NEWTON FALLS, Ohio – Mackenzie Campbell has been shearing sheep since he was 12 years old.   

What You Need To Know

  • Campbell won the National Sheep Shearing contest on Feb. 3 in South Dakota

  • Campbell previously won the Ohio state title for sheep shearing in 2019

  • Campbell said he plans to one day work as a traveling sheep shearer

"We always try to treat [sheep] as good as we can," Campbell said.

Campbell said he grew up shearing, often in competition with his cousins and with the support of his younger brother Kendrick.

"He'll shear them and I'll take them back to the pen or we'll just kick them up and I'll bag the wool," Kendrick said.

Their father, Chuck, said he's proud.

"[Mackenzie's] kind of a dying breed and willing to do this kind of work. It definitely makes me happy to be able to see them succeed at it and go even farther than I ever have with it," he said.

Chuck Campbell won the Ohio state championship in 1993. The two share space on the state championship trophy.

Mackenzie said he plans to attend the University of Northwestern Ohio in the fall and dreams of one day traveling around the world shearing sheep.

"Some crews will travel over to Australia and stuff and shear over there for another three or four months, so I'd love to join a crew and do nothing but shear," he said.

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