2022 "March Madness" Trial Results

MARCH MADNESS, MAR 5-6, 2022

It is now officially March and Spring is here Yay!! (Well almost) if you don’t count the blizzard of 2022, we all experienced this last weekend at the March Madness Trial held at Wasatch Wing & Clay’s famous trial grounds. It was going to be another epic weekend of running dogs and spending time with wonderful, like-minded people. The excitement was building as we were preparing to run this trial on new grounds. Our region had yet to have the opportunity to run on this piece of property at Wasatch Wing & Clay. It was going to bring new and exciting challenges to everyone trying to figure out the best way to run these new fields. As the sun was just starting to peak over the Wasatch Mountains to the east everyone was preparing to get the trial started. Glenn, who is our longtime bird planter, was at the ready. Marshalls, Judges, and handlers were all bundled up in warm gear to head out in the brisk morning air in hopes they would be able to have the run of the day. This trial would again prove to have many new dogs and handlers joining our ranks, we thank you for your continued support to our region. It is always fun to see new people coming out to learn our sport, so we thank you!

SATURDAY A FIELD

The A field on Saturday would be judged by Layne Peterson and Lance Hansen, thanks for your time. In the very last brace of the day (during the blizzard of 2022) Allen Webb and his bearded dog Moose would have a great run where they were able to put 3 birds on the card for a final score of 609.5 that would take home 3rd place, it is great to see them back on the podium. In brace 7 on the day, we had Jim Wiitala come down from Ennis, MT to attend our trial. It was so great to have him join us, thanks for traveling down. His dog Missy would have 3 great finds and 3 retrieves to score 626 that would be enough to come in 2nd place, Great run Jim! Jim had to leave before the pictures, so sorry we didn’t get you in there before you had to head home. In brace 14 (right before the blizzard of 2022) we would have Dennis Haggard and his dog Yash go on a tear. They would find 5 birds in the field and have the run of the day to secure 1st place and score 741.5. Congrats to Dennis and Yash, they continue to inch closer and closer to that championship! Bearded dogs’ rule!!

SATURDAY B FIELD

The B field on Saturday was judged by Angie Wonnacott and Jared Haddock. We sure appreciate them taking the time to judge. The B field would have some struggles throughout the day locating birds in the field. Because of the struggles it appeared that the birds were building up in the field and the later braces would have some great opportunities to find birds. As the great blizzard of March 2022 would find its way to the trial grounds it would seem to help in the location of birds in the field. Kelly Irons and his dog Cinder would run in brace 15 and find 4 birds as well as a back for a final score of 861 to secure 3rd place. In that very same brace, we would also have Andy Johnson and his bearded dog Gus locate 5 birds and end with a score of 947 that would take home 2nd place. But Andy would then be bested by his brother Spencer in brace 16. Spencer and his shorthair Scout would capitalize on the bird build up and have an amazing run where they were able to find 6 birds. Their final score was 1016 and Spencer would knock his brother Andy off the top spot on the podium to take home 1st place. Congrats to Spencer and Scout. I believe this is the first time we have been able to have brothers Spencer and Andy on the podium together. Nice work guys!!

SUNDAY A FIELD

The A field on Sunday would be judged by Maureen Goodrich and Jared Haddock. Thanks so much to each of you for your time this weekend. The weather would start out with a little snow but would soon turn into a great day as the storm rolled out. In the very last brace of the day, we would have Dennis Haggard and his bearded dog Yash have another great run on the weekend. They would be lucky enough to find 4 birds that gave them a score of 804 to have them take home 3rd place. With this placement that puts Dennis and Yash 1 point away from their coveted championship. They will get there very soon, congrats. In brace 4 we would have Bret Wonnacott and 5X champion Sunnie have a tremendous run where they would find 4 birds. With great scores on each find and retrieve posted on the card this run would be good enough for a 2nd place finish. Nice work Bret and Sunnie. I believe this puts their lifetime point total at 100 points and leaves Sunnie a few points shy of a 6th Championship, incredible. The run of the day would come from longtime player Art Trujillo and his young dog Liza. They would go out and show everyone in the region that they are back in the game as they found 5 birds and ended the brace with a score of 864. This score would put them on top of the leaderboard and would take home their first placement. Congrats on the win Art, your dogs are amazing!!

SUNDAY B FIELD

The B field on Sunday was judged by Layne Peterson and Josh Morris. Two amazing judges, thank you so much for your time. In brace 14 on the day, we would have Spencer Johnson and his dog Scout have another great run on the weekend. They found 4 birds in the field and would score 750 to take home their second placement on the weekend and end in 3rd place. The very first brace on the day would be run between two great setters in Joe Bennett’s Angus and Bret Wonnacott’s Snaps. Snaps would go on to find 4 birds but also be able to get a back off Joe’s dog Angus. That back would prove enough to give them second place. Congrats Bret and Snaps. The run on the day in B field would come from Cade Allen and his 1X NSTRA champion Brittany Bo. They would have an amazing run and find 6 birds, their final score of the brace would come out to be 1027.75 and take-home 1st place. Nice work Cade and Bo, you deserve that win!!

We would like to thank everyone for your continued support for our region. This trial was amazing, and it was because of so many of our members stepping up and helping run the trial. Thank you to our chairman Barratt Gorshe. To our amazing Marshalls, Barratt and Angie, our Judges, Layne Peterson, Lance Hansen, Angie Wonnacott, Jared Haddock, Maureen Goodrich, Josh Morris. Our bird planter Glenn Smith for always keeping us guessing. And a huge thanks to all our members that make these trials possible. We appreciate the support our region is receiving; it is an exciting time to be a part of the Utah Region of NSTRA.

See everyone in two weeks for our next trial!

Regards,

Utah Region Presidency and Board

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