The Mower County General Livestock Team claimed the Reserve National Champion in a competition held at the 4-H National Project Bowl competition on Sept. 30 in Grand Island, Neb.

The contest, held in conjunction with Aksarben, is the nation’s largest 4-H stock show. Team member Michael Carroll was second in individual placings, and Colton Ivers was third.

Earlier this spring, the Mower County Senior Project Bowl team qualified to compete in this event from their success at the Minnesota State Project Bowl Contest. Team members representing Mower County in addition to Carroll and Ivers are Ashley Conradt and Grace Bergstrom. The team was coached by Bob Balgeman.

The team competed in a close race for champion that came down to the final question.

Earlier this spring, the Mower County Senior Project Bowl team qualified to compete in this event from their success at the Minnesota State Project Bowl Contest. Patterned after the golden-oldie television show “College Bowl,” the 4-H Project Bowl challenges teams of three to six youth to test their knowledge of their project area. The national contest is formatted differently from the Minnesota State competition. Each match is comprised of three rounds, which includes a team challenge round. Also, the points of individual team members are tracked.

“I enjoyed being part of a great team dynamic. Through this experience I learned so much more about animal projects and industry standards,” said Carroll, a senior at Austin High School.

“We all come from different agricultural backgrounds, but that helped us put our experiences together to answer team questions correctly,” said Grace Bergstrom, who is also a senior at AHS.

To learn more about 4-H Project Bowl, go to http://www.fourh.umn