Auctioneer champions crowned

Over 100 auctioneers competed in three preliminary qualifying rounds for the Livestock Marketing Association’s Auctioneer Championship across the U.S. and Canada, and recently the top 30 gathered at the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City for the 2024 World Livestock Auctioneer Championship. 

While there, 21-year-old Jace Thompson of Billings, Mont. was named the World Livestock Auctioneer Championship Rookie of the Year. 

Jace is the son of Ty Thompson, a Lander native who was named the 2009 World Champion Auctioneer, and the grandson of Warren Thompson of Lander, a longtime auctioneer at the Riverton Livestock Auction. 

Jace qualified for the championship during a preliminary round in Torrington, where he earned the high-point mark for a rookie, echoing a similar achievement from last summer at the International Livestock Auctioneer Championship in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 

Other individuals earning top honors were Champion Wade Leist of Boyne City, Mich.; Reserve Champion Dakota Davis of Waukomis, Okla.; Runner-Up Dean Edge of Rimbey, Alberta, Canada and High Score Interview Barrett Simon of Rosalia, Kan.