MADISON | Wisconsin continued its dominance at the World Championship Cheese Contest by taking first place honors in 34 of the 90 categories and placing four in the Sweet 16 finals for Best of Show, according to results released today. Among the winners, Kraft Foods of Beaver Dam for its cream cheese which was best of class in spreadable cheeses. The 30th Biennial World Championship Cheese Contest featured 2,619 cheese and a butter entries from 22 countries but the event, sponsored by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, was clearly a Wisconsin affair. Three women were among the four Wisconsin cheesemakers to make the finals. They are Brenda Jensen from Hidden Springs Creamery in Westby in the hard mixed milk cheeses; an aged Gouda Gouda from Marieke Penterman at Holland’s Family Cheese in Thorp and a hard goat cheese from Katie Hedrich-Fuhrmann at LaClare Farms in Malone. Steve Bierhals of BelGioioso Cheese in Green Bay also qualified for the finals with a Parmesan. State cheesemakers swept the top three spots in 10 categories and had at least one in the top three positions in 46 categories, including Grassland Dairy of Greenwood which took first in the salted butter category. Holland’s Family Cheese in Thorp continued its impressive run. After winning best of show with its smoked Gouda at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest in Green Bay last year, the company took the first four spots in the aged Gouda category this year and placed second and third with its smoked gouda. In the mild cheddar division, Agropur in Weyewega took first, second and fourth place while Kerry Henning of Henning Cheese in Kiel had the top bandaged cheddar in the mild to medium class. Wisconsin cheesemakers also dominated the Parmesan division taking seven of the top eight spots including a first place finish by Steve Bierhals of BelGioioso in Green Bay. Fans of Wisconsin Muenster will be pleased, too. The top nine spots whent to state cheesemakers, including Randy Pitman of Mill Creek Cheese in Arena who took first place. State cheesemakers also swept the “hard Hispanic cheese” category, while Pine River Prepack in Newton took the top three spots in the “cold pack cheese” category. In the cold pack cheese spread category, state cheesemakers took 10 of the top 11 places including a first place finish by Greg May of Bel Brands USA in Little Chute. In the 2012 contest, a low-fat Gouda from the Netherlands won best of show, but Wisconsin cheesemakers won 30 of the contest’s 82 categories, had the top three finishers in nine of the categories and had four in the Sweet 16 finals.