TORRINGTON – One minute rolling around in the mud with a pig in front of a packed house separated area youth from stardom Saturday at the Goshen County Fair during the Kiwanis pig wrestling event.
“I thought it went great for the first event Kiwanis has been able to put on for the community,” Quinn Hunter, the organizer for the event, said. “It’s really giving Kiwanis of Goshen County to stand on and now we can hopefully do bigger and better events in the future.”
Twenty-nine teams of four youth gathered at the Sunshine Pavilion to flex their muscle against a pig. Each team had one minute to snag a pig and get it into the barrel in the center of the ring, stopping their time. There were four divisions Saturday, the Piglets Division (5-8-year-olds), the Pork Chops Division (9-12-year-olds), the Bacon Division (13-15-year-olds) and the Ham Division (16-18-year-olds).
“I thought it’s really enriching to have 116 kids make lifelong memories,” Hunter said. “It was fantastic to have those kids have so much fun.”
The Cherry Creek Chop Chasers, comprised of Baylie Booth, Brenna Herring, Kylee Llewellyn and Kealy Carson, posted the fastest time of any teams Saturday, winning the Pork Chops Division with a blistering time of 9.14 seconds. Also in the Pork Chops Division, Kassidy Hurley, Jaycee Hurley, Kaydyn Tucker and Kristen Tucker (Team Piggy) finished second, turning in a time of 13.79 seconds. Lil’ Bits of Bacon (Zabdiel Munoz, Emmett Coxbill, Rosa Munoz and Marisol Munoz) took third with a time of 14.66 seconds.

The second-fastest time by any team came from the Piggly Wigglies (Kadence Shamel, Ashlyn Shamel, Evvi McCreery and Illyana Ponce) in the Piglets Division, recording a time of 10.23 seconds. Jonah Morrison, Jordan Morrison, Antonio Salazar and Damela Chavez with team Little Bits of Bacon finished second (16.99 seconds) and Smitty’s Swine Squeezers (Brylie Booth, Bailey Mehling, Trevor Jolovich and Conner Coxbill) took third with a time of 20.30.
The pigs got bigger in each division, which could have contributed to the slower times in the older divisions, but some teams still laid down solid efforts. The Bacon Busters of Brock Blevins, Cord Herring, Harrison Hall and Seth DeWitt won the Bacon Division with a time of 11.17 seconds. The Big Hogs (Devin Reber, Miguel Gonzalez, Anthony Minter and Hayden Miller) took second (20.60 seconds), with the Piginators (Kaden Brothwell, Cooper Hill, Zane Rising and Tyler Juma) snagging third with a time of 22.68 seconds.
The biggest pigs came out for the Ham Division, where five teams battled for pig wrestling supremacy. The Boar Boxers (Mason Weis, Trace English, Levi Wickham and Clay Hiser) came out on top, turning in a time of 28.78 seconds. Da Hawgs came in second, with Josh Posten, Corbin Harris, Brandon Bennick and Jacob Wambolt clocking a time of 30.90 seconds. Finishing in third was the Pool Rats (Laura Halley, Ellie Schmitt, Abbi Mitchell and Kaye Cunningham) with a time of 32.79 seconds.
The top team in each division got $300, with $200 going to the second-place team. The final team to reach the podium received $100.

Full results of the event are as follows:
Piglets Division – 1, Piggly Wigglies, 10.23; 2, Little Bits of Bacon, 16.99; 3, Smitty’s Swine Squeezers, 20.30; 4, Pork Patrol, 23.46; 5, Pork Patrol – Twin Peak Ranch, 29.60; 6, Mid State Tire, 34.18; 7, Wild Warriors, 55.35; 8, Going Hog Wild, NT.
Pork Chops Division – 1, Cherry Creek Chop Chasers, 9.14; 2, Team Piggy, 13.79; 3, Lil’ Bits of Ham, 14.66; 4, Pig Hunters, 26.40; 5, War Hogs, 34.98; 6, Hog Whisperers, 47.97; 7, Muddy Buddies, 59.52; 7-10, Pork Patrol, The Punishers, Big Bad Wolves, NT.
Bacon Division – 1, Bacon Busters, 11.17; 2, Big Hogs, 20.60; 3, Piginators, 22.68; 4, American Legion Piglets, 26.02; 5, Boar Barrelers, 54.03; 6, Miss Piggies, NT.
Ham Division – 1, Boar Boxers, 28.78; 2, Da Hawgs, 30.90; 3, Pool Rats, 32.79; 4, Baywatch Beaches, 34.40; 5, Ham Slammers, 38.62.