New Zealand shearers dominated in the Warrnambool show’s shearing competition, winning the annual Trans Tasman challenge against Australians and the open shearing contest.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In the annual Te Kuiti/Warrnambool challenge, former world champion Gavin Mutch helped lead NZ to victory.
Australian representatives Glenn Stephens, of Heywood, and Tyson Scholz (with Mortlake shearer Roger Mifsud the third in the Aussie trio) were fastest in the contest but lost out on quality.
The Kiwis turned in a big winning lead of 19.4pts, compared with the Australian competition team’s win by almost 11pts last year.
The results were: Trans Tasman Challenge (8 sheep – 4 merino wethers, 4 crossbred ewes): New Zealand Shears Te Kuiti 215.81pts (Jack Fagan 15min 3sec, 66.53pts; Gavin Mutch 15min 33sec, 72.15pts; Mark Grainger 15min 35sec, 77.13pts) beat Romney Shears Warrnambool 235.21pts (Glenn Stephens 12min 38sec, 76.28pts; Tyson Scholz 14min 11sec, 79.18pts; Roger Mifsud 15min 10sec, 79.75pts) by 19.4pts.
In the next step in the Trans Tasman challenge, Mifsud and Scholz will represent Australia in NZ in April.
In the show’s open shearing contest, Kiwis gained all top five places with Mifsud snaring sixth place.
Results were: Romney Shears Open final (20 sheep): Gavin Mutch (Whangamomona NZ) 19min 43sec, 70.9pts, 1; Jack Fagan NZ) 20min 52sec, 77.75pts, 2; Mark Grainger (Te Kuiti NZ) 21min 20sec, 79.3pts, 3; Hayden Tapp (TaihapeNZ) 21min 46sec, 79.75pts, 4; Ethan Pankhurst (Masterton NZ) 20min 22sec, 84.9pts, 5; Roger Mifsud (Mortlake, Vic) 26min 44sec, 92.1pts, 6.
Results for the show’s Romney Shears Senior final (8 sheep) were: Ricci Stevens (Napier NZ) 10min 55sec, 45.25pts, 1; Brandon Maguire Ratima (Winton NZ) 11min 9sec, 48.83pts, 2; Ramone Smith (Gisborne NZ) 11min 17sec, 56.23pts, 3; Owen Davies (Wales) 13min 33sec, 57.28pts, 4; Sam Davison (Masterton NZ) 12min 35sec, 63.88pts, 5; Sam Powell (Wales) 13min 40sec, 44.88pts, 6.
