Two Keokuk County exhibitors earned reserve champion honors at the 2026 Best of the Best livestock show held Saturday, August 1st at the Iowa County Fairgrounds in Marengo, according to social media posts from the competition.
The Best of the Best show brings together grand champions from county fairs across a 13-county region — including Benton, Buchanan, Cedar, Clinton, Delaware, Dubuque, Iowa, Jones, Keokuk, Linn, Poweshiek, Scott, and Tama counties — to compete head to head in a regional showcase.
Colt Reed of Keokuk County earned Reserve Champion in the breeding gilt division, finishing behind Grand Champion Greta Cooper of Jones County. Izzy Heisdorffer of Keokuk County earned Reserve Champion in the breeding ewe division, finishing behind Grand Champion Jillian Hanson of Benton County.
Heisdorffer had one of the strongest showings of any Keokuk County exhibitor, qualifying for the Best of the Best in three separate categories — breeding doe, market goat, and breeding ewe. Reed also qualified in two categories, breeding gilt and market hog. Also competing for Keokuk County were Addy Tremmel in market lamb, Madison Fry in breeding heifer, and Lane Cason in market steer.
