Dressed in suits and ties, Oklahoma State University’s first meat judging team gathered in Chicago in 1926 to compete in a brand-new collegiate contest. The all-male team evaluated carcasses alongside students from across the country and left with a third-place finish in what would become the first intercollegiate meat judging contest.

The contest has been held every year since, except during World War II. A century later, it has grown into something far larger than its founders could have imagined.

OSU has been a part of the meat judging story from the beginning. Since then, the program continues to build the most decorated resume in collegiate meat judging history, claiming 19 national championships, more than any other university in the country, said Gretchen Mafi, OSU meat judging head coach and meat science professor in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences.

At contests, students evaluate beef, pork and lamb carcasses and wholesale cuts, determining quality and yield grades of beef carcasses while defending their decisions through questions or written reasons.

“Meat judging began as a way to teach students about the meat industry,” Mafi said. “They learn to better understand carcass grading and evaluation.”

For the last 30 years, the American Meat Science Association has been the organizing body of intercollegiate meat judging. The association took over sponsorship and management in 1996 after the National Live Stock and Meat Board dissolved, Mafi said.

The National Live Stock and Meat Board had sponsored the contest since 1926 and ran most of the collegiate meat judging contests across the country as the competitions grew.

The contest itself was the vision of R.C. Pollock, the director of the National Live Stock and Meat Board at the time, Mafi said.

“The relevance of meat judging goes far beyond the evaluation of carcasses and cuts,” Mafi said. “The real relevance is the skills students gain, like decision making and defending those decisions, time management, organization, being a part of a team, work ethic and communication.”

Over the past century, those skills have shaped generations of OSU alumni, including Grace Bryson, 2026 OSU assistant meat judging coach and 2023 team member.

“Before judging, I was a terrible decision maker,” Bryson said. “You can’t overthink things. You just have to make a call and go.”

Meat judging forced her to trust her training and be confident in her decisions under pressure, she said.

“When you’re in the cooler, it’s just you,” Bryson said. “You have to be able to rely on your team, but you also rely on yourself.”

The industry values mental strength and toughness to the same degree as a professional athlete, Bryson added.

“You’re not running a marathon or running laps,” Bryson said. “But, you need a lot of mental capacity to do this activity and stay 100% focused all day.”

Through practice trips and national contests, students gain direct exposure to packing plants, company facilities and the networking opportunities, often shaping their careers, Mafi said.

“Even though many think it’s a really technical activity, the skills you get out of it impact the entire agriculture industry, not just the meat industry,” Bryson said.

Many former team members have pursued careers ranging from law and medicine to veterinary school, and in nearly every sector of agriculture, Bryson added.

“Meat judging has been a tremendous recruiter,” said Jimmy Wise, a 1966 OSU meat judging team member. “It pointed a lot of students toward career choices that they might not have had an opportunity to make otherwise.”

Wise’s time on the OSU meat judging team led him to coach meat judging at the University of Nebraska, he said, before taking a position in beef grading standards at the USDA. He remained closely connected to intercollegiate meat judging through leadership roles with AMSA throughout his career, Wise said.

The structure and scope of the contests have changed significantly since Wise competed in the 1960s, he added.

“We were the last three-member team,” Wise said. “At that time, we were fortunate that we got to judge three contests.”

Today, collegiate teams are comprised of four marking members with the opportunity to judge at eight contests nationwide.

Divisions were eventually developed to expand participation and create separate competitive tracks for junior colleges and four-year universities, Mafi said.

“The meat industry is continually changing,” Mafi said.

Advances in technology, food safety, marketing and even artificial intelligence have transformed how meat is produced and evaluated, Mafi said.

The contests have also grown more competitive, with an increasing number of schools participating and more women joining meat judging teams than in previous decades, she added.

“We are seeing so many more seeking careers in STEM in general,” said Morgan Pfeiffer, OSU assistant professor in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, 2012 meat judging team member and 2014-2018 meat judging coach.

“It’s important for these students to be able to see the many opportunities that exist and that they can achieve careers in these fields,” Pfeiffer said. “It makes them feel like they have a place in the industry.”

OSU’s meat science program has continued to expand over the years, Pfeiffer said.

“When I was a student, there were really only about three faculty dedicated specifically to meat science,” Pfeiffer said. “We’ve basically doubled the size of our faculty.”

The impact of this consistent growth is evident in this year’s OSU meat judging team, the largest in program history, including 22 members, 17 of whom are women.

“When they walk in the cooler with that orange hard hat and a clipboard that says ‘OSU’ on the back, they are representing not just this year’s team and not just themselves, but 100 years of teams who have come before them,” Bryson said.

This responsibility is part of what makes competing during the 100th year so meaningful to the team and shapes how they approach each contest, Bryson said.

“We’re representing a school that’s had all these wins in the past,” said Hannah Morphis, 2026 OSU meat judging team member and agricultural education junior. “It’s incredible to know that you’re making history, not only in meat science, but for OSU.”

The team’s dedication pushes each member to work harder, but the relationships built along the way matter most, Morphis said. After transferring to OSU last fall from Eastern Oklahoma State College, she said she quickly noticed the strong sense of community and alumni support surrounding the program.

“It’s just so eye-opening how many people want us to be successful,” Morphis said. “All of these people really care.”

This level of support has been critical to the program’s sustained success, Mafi said.

“We have tremendous support from our university, our college, our department and alumni,” Mafi said. “Outstanding students have sustained our success.”

After two decades of leading OSU’s meat judging program, Mafi is coaching her final season.

“Coaching and traveling with a team and celebrating 100 years is very special to me,” Mafi said.

Mafi has been involved in intercollegiate meat judging for roughly 35% of the 100-year history, she said, adding she has made lasting relationships.

As she prepares to step away, Mafi said she is confident in the program’s success for another 100 years.

“One thing about meat judging is it’s truly a family,” Mafi said. “They’re our best and closest friends in this program. We know that those relationships we’ve made are the people that we can count on.”

Story by Taylor Epperson | Cowboy Journal