From left, Adam Uber, Ryley Grossman, Hailey Frishkorn and Josh Karner, all sophomore members of FFA at Moniteau High School, won first place in the agricultural school demonstration competition at the Pennsylvania Farm Show from among 35 teams. “All Tied Up” focused on knot tying. Other teams and students in the Moniteau club also excelled at the Farm Show.

CHERRY TWP — Moniteau FFA came away from the Pennsylvania Farm Show with top honors in the agricultural school demonstration competition.

Moniteau’s “All Tied Up” team of Josh Karner, Ryley Grossman, Hailey Frishkorn and Adam Uber, all sophomores, and alternate freshman Cole Pflugh placed first. Their presentation was a demonstration on knot tying, practical applications for different knots and how to choose rope. Many knots were used to make an adjustable swing at the end of the presentation.

This was the first time Moniteau placed first among the 35 teams. In previous years the school received several second-place finishes and numerous top-five placings.

The competition included teams of four FFA members who present agriculturally related demonstrations to a panel of judges. The judges evaluated topic and content, appearance of demonstrators and materials, presentation and effectiveness.

The sixth-place team, “Antlers and Math,” also from Moniteau FFA, included Nick Martino, Owen Geibel and Joe Cubbage, all sophomores; junior Dakota Hughes; and alternates senior Nick McFadden and junior Chance Nagy. They demonstrated numerical scoring for whitetail deer antlers under two different systems.

The seventh-place team, Moniteau’s “Shifting Gears,” included seniors Cameron Lawhead, Brianna Powell, Ryan Gallagher; junior Lee DeMatteis; and alternates senior Jake Patton and junior Zach Kline. The team designed and built a three-speed transmission from wood and showed how a manual transmission operates with the clutch and gears.

Anderson Brunst, a freshman in the FFA program, placed second in the Agri-Science Fair with his project on protein and fiber in rabbit feeds. He also placed well with his live rabbits at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. He exhibited three breeds with 21 rabbits. Of those, 11 placed first in class.