Rilynn Buesing left the Mississippi Valley Fair Aug. 7, pumped up about showing the grand champion market hog and the reserve champion market gilt.
But the Durant 16-year-old’s state fair aspirations were modest.
“My goal was a top five. Winning the division and being in the final drive would be phenomenal crazy,” she recalled Monday.
Instead, Rilynn showed the grand champion and reserve champion 4-H market hog.
For just the third time in history, one 4-Her showed the top two animals.
So how does she regard her actual finish?
“Nothing compares to how the end result feels,” she said.
The finish followed a busy show, with Rilynn racing from ring to ring to show four pigs.
“It was very fast paced, but a lot of fun to go back-to-back.”
The grand champion sold for $36,000, and the reserve earned $20,000.
It’s a finish Rilynn never dared to dream. “I was dreaming the bottom of the top five.”
Buesing is part of a family well known for showing cattle.
“Steers were my things. I loved showing steers, and still do. It’s a great environment, great for learning responsibility.
“A couple of years ago, my cousins were showing pigs, and they’d let me show in the open show. I didn’t do bad. I asked my dad if we could get a couple pigs, not for county or state fair, just jackpot shows. They weren’t the best pigs, but they taught me stuff. How to work them, what you have to put in every single day. Dad said how you do dictates if we do this again,” she said.
Now, she’s all in for next year with dad, Randy, mom, Shelby and sisters Peyton and Makenna.
She thanked her sponsors, and particularly, County Line Livestock, the breeder that helped coach her championship runs.
She said Nick Banger, and Brett Lilienthal helped every step of the way.
“I think of Nick as the bad cop, letting me know the rules. Brett is my hype-up guy behind me in the gate. They’ve learned how I process stuff,” she said.
Rilynn is immersed in Durant sports: volleyball, track and field, basketball, golf, softball, and “anything my school provides.”
But livestock, “has always been my thing. I was born into it. I went to shows watching my sisters do it. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”