It was familiar territory for all of them. In 2016, Emmi Roth took top honors at the event with its Grand Cru Surchoix Alpine-style cheese. This time, it was a gorgonzola — a veined, Italian blue cheese. It was an especially satisfying finish, said Emmi Roth, president, and managing director Tim Omer, because the company just acquired the Seymour plant a year ago.

“We said there was one thing we wanted there, and that was to make the best cheese in the country and the world,” Omer said. “Our plant manager Shelby Sheppard really took that to heart and is leading a revolution there.”

A place in the finals was also familiar for Marieke Penterman, owner and cheese maker at Marieke Gouda. At last year’s U.S. championships in Green Bay, her cheeses came in second and third overall, and one of her cheeses was crowned U.S. champion in 2013. Her top cheese this week was a smoked gouda with cumin. It’s a raw-milk cheese made from cows on her family’s farm in Thorp.

Even before Thursday night’s winners were announced, Penterman’s phone was ringing as people sought out the top-20 cheese. Fromagination on Capitol Square got the last three wheels, she said.