Te Kuiti shearer Mark Grainger won the open final at the Warrnambool Shears. Picture – Doug Laing, Shearing Sports NZ.

NEW ZEALAND shearers have scored a near-clean sweep at Australia’s top crossbred shearing competition at Warrnambool in Victoria, but failed in the trans-Tasman teams event.

Competitors from New Zealand won the open, senior and intermediate shearing finals, and the open and senior wool handling finals at Warrnambool last Saturday.

Warrnambool representatives Glen Stephens, Tyson Scholz and Lee Harris beat the NZ Shears Te Kuiti team of Mark Grainger, David Buick and Dion King in a Trans-Tasman Challenge which included Merinos.

The six-stand open shearing final over 15 sheep each was a near all-Kiwi showdown and was won by Te Kuiti gun Grainger, son of the 1985 Golden Shears Open champion, and winner of five show finals in New Zealand over the last three years. Grainger won his place in the NZ Shears Te Kuiti team by finishing fifth in last season’s New Zealand Championships Open final.

He beat runner-up and 2014 and 2015 Warrnambool winner David Buick, of Pongaroa, by 1.37pts. King, first off in just over 12-and-a-half minutes was a further eight-tenths of a point back third.

Fourth in the open shears was Queensland-based Jovan Taiki, from Porangahau and the only finalist not based in New Zealand, was fifth placed Hayden Tapp, from Taihape. Sixth place went to South Otago shearer Jordan Boyes.

The senior final was won by Victoria-based Karipa Tumohe, from Balclutha, and the intermediate title was won by NZ Shears representative and 2017 New Zealand intermediate champion Sean Gouk, of Hamilton.

Gisborne wool handler Keri Henare, a cousin of world champion Joel Henare, had a surprise win in the open wool handling final, beating Alexandra sisters Pagan Karauria and Larnie Morrell. The senior wool handling title was won by Wilz Marshall, from Port Waikato.

The Warrnambool event has had a long-standing annual home-and-away exchange with the New Zealand Shears in Te Kuiti, but this year clashed with the Australian National Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in Bendigo, including the three trans-Tasman test matches involving the Shearing Sports New Zealand machine shearing, wool handling and blade shearing teams. However, Warrnambool Shears organiser Roger Mifsud and the Warrnambool Show committee ran a successful event after the former Romney Shears lapsed last year with the passing of long-time event stalwart Jim Robinson.

There was further New Zealand success at the Katanning show in West Australia where the open wool handling title was won by Phoebe Nikora, from Dannevirke, and the open speedshear was won Cartwright Terry, from Cambridge.

Warrnambool Shears results

Shearing: Trans-Tasman Challenge (8 sheep): Warrnambool 218.28pts (Glen Stephens 10min 13.53sec, 69.43pts; Tyson Scholz 12min 42.78sec, 72.39pts; Lee Harris 12min 10.53sec, 76.4pts) beat NZ Shears Te Kuiti 229.18sec (Dion King 10min 42.34sec, 72.12pts; David Buick 13min 34.13sec, 76.46pts; Mark Grainger 14min 48.25sec, 80.66pts) by 10.9pts.

Open final (15 sheep): Mark Grainger (Te Kuiti) 13min 3.1sec, 46.89pts, 1; David Buick (Pongaroa) 12min 41.13sec, 48.26spts, 2; Dion King (Flaxmere) 12min 31,87sec, 49.06pts, 3; Jovan Taiki (Porangahau/Longreach Qld) 13min 31.97sec, 52.33pts, 4; Hayden Tapp (Taihape) 13min 26.74sec, 53.01pts, 5; Jordan Boyes (Owaka) 14min 6.21sec, 53.44pts, 6.

Senior final (6 sheep): Karipa Tumohe (Balclutha/Ararat Vic) 8min 52.21sec, 41.61pts, 1; Brett Caldwell (Heywood Vic) 8min 36.47sec, 44,49pts, 2; Alex Smith 10min 15.28sec, 45.33pts, 3; Rae Hokianga 9min 21.38sec, 46.4pts, 4; Phillip Edwards 8min 35.85sec, 46.79pts, 5; Pagan Karauria (Alexandra NZ) 9min 15.6sec, 48.61pts, 6.

Intermediate final (5 sheep): Sean Gouk (Hamilton) 8min 1.19sec, 40.56pts, 1; Lachlan Bryant (Rokewood Vic) 9min 53.96sec, 44.9pts, 2; Zac Malisse (Barraba NSW) 8min 55.6sec, 45.35pts, 3; Nathan Thompson 9min 39.43sec, 49.57pts, 4.

Wool handling: Open final: Keri Henare (Gisborne) 4.87pts, 1; Pagan Karauria (Alexandra NZ) 7.93pts, 2; Larnie Morrell (Alexandra NZ) 8.03pts, 3; Judith Ratana 11.78pts, 4. Senior final: Wilz Marshall (Port Waikato/Moora W.A. 16.13pts, 1; Maureen Wainohu 16.55pts, 2; Georgia Jackson (Feilding/Naracoorte S.A.) 17.74pts, 3; Alayne Daysh (Pahiatua) 17.92pts, 4.

Source: Shearing Sports NZ.