MONROE — A number of area cheesemakers took home prestigious honors in the 2023 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest that ended Thursday in Madison.

Here are the local winning entries, in the order in which the categories were announced:

In the Sharp Cheddar category, Foremost Farms in Lancaster took home second place.

In the Traditional Waxed Cheddar category, Roelli Cheese of Shullsburg won best of class for its Roelli Haus Select Cheddar.

In the Feta category Monroe’s Klondike Cheese Company won best of class and first runner-up — with the award going to Kristi Wuthrich and Steve Webster for their Odyssey Feta entries.

Local Cheesemakers swept the Brick and Muenster Categories, with Matt Henze of Decatur Dairy in Brodhead winning top billing, while also taking second for his brick entry. The third-place award also went to Decatur Dairy for Muenster.

Matt Henze of Decatur Dairy also won the top prize for his Havarti in the Havarti category. Team Emmi Roth of Monroe’s Emmi Roth took third for its Roth Havarti cheese. Decatur also won second in the flavored Havarti category for its Dill Havarti.

And the top prize and winner of the Flavored Havarti Cheese went to Tom Schultz of Klondike, for its Buholzer Brothers Dill Havarti

In Brie and Camembert, Savencia Cheese in Lena, Illinois took second for its version of Alouette brie13.2 OZ.

In Flavored Gouda, Team Emmi Roth also took home third place for its Roth Hot Honey Gouda Cheese Wheel.

Winning second in the Latin America Style Fresh Cheese category was Wisconsin Cheese Group / Sabrosura Foods of Monticello for its El Viajero Queso Fresco.

In the Latin American Style Melting Cheese category, the top winner was from Darlington’s Mexican Cheese Producers Sigma Darlington Plant, with its Queso Oaxaca. Neal Schwartz of V&V Supremo Foods in Browntown took second place in the segment for Queso Chihuahua, followed by Tim Pehl winning third for V&V Supremo for his Queso Chihuahua.

In the Open Class: Pepper Flavored Cheese, Mild Heat, Steve Stettler of Decatur Dairy won second for his Muenster with Jalapeno entry; while Prairie Farms Dairy Inc. — Shullsburg Creamery took third for Sweet Peppa Chedda.

In the Open Class Pepper Flavored Cheese, Medium Heat group, Matt Erdley of Klondike took second for his Odyssey Sweet Heat Feta.

In the Open Class: Semi-soft Cheeses Flavored group, Amanda Gutzmer, of Monroe’s Klondike won first place for Odyssey Peppercorn Feta.

In Lowfat Cheeses, Dave Buholzer of Klondike won second for Odyssey Fat Free Feta cheese.

In Reduced Sodium Cheese, South Wayne’s Zimmeman Cheese Inc. took third place honors for its Reduced Sodium Muenster Loaf.

The Cold Pack Cheese second place honor went to Steve Stettler of Decatur Dairy for Stettler Swiss Cheese Spread.

The Kolb-Lena Team of Savencia Cheese USA took third place for its Chavrie Plain Goat Cheese Log 4 oz.

The top award in the Semi Soft Sheep’s Milk Cheese group, went to Landmark Creamery of Belleville for Landmark Creamery Sheep Milk Feta. Landmark also took top honors for the Hard Sheep’s Milk category, for its Landmark Creamery Sweet Annie offering.

In the Lowfat Yogurt, Cow’s Milk competition, third place went to Matt Martin of Monroe’s Klondike for his Odyssey Lowfat 1% Vanilla Yogurt.

In High Protein Cow’s Milk Yogurt, second place was awarded to Klondike’s Steve Buholzer for Odyssey Greek Yogurt; while Matt Martin took third for Odyssey Greek Yogurt PSG.

In High Protein Cow’s Milk Yogurt, Flavored, Klondike took second for Odyssey Greek Yogurt Blueberry. Meanwhile Klondike’s Vincent Buholzer landed in third for his Odyssey Greek Yogurt Peach.

There were several local winners in the Open: Shredded Cheeses category. Sam Sweeney of V&V Supremo Foods in Browntown took second for Queso Chihuahua; while Justin Blazeski of V&V Supremo landed in third for Chihuahua Brand Quesadilla Cheese with Jalapeno.

In the Open Class: Grated Cheeses, Mexican Cheese Producers Sigma Darlington Plant, took the top prize for Cotija Grated

Steve Stettler of Decatur Dairy won first in the Cheese Curds, Flavored group for his Dill Cheese Curd.