Fair Market Hog Judging Contest.
Two children holding notebooks and pencils in front of a metal barrier at the State Fair Hog Contest, with older kids and event signage in the background.

Featured Stories

Steve Dahnke, Jack Ward and Larry and Janet White
Four inducted into Indiana Livestock Breeders Association Hall of Fame

Steve Dahnke, Jack Ward and Larry and Janet White join the ILBA Hall of Fame.

Read More
yellow agave flower sprout from the giant flower stalk against a clear blue sky
The death bloom of a century plant

Agave americana, also known as the century plant, has evolved for a dry desert life. For 30...

Read More
Two Purdue students compete in the Jack and Jack double buck competition at Midwest Conclave 2026
FNR Students Experience Midwest Forestry Conclave

The Purdue student chapter of the Society of American Foresters participated in the 69th Midwest...

Read More
The Ecology of Natural Disturbances class stands in front of the Smoky Mountains.
Disturbance Ecology Comes to Life on Spring Break Trip

Every other year, the FNR 53600/53601 Ecology of Natural Disturbances class takes a spring break...

Read More
The state fair midway, featuring crowds of people and a ferris wheel.
Meet Purdue Animal Sciences' 2026 Indiana State Fair Animal Ambassadors

Meet the Purdue Animal Sciences students educating visitors at Animal Town.

Read More
4 students stand in front of marshall porterfield, all in different space and NASA shirts, one carrying a plastic jug with a white fungus growing over a mycoponics tube inside. Grow tents line the background on each side.
Mushrooms in space: Purdue researchers invent mycoponics to cultivate fungi for Earth, the moon and beyond

Porterfield founded MycoGravity — the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology...

Read More