King Country guns back in the hunt at the Shears

It was like a blast from the past as Te Kuiti shearers filled the first three places in an all-King Country Open final at the Te Puke A and P Show shearing championships on Saturday.

It was a rare trifecta in the rural sector era of dairy and forestry conversion, compared with the King Country shearing dominance of the 1980s, which included at one stage five of the six Golden Shears Open finalists in 1984, headed by Te Kuiti brothers John Fagan and the then-emerging David Fagan, first and second, John Ruki, of Piopio, fourth, and Paul Grainger, of Te Kuiti sixth.

It was a familiar look at Te Puke on Saturday, with Jack Fagan, son of the now Sir David Fagan, first to finish a 10-sheep final and claiming victory by 1.6pts over Mark Grainger, son of Paul Grainger. Third was James Ruki, of Te Kuiti, while fourth was Conan Te Kere, of Taumarunui.

It capped a couple of big days for Fagan and Grainger, who in a reverse-order Grainger-Fagan result on Thursday dominated the Open final at the Aria Waitangi Day Sports, where they also shore together as the New Zealand Development team in a CP Wool Shearing Series win by 11.7pts over Welsh emerging talent Llion Jones and Ceredig Lewis at the Aria Sports on Waitangi Day.

In the Open final at Aria, Grainger was the only shearer under 18 minutes for the 20 sheep and beat Fagan by 3.25pts, while third was Toa Henderson, on an 800km round trip which ended back home with a win at Arapohue Show on Saturday.

Keryn Herbert, of Te Awamutu, won the Open woolhandling final at Aria, her fourth win in five finals in a fortnight.

Simon Goss, of Mangamahu, won the Senior shearing final at Aria before heading south for a repeat at ofWhile Senior shearer Simon Goss gAnother in good form was young King Country shearer Topia Barrowcliffe, who won the Intermediate shearing final and repeated the effort at Te Puke two days later.

Another big winner at Te Puke was Canadian shearer Pauline Bolay, claiming the Senior title by 0.383pts from Wairoa shearer and farmer Paul Swann.

In the first week of December Bolay became the first female from the Northern Hemisphere to either tackle or break a World record, when she shore 510 lambs in eight hours at Waikaretu, and on Saturday she became the first woman to win a Senior shearing final in New Zealand since French shearer Eleanore Resneau won at Kaikohe two years ago, and the first New Zealand woman since Catherine Mullooly’s three wins in 2015-2016.

Results from the three shearing sports competitions in the North Island on Waitangi Day and on Saturday:

Aria Waitangi Day Sports Shears at Aria on Thursday, February 6, 2020:

Shearing:

CP Wool International Development Series (10 sheep): New Zealand Development Aria 70.75pts (Mark Grainger 9min 41sec, 33.95pts; Jack Fagan 9min 40sec, 36.8pts) 70.75pts beat Wales Development 82.45pts (Llion Jones 10min 34sec, 41.2pts; Ceredig Lewis 10min 29sec, 41.25pts) by 11.7pts.

Open final (20 sheep): Mark Grainger (Te Kuiti) 17min 45sec, 59pts, 1; Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 18min 3sec, 62.25pts, 2; Toa Henderson (Kaiwaka) 18min 29sec, 64.2pts, 3; Conan Te Kere (Taumarunui) 19min 31sec, 67.2pts, 4.

Senior final (10 sheep): Simon Goss (Mangamahu) 10min 30sec, 37.3pts, 1; Ellis Efans (Wales) 10min 27sec, 38.35pts, 2; Gethin Lewis (Wales) 11min 5sec, 41.15pts, 3; Flynn Harvey (Kaitaia) 12min, 44.6sec, 4.

Intermediate final (6 sheep): Topia Barrowcliffe (Piopio) 8min 18sec, 32.0667pts, 1; Corey Barrowcliffe (Piopio) 8min 23sec, 32.8267pts, 2; Daniel Biggs (Mangamahu) 8min 52sec, 33.4333pts, 3; Matthew Smith (Otorohanga) 10min 36sec, 42.4667pts, 4.

Junior final (4 sheep): Aiden Tarrant (Piopio) 7min 19sec, 29.95pts, 1; Heath Barnsdall (Piopio) 7min 37sec, 30.85pts, 2; Clay Harris (Piopio) 6min 59sec, 32.45pts, 3; Reghan Ngarotata (Piopio) 6min 45sec, 35.75pts, 4.

Novice final (12 sheep): Te Ana Phillips (Taumarunui) 4min 33sec, 29.65pts, 1; Sean Fagan (Te Kuiti) 5min 35sec, 34.75pts, 2; Beau Robertson (Piopio) 2min 46sec, 44.3pts, 3.

