The Ohio State University Dairy Judging Teams

04/27/2026

Let’s go back to the anniversary teams and spotlight the ones who celebrated 25 years since judging at Ohio State. Another team that has moved forward in a variety of directions was Jenny Indoe Thomas, Greg Borchers, Brandon Lawwill, and Keith Didonato.

With equal amounts of passion and respect for their coach, Dr. Spike, they are convinced he had patience with all of them.
This team had their best results at Eastern States placing 1st. At PA, they 5th and then 10th at Madison and Brandon earned AllAmerican status.

As far as memories, they do recall the Ohio State Fair lasting nearly 3 weeks and they managed the parlor, the MilkaCow station , AND a display herd with 20 head. Jenny states that you had to really WANT to judge. However, Pete reminded them about the trips that were in the future!

Their placings in contests did not decide their journeys in life.
Greg (who was able to attend) with his wife Penny are parents of Austin and Jacob. Austin was on an OSU 4th place team at Madison and Jacob judged 4-H and is working on his degree here on campus. Greg went on to be the 7th generation dairy farmer with the farm prefix of Sugar Knoll. Greg had many memories. Some included a van accident and practical jokes with each other and Pete. That is possibly why they recall Pete’s patience.

Brandon was able to attend for a short while and he too took a very dairy path including time spent as a herdsman at ATI and
currently is the Project Manager for WG Dairy Supply. He is engaged and will be married in June. Brandon recalls the moment he gave his final set of reasons to John Ayars.

Jenny is married to Nathan and they are the dynasty of Triple T as major influencers with Holstein and Jersey breeds. Jenny has graced the tan bark at many shows in many countries. Sports also dominate their time with all 3 of their children on the court, the football field, and on the tanbark. Their oldest recently competed in the FFA state dairy judging finals on campus.

Keith left his roots in the dairy industry, but went onto become a development officer here at Ohio State and now is Vice President of Advancement at Kenyon College. He has plenty of positive memories of skills developed when judging that are a part of his daily routine in these endeavors. He and his wife Diane are the parents of two boys who play multiple sports.

04/25/2026

Today was the Ohio FFA Dairy Judging finals. It was also the very first event to take place in the new and completed arena at the MALC (Multispecies Animal Livestock Complex). We all made history as we inaugurated the area with students and cows. Classes were led and cows were polished and groomed. Many thanks to John Lemmerman for assuming the leadership role along with Mackenzie Abbati, Dairy Operations Manager, staff, and all the Buckeye Dairy Club members who assisted with training the cows to lead better! Also many of our current and former judging team members were there to manage the reasons process. Thank you FFA for this opportunity!

04/20/2026

On Friday, April 17 at the Buckeye Dairy Club banquet, we took time to recognize our 50,25, and 10 year anniversary teams for dairy judging. Each group represented three different era of coaches.
The 50 year team consisted of Blaine Crosser, Lee Kohler, Larry Schirm, and Tony Moreno, and Doug McKay (deceased and remembered )They are proof of how a team’s friendship can and will last a lifetime.
Harold Kaeser was the legendary coach often referred to as the “Dean” of dairy judging. His assistant coach was Dave Galton who was on campus working on his Masters degree and went on to be the famed and winning coach at Cornell.

Here are some unique points about this high profile team.
*Tony Moreno was the first international student to judge for Ohio State. The story of how Coach Kaeser brought he and his brother Juan to the states is very interesting.
*This team came from Guernsey and Jersey backgrounds only!
*On this team’s 25th anniversary, Blaine, Larry, and Lee were each asked and did judge a National Guernsey show.
*Larry has been an official and lead judge at the National Intercollegiate contest for 30 years.

For an entire script of their stories and performance, email me.

04/15/2026

It is with sadness that we are posting again to provide information on the death of a former OSU dairy judging alum. Bill was a cowman in the business of breeding and developing Jerseys with his brother and partners. However he was also a respected educator and also the founder of his famed barbecue sauce. Following is a link to his obituary and photo (far right)of he and his team mates at the 50 year celebration of their team at a Buckeye Dairy Club banquet in 2016.

https://www.spencefuneralhome.com/obituaries/William-H-Diley-Jr?obId=48031956

02/21/2026

The final profile of our Madison judges is Bradley Gotto.

From a family dairy farm in Wisconsin, Bradley grew up near Dayton as his father was in the military. Although Centerville High School was in an urban area, the FFA program still offered him opportunities for various CDE events, but dairy judging was not one of those.

