World Angus Youth Competition Champ Team USA Includes Montanan

For the first time ever, the United States sent a team to compete in the World Angus Youth Competition, recently held in Australia.

And they didn’t just show up, they brought home the Grand Champion title. Not bad for a first time, right?

That's according to Montana's Western Ag Network, who tells us that the international competition brought together young Angus leaders, ages 18 to 25, from around the globe. A total of 12 teams took part: Angus Australia Team Spinifex, Angus Australia Team Saltbush, Red Angus Society of Australia Team, Angus New Zealand Team Legacy, Angus New Zealand Team Infinity, Canadian Angus Team Oh Canada, Canadian Angus Team Canada Eh, Czech Republic Team, United Kingdom and Ireland Team, Barbarians Team Southern Cross and Barbarians Team Universal. And of course the champs, American Angus Association Team.

Team USA included Team Captain Jonwyn Ayres of Oregon, Tucker Stagemeyer of Nebraska, Garrett Handsaker of Illinois, AND Claire Stevenson of Montana!

Claire grew up on a black Angus ranch in central Montana (Hobson). She explained that the World Angus Forum youth contest consists of "multiple different events, everything from livestock judging to fitting and showing. We just got done with a debate where we were in the finals. We also had modules like Bush Mechanics, precision ag, irrigation, and even reversing a trailer through an obstacle course with a manual transmission.”

The overarching theme of the contest is adaptability and teamwork. Many of the challenges were unlike anything Team USA was used to back home. The ability to adjust on the fly, to different breeds, different environments, is what pushed them forward.

Congratulations, Team USA! We hope you can represent us again for a repeat in 2026.