Trotting to the center of the ring in Hale Arena, eyes on the judge, sophomore Crew Freeland holds tight to his lamb, Bronco, as the competition starts. They join the other competitors front and center as Freeland stops Bronco in his place and sets his legs square to the rest of his body, ready to be evaluated. These next three minutes in the ring will reflect months of work and dedication put in at home.
The judge walks past each contestant and eventually returns to the center of the ring. A moment of suspense passes until the judge waltzes over to Crew, taps his lamb and shakes his hand in congratulations for winning the title of Grand Champion Market Lamb.
That was on Oct. 20 as Freeland competed in a livestock showing competition at The American Royal Livestock Show as part of 4-H. Showing livestock is a dedicated discipline in which exhibitors raise, groom and train animals for exhibition. Within the show ring, participants present their animals to be judged on their structural correctness and breed traits. There are three main categories to each show: showmanship, breeding ewes and market lambs.
“In showmanship, there are age groups, and it’s basically where the judge is judging both you and the animal,” Freeland said. “In a market show, it could be any age, but I like competing in market shows because I think my animals are pretty good.”
For Freeland, success in the show ring didn’t happen by accident. He has been competing since he was eight years old. His rise in this industry is a continuation of something deeper, a tradition passed down from his father, Travis Freeland, shaping not only how he competes but who he’s becoming.
“Introducing Crew to it was intentional,” Travis Freeland said. “I wanted to expose him to it early, but once we did, he quickly gravitated toward it on his own. I gained so many positives from being involved in livestock and 4-H that I wanted him to experience that as well. It became clear early on that he had both a passion for it and a real talent for showing, so once we saw his interest and work ethic, we supported him and let it grow from there.”
Throughout Crew Freeland’s 8-year showing career, he has won titles in both showmanship and market lamb. He’s collected numerous titles since his first competition in 2018 and has continued to grow since.
Crew and his lamb, Bronco, were seven-time Grand Champions, including a win last year at the Cornhusker Showdown, and then went on to win Grand Champion Market Lamb at the American Royal in Kansas City.
“There are many memories and wins that stand out throughout Crew’s show career, but this year stands above the rest,” Travis Freeland said. “For those outside the livestock industry, the American Royal is comparable to winning the Super Bowl, one of the biggest and most competitive stages in the country.”
At the start of every season, the family purchases a new set of lambs and begins training them for upcoming shows. While five lambs a year is already hard enough to manage, Crew Freeland has to find time to fit those animals in with his already busy schedule of school and two sports.
“I take care of the animals myself,” Crew Freeland said. “My dad helps me out at night, but it can be hard with school and sports because of the late nights and early mornings.”
Crew Freeland has a new set of lambs he’s currently training for the upcoming show season, which kicks off in May.
Once summer rolls around, he will compete in lower-level competitions called jackpots, which help build momentum and train lambs before big shows. Then, the three main shows follow: Aksarben, the State Fair and then Kansas City. While he doesn’t have a finalized schedule for this season, he is set to show at the Saunders County Fair in late July, the Nebraska State Fair at the end of August and the Aksarben Stock Show toward the end of September.
“I feel good about this upcoming season,” Crew Freeland said. “We traveled all across the country to pick out our new sheep and I’m ready to start competing.”
