up to Aksarben was extremely stressful with our annual online sale and needing to get both the animals and the trailer ready to leave directly after the sale closed. After arriving in Grand Island on Friday morning around seven, the game plan was simple: get Bojack filled back up as quickly as possible. Fortunately, he ate and drank really well on Friday and Saturday morning. All we needed to do after that was dial him in and get him shown to the best of my abilities. With a little help from the good Lord above, we were selected as the Grand Champion Market Beef at the 2020 Aksarben Stock Show. I’ve been very fortunate to have many great mentors throughout my lifetime. One of the most influential persons in my life has been David Bradford. My family met David at a Stock Show U Clinic in 2012, and we’ve done business with him ever since. David took our family to the next level in many ways; teaching my siblings and I how to feed steers, clip, and fit at a high level. I would have never owned Bojack, much less won Aksarben, without David finding him and working with Brad Smith and Competitive Edge Genetics to get him fed and presented to the best of our abilities. Serving as my second family and home away from home are two very important people in my life: Raymond Gonnet and Brooke Bumgardner. Raymond took me under his wing after I moved to Kansas for school and has taught me more than I could ever list. Most importantly, Raymond has helped me grow as a person and become the best version of myself possible. Finally, and most importantly, I need to extend a huge thank you to my family. Without my brother and sister, along with her boyfriend, Jared Gillespie, there is absolutely no way we could be successful in either the show or sale settings. Christian, Paige and Jared stepped up in a big way when I left for college and turned the reins over to them, and I will be eternally grateful for the huge part they’ve had in my successes. Needless to say, my siblings and I are extremely blessed that we have two parents who decided to raise us in the best industry in the world. I wouldn’t even want to know how much time and money my parents have spent for us to travel the country exhibiting cattle, along with all the time and expense it takes to prepare them for that moment. Most of all, I’m the most thankful that my parents raised us with a strong work ethic and high integrity; they taught us that hard work and determination will always pay off in the end.
AKSARBEN LAMBS
Grand Champion Lamb DaytonMortvedt
Lambs Brent Jennings
Reserve Champion Lamb Megan Schropp
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AKSARBEN HOGS
Grand ChampionHog Cash Voegele
Hogs KimBrock, OK
Reserve ChampionHog Trey Englin
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