The contestants from the King of the Sale Ring contest pose with host Kelly Klein (far left) in Valley City during the N.D. Winter Show.
By Ruth Nicolaus
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The second annual King of the Sale Ring contest took place on the final day of the 84th annual North Dakota Winter Show in Valley City, with ten participants, each a licensed auctioneer, eight in the professional division and two in the rookie division.
Terry Moe, Watford City, N.D. won the professional division.
The auctioneer works at Sidney (Mont.) Livestock, Badlands Auction in Watford City, Montana Auction in Sidney, and Steffes Auction in Fargo.
The sale ring wasn’t the first career for Moe.
Six years ago, his wife, Angie, persuaded him to go to auction school, “and I just fell in love with it,” he said.
He, like many other auctioneers, worked weekends, picking up more and more business, till it became fulltime. “When I first started, it was a hobby, and I worked weekends. That’s what most of us guys do. You try to pick up jobs here and there. A lot of these guys make a living doing it, and it’s always exciting when it gets to that point.”
Most of his work is with general equipment, heavy and oilfield equipment, with livestock as well. He works as a sales representative for Sidney Livestock.
This was Moe’s second time to compete at the competition, and he was complimentary of the contest. “Contests like this are always enjoyable,” he said. “Your peers are judging you and it means something. It’s exciting, and nerve wracking, for sure.” Having colleagues serve as judges makes the critique more useful. “Sometimes that truth makes you a lot better, and that’s what I appreciate,” he said.
He credits his parents, Orrin and Joyce Moe, his wife Angie, and his daughter, Hayley, for their support. “You have to give credit where credit is due,” Moe said. “My family puts up with a lot. When we’re driving, I don’t listen to the radio. I practice, and unfortunately, my wife has to listen to it, and it’s like listening to a bad singer,” he joked. “She just deals with it. She’s a great lady.”
The auctioneering world is like a brotherhood, Moe said. “It’s all about encouraging each other, learning, getting better, and going on to the next one.”
Moe was also voted the People’s Choice winner for the second year in a row.
For his efforts, Moe won $1,000 and a trophy buckle. The second place winner, Shawn Hanson, Jamestown, N.D., received $500 and a trophy pocketknife. Third place, Lewis Reuer, Bowdle, S.D., won $250 and a trophy mug.
The rookie division included two men: Jordan Mehlhoff, Eureka, S.D., and Dean Harr, Jamestown, N.D. Mehlhoff won the division and prizes of $250 and a trophy buckle.
Other contestants in the professional division included Josh Couch, Alexandria, Minn.; Clint Dahl, Wheatland, N.D.; Quest Flesner, Hannibal, Mo.; Sam McCloud, Hoven, S.D.; and Cliff Sanders, Clifford, N.D.
The 84th annual N.D. Winter Show concluded on March 14 with an NDRA rodeo.