The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Quite the showing
Steer nets honors for first-time cattle showman
A first-time cattle keeper will leave the Lorain County Fair with a number of accolades for his livestock.
Chance Mezurek, 13, of Grafton, is in his first year showing steers at the fair.
But, Chance’s experience showing goats was the foundation for a solid performance in the show arena.
Luck of the draw, family experience and hard work all helped.
Chance is the son of Dianna and Ken Mezurek, both 4-H alumni who first met showing steers at the Lorain County Fair.
“I grew up on a farm; we always had cattle,” the youngster said.
Chance became a young, but competitive, goat showman at the Lorain County Fair and other contests around Ohio.
“I show goats; that’s really what my thing at the fair is,” he said.
This year, he won grand champion and other awards for his market goat, Cheerio.
About age 9, Chance began pondering adding a Hereford steer to his fair animals.
“It’s been a long year; it’s been a lot of time that I’ve put into these animals,” Chance said. “But, I’m really happy with the outcome.”
He did not at all expect the prizes coming their way.
Chance is a member of the Lorain County Steer Club, a 4-H program in which participants use a lottery to see what Angus or Hereford calf they take home to raise for the fair.
Success depends on genetics and nurturing the animals with training and good nutrition, he said.
In September 2020, Chance brought home a brown Hereford calf he named Meatball, who became a personal favorite.
The biggest challenge was getting the animal broke, or trained to walk and set up correctly for judging.
“That was my biggest challenge this year, just to become friends with the animal,” Chance said. “Because, when you get them, they’re scared, they don’t know where they’re at. They’ve just been transported from their normal home wherever the breeder was at.
“So, that’s probably the biggest part of it, spending time. It’s a big commitment. You have to be dedicated, especially with three of them.”
Judges have commented that Meatball had a wide chest and top, a straight back, a full and wide rump and solid bone structure, Chance said. Meatball won grand champion Hereford lottery steer and overall grand champion lottery steer.
For fair week, Meatball boards with Baxter, which became the grand champion dairy steer, and Gerald, a third-place winner for dairy steers.
The honors were a shock, Chance said, but a happy one.
He credited his parents for helping from their experience as 4-H youths.
Ken Mezurek works as a livestock trader and attends sales.
“It’s been a fun project for all of us this year to learn,” Chance said. “To me, it’s been fun this year just to raise them.
“It’s been a lot of time; it’s definitely taught me time management.”
Meatball’s last public show is the fair livestock auction Aug. 28.
Two days before, he and Chance took reserve grand champion overall for showmanship and top honors for beginner beef showmanship.
In competitions, Chance said part of a winning formula is paying attention.
“One of my big things I do before my shows, is just really listen to what the judge has to say about the steers and the animals and how to improve,” he said.
It showed when the judge in that Aug. 26 contest said she could see, “he’s a livestock kid.”