It was a case of veteran versus rookie at this year’s finals of the North American Sheep Shearing Championships.
Mike Pora of Australia and Timothy Wright of Michigan, U.S. met in the semi finals and then again in the finals.
Where Pora, the defending champion, took the title once again.
Pora says this year’s win at the North American Sheep Shearing Championships brings even more satisfaction than last year’s win, adding he has worked very hard to gain the title.
Pora came out of retirement last year to come and compete at the Calgary Stampede.
He has spent the past 12 months training both mentally and physically for the NASSC, as both speed and precision are vital aspects of the competition.
Pora says back home he mostly judges at competitions, but has done a few other machine shearing competitions.
Timothy Wright, who finished as runner-up, was more than excited to have achieved the spot he did.
At the young age of 23 and with only 4 years of training, he never thought it was possible to get to where he has.
Wright says he was unsure of what was in store for him, but he figured he had nothing to lose, so he just went out there, did his best, and had “so much fun”.
He has travelled to Ireland for one other competition, but other than that, Wright says this is the furthest he has gone for competitions.
Wright adds that he has his mother to thank for his success, as she was the one who signed him up for shearing lessons after his family couldn’t find anyone to do their own sheep.
