

Dean Graber, from Bankwest of Kansas, presents Matt Coleman with a $1000 check for winning the Kansas State Finals of the Country Showdown Thursday night in Goodland. Coleman, of Pittsburgh, KS, won the competition for the second consecutive year.
For the second year in a row, Matt Coleman of Pittsburgh, Kansas emerged as the judges’ favorite in the State Finals of the Country Showdown Thursday night. The competition, in it’s third year at the Sherman County Fairgrounds during the Northwest Kansas District Free Fair, featured five talented contestants from throughout the state. Brock Wagoner (Colby), Adam Capps (Wichita), Courtney Sue Irwin (Salina) and Jake Wiley (Wichita) were the others competing for the $1000 cash prize and advancement to the regional Showdown held in Raton, New Mexico this fall.
The Country Showdown is America’s largest country music talent search, with four levels of competition: local, state, regional and national. The grand prize winner of the national competition (held at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville) takes home a $100,000 recording contract.