CHEYENNE, Wyo. - The combined middle and high school Rawhide FFA chapter excelled in their events at this year's state convention. The high school competitions that were competed in at this year's state convention included, Ag mechanics, meats judging, horse judging, livestock judging, poultry judging, prepared speaking and running for a state office. The middle school competitions consisted of horse and livestock judging.

The high school meats team of Kort Bannan, Melody Zumbrunnen, Gracie ZumBrunnen, and Brittin Bruch, had continued success as they were the reserve champion overall meats team in the state of Wyoming, while having three of the four individuals on the team placing in the top ten. These three individuals were Kort Bannan in third, Melody ZumBrunnen receiving fourth high individual and Gracie ZumBrunnen placing as the seventh high individual, while the freshman and rookie Brittin Bruch placed 32 out of around 140 competitors total.

Speaking of rookies, this year was the first time the Rawhide FFA has competed in horse judging at state convention. The team was Larkin Williams, Hannah Krein, Lainey Single and Tessa Manning. Hannah Krein placed 35th overall and 26th in reasons, while Tessa Manning placed 21st overall and 14th in reasons. Summing up a good first state convention for the Rawhide Horse Judging team.

The high school livestock judging team, which was made up of Kort Bannan, Jackson Smith, Quintin Bieri and Francheska Bannan had Bannan placing 36th overall and 16th in swine, along with Smith receiving 33rd high individual in beef. The ag mechanics team of Dayne Lamp, Cory Bruegger, Jackson Smith, and Quintin Bieri with Cory Bruegger placing 12th highest in the environment and Natural Resources category of the competition. A freshman poultry team also competed this year. Charlie Gaukel, Francheska Bannan, Isaac Assman, Tia Allbright represented Rawhide in this competition.

The last high school competition was prepared public speaking with Tessa Manning being the only competitor from the Rawhide FFA chapter, she placed first at state and will be moving on to nationals to represent Wyoming at the National FFA convention.

In other non-competitions, seniors Dayne Lamp and Blake Miller pursued the opportunities within the Stotz Pathway Invitational. While senior Larkin Williams ran for state office and was elected the state FFA President for the 2023 to 2024 term. Kort Bannan, Dayne Lamp and Larkin Williams all received their State Degree as well.

The middle school competitors represented Rawhide FFA through horse and livestock evaluation. The middle school horse judging team consisted of Addie Harvey, Addisyn Bauersachs, Hunter Bartschi and Dryce Brott. The team was reserve champion middle school horse judging team in the state of Wyoming with Addie Harvey placing as the high individual. While the middle school livestock judging team was composed of Aubrey Manning, Keen Coffman, Ronald Kruegger, and Lexus Single. They had a little bit of tough luck with their competition this year however, Aubrey Manning placed 38th overall, and 5th high individual for the beef contest alone. Overall the 2023 state convention was an unprecedented success for the Rawhide FFA.