McKenna Cech looks over one of Alexandra Resch's sheep at the 4-H sheep show Thursday. Resch was the only entrant to be champion in multiple events, winning the Market Lamb, Ewe, and Junior Showperson titles.

NEW ULM– A power outage was no match for the Brown County Free Fair sheep show Thursday.

The outage occurred a quarter of the way through the show, which started at 3:30 and ended at 5:45. The lights went out, the fans shut off, and the microphone judge McKenna Cech was using to announce the results quit working.

The show went on, as Cech announced the show without a microphone and outside light ensured the main stage could still be seen. The fans and microphone came back on during the show, but the lights never did.

Cech has been judging shows since high school, and has been on the county fair circuit for the last five years. There are two categories of sheep entered, breeding and market livestock. Cech said there are specific attributes they look for in each.

“For breeding livestock, you should build good breeding livestock from the ground up,” Cech said. “[This includes] their structure. Are they good on their feet and legs? Do they have the capacity to put muscle on? Can they pass that into their offspring? They have to have a good show presence. The same can be said for a market livestock. But they need to be able to handle well, have good muscle definition, some power, some shape, and some width.”

There are trends judges have to watch out for on a yearly basis to see what breeders are favoring. Cech explained some trends she has seen in the past couple of years.

“Sometimes they want them more attractive,” Cech said. “They don’t need to have as much muscle but they still gotta be good on their feet and legs. And sometimes they want to be really cranked up full muscle. People pick and choose where they want to go. They can decide on what types of livestock they want to be showing, and then just run with that.”

Eleven-year-old Alexandra Resch was the only entrant to be champion in multiple events, winning the Market Lamb, Ewe, and Junior Showperson titles. Being a three-peat champion proved to be a sweet reward. “It feels pretty good and I’m really proud of myself and my sheep, but it just takes a lot of work,” she said.

Resch said the hard work and effort to get her sheep ready involved plenty of shearing and working them. She credited her father with being a big help in the process. Of the three sheep she showed in the competition, she identified two impressive attributes they exhibited.

“Their different muscles and how different they are from each other.” Resch said.

After her victory, Resch said both her and her sheep will get to relax and enjoy the fair before preparing for their next event. Since Resch is 11, she is one year away from competing at the State Fair. Her favorite part of the Brown County Free Fair is seeing her friends and having fun.

Other winners included Mikenna Hoffman for Lamb Lead, Kyla Wuertz for Pen of 3, Aubree Schmidt for Senior Showperson, and Elsie Trebesch for Intermediate Showperson.