Fueled by competitive nature

MADISON, Wis. — Braeden Bechel did not always have an affinity for dairy judging.

“My dad took me to my first practice when I was in third or fourth grade, and I didn’t want to go; I didn’t like it,” Bechel said. “Once I went to my first contest, I fell in love with it; our team won the district contest and placed in the top five at state. I didn’t do much individually, because I still didn’t understand the concept, but that’s when I realized it was actually a competitive sport.” That competitive nature is what made him strive to become the best he could be.

“I’m competitive; I always want to win,” Bechel said. “But with judging, it’s the fact that even if you don’t see everything right, you still have an opportunity to voice your opinion. I like that part of it.”

A native of Elmwood, Bechel brought his competitive game as a member of the Pierce County 4-H dairy judging team that represented Wisconsin at the National 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging Contest Sept. 26 at World Dairy Expo in Madison.

Bechel won the contest as high individual overall while leading his team to a second-place finish overall. Bechel won both the reasons and placings divisions of the contest, along with the Guernsey, Milking Shorthorn and Red & White breeds.

Bechel’s team also won reasons, while coming third in placings. They won the Ayrshire, Milking Shorthorn and Red & White breeds and were second in Brown Swiss.

Bechel competed alongside his teammates, who included his brother, Bryce, Ava Kolodzienski and Hannah Fesenmaier. They were coached by Bob Traynor, Peter Coyne and Jayne Esch.

With their strong finish, the group secured a ticket to the Royal Highland Show in Scotland, where they will experience the judging contest while touring a variety of farms and other sights.

The team earned the right to judge on the colored shavings after winning the Wisconsin State 4-H Dairy Judging Contest in August.

“All my years of being a senior, I’ve had an awesome team,” Bechel said.
“It’s so awesome to work with people who think like you do, and we obviously have great coaches.”

Bechel said it was the coaching he received in those early days that helped change his mind about judging.

“Peter was my junior coach and he got me invested in looking at cows,” Bechel said. “Both Peter and Bob were more focused on correct cows than the showy-type cows. I feel like if you get the correct cow first or in the top two when you’re judging, no matter what, you’re going to have a good day, because you’re not going to lose as many points.”

Judging at Expo has been Bechel’s goal, but the road there was bumpy.

“I had a bad day at the state contest,” Bechel said. “I placed ninth overall, which is good, but not what I wanted. Luckily, our team was strong enough and together we were able to win the contest by 11 points to get to Expo.”

Bechel buckled down, preparing himself for the national contest. As a fledgling freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he attended practices with the collegiate team.

“I appreciate being able to work with them this fall,” Bechel said. “My team practices on Wednesday nights at home; I can’t get back there for those. Brian (Kelroy) and Danielle (Brown) do a great job, especially with reasons. But they didn’t try to change anything I’ve been doing going into this contest. I appreciate the confidence they had in me.”

Bechel has one more 4-H judging goal to achieve: earning a spot on the Wisconsin 4-H team that judges at the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky, rounding out the full complement of national contests where Wisconsin 4-H fields a team.

In 2024, with a second-place state contest performance, Bechel’s team earned a spot to judge at the All-American Dairy Show Invitational Youth Dairy Cattle Judging Contest in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They won that contest as a team and Bechel topped it as an individual, placing fifth in reasons.

“That year, I focused a lot on placings,” Bechel said. “Last year, I focused on reasons. This year, I have put them both together and was able to talk my way to the top of this contest, and placed them pretty well, too.”

Bechel said he has learned reasons are crucial to success at high-level contests.

“The reasons don’t have to be your best classes, you just can’t lie in them,” Bechel said. “If you can say what you see, that’s what the judges want to hear. The big thing with reasons is the flow. That’s what Bob and Peter have taught me: if you can make it sound smooth and say what you see, you’re going to be sitting well.”

Bechel credits Esch with helping him take his reasons to the next level, using her own high-level contest experience to improve the team.

“Jayne is critical in a way that helps us,” Bechel said. “As a group our reasons have all improved since she started working with us after we went to Harrisburg.”

As he continues to improve his reasons, Bechel said it is important to look back at where he started.

“My first year competing as a senior, I only missed 12 points on my placings at the state contest,” Bechel said. “I placed 15th overall in the contest because my reasons weren’t good enough.

As he chases that berth on the Wisconsin team headed to Louisville, Bechel has another benchmark he is striving to achieve: the elusive perfect set of reasons.

“I’ve gotten lots of 49s, but never a 50,” Bechel said. “I’m still working at that.”

Beyond his 4-H career, Bechel is looking forward to advancing his judging career at the collegiate level.

Judging has offered Bechel experiences that his 9-year-old self could not comprehend, Bechel said.

“There are opportunities you can never imagine,” he said. “I’ve built a lot of relationships and made good friends that I’ll have for the rest of my life. I’ve learned to find good cows, but the biggest thing is learning to express myself through reasons. The ability to talk clearly, have ideas and defend them to others — that’s a big thing.”