The Wisconsin 4-H Quiz Bowl and Skillathon contests were both held on Saturday, March 25th at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Animal Sciences Building. Livestock Quiz Bowl is a competition with questions about beef, sheep, swine, and goat meat topics where students use a buzzer in order to answer. Teams compete in a double elimination format by giving oral answers to questions posed by a judge. Each match has both an individual and toss-up question round. A group discussion round is included in the senior division to simulate the national competition.
The Senior Quiz Bowl winner represents Wisconsin at the National 4-H Quiz Bowl contest at the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, KY in November. The winning team of the senior division (14 years of age or older) was Marathon County. Members included: Alison Leonard, Alexa Leonard, Madison Heise, Mason Heise, and Kyla Heise.
Second place in Senior Quiz Bowl went to Grant County: Jessica Patterson, Cameron Patterson, Luke Patterson, Libby Vogt, Michael Edgington.
Winner of the Junior Quiz Bowl division (under 14 years old) was Sheboygan County. Members included Audrey Gartman, Olivia Kohlman, Leo Gartman, Ellie Seifert, and Cora Cowhig.
Winner of the Mixed division (must contain at least one youth from each age division) was Jackson County. Team members included: Morgan Lindow, Amara Streff, Morgan Berg, Brenna Thorson, and Julia Brown.
Grant County was second place. Members included: Iris Adams, Gwen Reidl, Aiden Patterson, and Leah Patterson.
In the Skillathon contest, participants complete a 25-question written test, 4 individual skill-a-thon stations where contestants take part in livestock breed identification, feed identification, equipment identification and meat identification. The final portion is the team exercises where each team works together to best solve 4 different scenarios involving live animals and animal management concepts. This phase helps youth learn problem solving, critical thinking and teamwork.
The winning 4-H Skillathon team was from Grant County team and will represent Wisconsin at the National 4-H Skillathon Contest in Louisville, KY in November. Members included: Cameron Patterson, Luke Patterson, Libby Vogt, and Michael Edgington.
Second place senior team was Sheboygan County team which included Ethan Kohlman, Kathryn Schwartz, Chloe Bruenig.
Top Ten Overall Senior Skillathon Individuals were: Cameron Patterson (Grant), Libby Vogt (Grant), Luke Fisher (Jackson), Jake Kling (Jackson), Ethan Kohlman (Sheboygan), Alison Leonard (Marathon), Luke Patterson (Grant), Chloe Breunig (Sheboygan), Lindsey Schmoll (Marathon), and Candace Lein (Portage).
Sheboygan County topped the junior division. Members included: Audrey Gartman, Olivia Kohlman, Leo Gratman, Ellie Seifert, and Cora Cowhig. Second place was Iowa County. Team members are Caleb Formo, Riley Sennhenn, Cole Schauff.
Top Ten Overall Junior Skillathon Individuals were: Olivia Kohlman (Sheboygan), Caleb Formo (Iowa), Audrey Gartman (Sheboygan), Natalie Reidl (Grant), Alyssa Lindow (Jackson), Bryce Laufenberg (Jackson), Julia Berg (Jackson), Cole Schauff (Iowa), Grant Schauff (Iowa), and Justin Kling (Jackson).
In the Mixed division, Jackson County was 1st place. Members included: Morgan Lindow, Amara Streff, Morgan Berg, Brenna Thorson, and Julia Brown. Grant County was second place. Team members were: Cameron Patterson, Luke Patterson, Libby Vogt, and Michael Edgington.
Top Ten Overall Mixed Skillathon Individuals were: Aiden Patterson (Grant), Morgan Lindow (Jackson), Morgan Berg (Jackson), Brenna Thorson (Jackson), Leah Patterson (Grant), Iris Adams (Grant), Amara Streff (Jackson), Gwen Reidl (Grant), Aubrey Gott (Polk), Anna Mckinley (Polk).
These events were organized and facilitated by Bernie O’Rourke, Extension Youth Livestock Specialist, UW Madison Animal & Dairy Sciences Department, and Jill Jorgensen, 4-H Youth Development Agriculture and Animal Science Outreach Specialist, and partially funded by the Wisconsin 4-H Foundation. Numerous judges and helpers from across the state assisted in the success of these contests. More contest information is available at: https://4h.extension.wisc.edu/opportunities/statewide-events-and-opportunities/livestock-quiz-bowl-skillathon-contest/
Winning Senior teams in Quiz Bowl and Skillathon will represent Wisconsin at the national 4-H contests in Louisville, KY at the North American International Livestock Exposition.
For upcoming events and programs in the animal sciences, contact your county UW-Extension office, see the WI 4-H website at: https://4h.extension.wisc.edu/ or the Wisconsin Livestock Youth Website: https://youthanimalsciences.wisc.edu/