It was his dairy background that led him to enroll at OSU ATI. Dr. Thornton quickly noticed his interest and his dairy judging career was launched. While at ATI, Bradley judged on one of the very last teams Dr. Thornton would coach prior to his retirement. That team won Harrisburg and Louisville and was third overall at Madison. Bradley finished in the top ten overall and reasons at each contest. His best contest was at the North American where he earned 4th high individual. As the team had earned an opportunity to judge internationally, Bradley traveled last summer to Scotland and Ireland and competed

While at ATI, Bradley interned at RNR Brown Swiss dairy (widely acclaimed for their Swiss breeding program). This led to an interest in dairy nutrition, and he went on to complete a research internship with Dr. Kirby Krogstad (former High Individual at the National Collegiate contest in Madison) at OARDC. With so many impressive mentors, Bradley made his way to OSU in Columbus. He had not originally planned to do further judging, but his destiny was getting a boost and encouragement!

Bradley was a part of our Madison and Louisville team. He will still have eligibility for Harrisburg this fall. However, at WDE, he was the highest scoring reasons person on our team and in All American status for those. In Louisville, he was the support that earned us a top three placing in 4 breeds. Bradley will be assisting in the Dairy Cattle Selection and Evaluation class as a TA.

Sometimes our journey to dairy judging is very logical and yet other pathways are full of winding roads. Whatever the path, straight or curved, Bradley realized so much of his potential and relationships that leads to an end result. He has more education for his future whether it is a master’s in nutrition or a career in veterinary medicine. Regardless, his acquired dairy judging skills will be transferred into his life forever.

02/20/2026

Just awhile longer….hopefully!

02/09/2026

Our next spotlight is one that has an interesting twist.

I first literally bumped into Lilly Marsh on the stairway of our church when she was very young. Later she was a high school Freshman in our hometown whose FFA advisor was one of my former OSU dairy judges. Encouraged by this connection, Lilly was persuaded to participate in FFA dairy judging, marking the start of her impressive journey.

Lilly had already been involved with 4-H dairy as she was working with the Eades Family Ayrshires exhibiting at the county and state fair and her judging career gained remarkable momentum during the pandemic. In 2022, Lilly’s team from Mechanicsburg placed first in oral reasons, and by 2023, they achieved first place overall statewide. That fall, the team reached new heights, finishing second nationwide at the FFA national contest. Lilly distinguished herself as the top individual in the Brown Swiss breed and secured eighth place overall in the contest. Their accomplishments led them to an international competition, traveling to Scotland and Ireland Then it was time for her to do some 4-H judging and Lilly was 15 th overall at the Louisville contest.

Dairy judging is only one of Lilly’s stories. At Mechanicsburg High School, she was an FFA officer, recipient of the State and American degrees, and even competed in Parli Pro, Prepared Public Speaking, and Urban Soils. In 4-H, she also showed lambs and served on the Jr. Fair Board and the Fashion Board. Lilly is also quite an accomplished musician with many musicals in her background at school and in some summer theatre productions

Her leadership skills have been shared at Ohio State as she is a CFAES Ambassador, a Peer Mentor, and executive board member of the OSU pre-vet association. Beyond all her commitments, Lilly has also been loyal and steadfast with our OSU dairy judging team traveling to all three contests and Fort Worth a few weeks ago. Her performance was solid and her reasons were among the top in each contest including a 7th place finish at Louisville.

Lily is a 3rd year Animal Sciences Biosciences student whose goal is to continue onto vet school and then serve agricultural/rural communities.

As you were reading, it should become obvious that “our” Lilly is multi-talented, multi-committed, and someone who brings pride to all she attempts. It is our honor to share these moments of her life with our readers. As has been said and quoted, this is the “rest of the story!’

01/30/2026

01/29/2026

In just about a month, the Dairy Judging class will be one of the first to be a part of the new facility!

We'll have even more to share as the MALC comes to life with animals, students and the public! Stay tuned for updates.

Writer(s): Ohio State CFAES Jan. 29, 2026 COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) ushered in the next generation of animal sciences education with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Multispecies Animal Learning Complex (MALC)....

01/19/2026

Highlights of a very good showing at the Fort Worth Stock Show contest; 4th team overall and reasons, 1st team in Brown Swiss and 2nd team in Holsteins, 3rd team in Jersey reasons, 2nd team BS reasons and Holstein reasons,Whitney was 2nd in BS and Will 2nd in Holsteins. We have had quite a cultural experience in Fort Worth. Thanks to all who support and follow our journeys.

01/18/2026

We are ready with our “game faces” on! Go Bucks! We are a part of another kind of sport!