Kentley Gosser pulled on his boots, stepped into the Livestock Pavilion Sunday night at the 177th Shelby County Fair and attempted to follow in the footsteps of his older sister.
Ellie Gosser, the 2022 Shelby County Royal winner and 2025 Shelby County Fair Queen, watched intently from the sidelines as her younger brother defeated four other participants to win the 2026 Shelby County Royal.
The five participants in Sunday's Shelby County Royal competition for 2025 qualifiers were (from left): Reagan Dillon, Deacon DeWitt, Kentley Gosser, Maryn Sprinkle and Lillian Dove.
“It means a lot. I’ve always loved showmanship because you can’t always have the best livestock, but you can work your butt off and get them as broke as you want and win showmanship,” said Kentley, age 16 and a rising junior at Southwestern High School. “Showmanship is something you have an effect on. It’s not just what the judge thinks about your pig, but how you present it and your attitude.”
The five participants were the Shelby County Royal qualifiers from the 2025 Shelby County Fair.
A second Shelby County Royal event will take place Friday at 9 a.m. with the 2026 qualifiers.
Gosser presents a dairy cow to the judge during Sunday's Shelby County Royal competition at the Shelby County Fair.
To qualify, an individual has to be the highest placing 4H Senior showmanship winner in one of six species – beef cattle, sheep, swine, goat, dairy cattle, and horse and pony.
Gosser qualified in the swine category.
“I like the personalities (of swine). They are kind of like dogs but livestock,” said Gosser. “Once you get them acquainted with you and broke, they are probably one of the easier ones, but they are hard to get broke.”
Maryn Sprinkle settles her animal during the beef cattle showing event at the Shelby County Fair.
Gosser also was familiar with beef cattle, an event his sister specialized in showing during her competition days.
Gosser had a year to prepare for showing the other four species which meant he had to rely on friends for information.
“You go to everybody you know that knows different species and talk to them,” said Gosser. “You have to learn as much as you can.”
The Shelby County Royal participants prepare their sheep for judging Sunday at the Shelby County Fair.
He admitted he even took his sister’s advice when it came to beef cattle.
“She helped me a little bit,” he said. “She showed beef cattle all 10 years. She helped me fix a few things with beef cattle. I went everywhere else for all the other species.
The other four contestants Sunday were Reagan Dillon (Shelbyville High School), Deacon DeWitt (Morristown), Maryn Sprinkle (Triton Central) and Lillian Dove (New Palestine High School/Anderson University).
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