Woolhandling:

Open final: Keryn Herbert (Te Kuiti) 81.03pts, 1; Suie Turner (Taumarunui) 115.22pts, 2; Celsea Collier (Gore) 117.84pts, 3.

Senior final: Tramon Campbell (Gisborne) 80.13pts, 1; Jasmin Tipoki (Martinborough) 86.65pts, 2; Lucas Broughton (Gisborne) 125.78pts, 3.

Junior final: Te Anna Phillips (Taumarunui) 64.78pts, 1; Vinniye Phillips (Taumarunui) 67.75pts, 2; Topia Barrowcliffe (Piopio) 78.34pts, 3.

Northern Wairoa A and P Show shearing championships at Arapohue on Saturday, February 8, 2020:

Open final (10 sheep): Toa Henderson (Kaiwaka) 8min 39sec, 32.65pts, 1; Phil Wedd (Silverdale) 8min 54sec, 37.6pts, 2; Neville Osborne (Dargaville) 8min 47sec, 39.05pts, 3.

Senior final (8 sheep): Jayden Mainland (Wellsford) 6.min 48sec, 31.4pts, 1; Lee Cheyne (Te Kauwhata) 8min 13sec, 31.98pts, 2; Dan Berger (Ahuroa) 6min 49sec, 32.45pts, 3.

Intermediate final (5 sheep): Tommy Stevenson (Tangowahine) 6min 29sec, 29.25pts, 1; Rex Finlayson (Kai Iwi Lakes) 6min 13sec, 29.65pts, 2; Alan Boler (Wellsford) 7min 29sec, 33.25pts, 3.

Junior final (3 sheep): Danielle Boyd (Dargaville) 6min 29sec, 28.12pts, 1; Kevin Welch (Snells Beach) 6min 13sec, 30.65pts, 2; Gus Berger (Ahuroa) 7min 29sec, 30.79pts, 3.

Novice final (2 sheep): Hamu Henderson (Kaiwaka) 6min 49sec, 31.45pts, 1; Trestan Rix (Dargaville) 6min 38sec, 36.9pts, 2; Liddy Wood (Ruawai) 10min 45sec, 51.75pts, 3.

Veterans (1 sheep): Ralph Smith (Tangowahine) 1min 36sec, 8.3pts, 1; Richard Dampney (Kaikohe) 1min 22sec, 11.6pts, 2; Rex Finlayson (Kai Iwi Lakes) 1min 40sec, 12.5pts, 3.

Te Puke A and P Show Shears at Te Puke on Saturday, February 8, 2020:

Open final (12 sheep): Jack Fagan (Te Kuiti) 11min 18sec, 41.9pts, 1; Mark Grainger (Te Kuiti) 12min 3sec, 43.15pts, 2; James Ruki (Te Kuiti) 12min 43sec, 46.567pts, 3; Bart Hadfield (Wairoa) 12min 55sec, 50pts, 4.r

Open Plate (2 sheep): Stuart Connor (England) 1min 46sec, 13.3pts, 1; Axle Reid (Taihape/Waipawa) 3min 1sec, 14.05pts, 2; David Gordon (Masterton) 15.4pts, 3; Paul Hodges (Reefton) 2min 23sec, 16.15pts, 4.

Senior final (6 sheep): Pauline Bolay (Canada) 8min 5sec, 32.917pts, 1; Paul Swann (Wairoa) 8min 26sec, 33.3pts, 2; Flynn Harvey (Kaitaia) 9min 46sec, 36.467pts, 3; Madison Bright (Takapau) 9min 43sec, 36.983pts, 4.

Intermediate final (5 sheep): Topia Barrowcliffe (Piopio) 6min 52sec, 35pts, 1; Matthew Smith (Otorohanga) 8min 41sec, 36.65pts, 2; Levi King (Motu) 8min 56sec, 37.6pts, 3; Atawhai Hadfield (Wairoa) 8min 26sec, 39.3pts, 4.

Junior final (3 sheep): Clay Harris (Piopio) 5min 45sec, 27.583pts, 1; Jack Hutchinson (England) 6min 29sec, 35.117pts, 2; Ryka Swann (Wairoa) 7min 39sec, 35.95pts, 3; Keahrey Manson (Tokomaru) 8min 10sec, 38.5pts, 4.

Veterans (2 sheep): Peter McCabe (Tauranga) 3min 53sec, 14.15pts, 1; Edwin Perry (Mt Maunganui) 3min 30sec, 16pts, 2; Hugh McCarroll (Tauranga) 4min 7sec, 17.85pts, 3; Barry Jones (Papakura) 2min 49sec, 17.95pts, 4.

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