Author: Siri Stevens

Nathan Hatchel just graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State University with a degree in business management. The 22 year old from Hennessey, Oklahoma, is heading to Casper for his third appearance at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in the bull riding. “This year I’ll go first in the nation. It’s a clean slate going in, but sitting first through the season is bragging rights; but whenever you get to Casper it’s all even, so it’s about riding good and getting good bulls. That’s the fun part to me – everybody has a chance.”

Nathan is getting prepared for the upcoming Finals (June 8-15). “Right now, whenever I’m climbing on the bulls I feel like I’m physically and mentally ready and trusting in God. I go to my Bible every day.” He credits his coach in college (Mike Visnieski) for the mental game, and his dedication to the gym every day for the physical preparation.

“I’m doing a lot of stretching and I do cardio and free weights. Right now I’m trying to gain muscle, but I ride the best at a certain weight so I try to keep that going.” He is also very careful about what he eats, avoiding sweets, cutting down on carbs, and doing meal preparation before heading out to a weekend of rodeos. “I get people laughing at me like I don’t have enough money for food, but I’m just trying to keep it healthy.” One of his favorite road foods is chicken and rice. “I could take that every weekend.” He puts chicken in a crock pot with barbeque sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon pepper, seasoning salt, and garlic salt. He adds onions, bell peppers, carrots, asparagus, and takes that with cooked rice. “I don’t even care if it’s hot.”

“Wherever I go now, the preparation I’ve done through the week is done and I just have to react and trust myself that I’ve done the work in the week to be successful on the weekend.”

 

Nathan grew up in a small 2A school, where everybody knew everybody, with his dad, Craig, and his older brother, Dylan. He came from bull riding stock, both his dad, Uncle Glenn, and grandpa, Corky Hatchel, rode bulls, but he wasn’t allowed to get on one until he was 13. Instead, he concentrated on sports – basketball, football, and baseball. He played on a traveling team in the summer and enjoyed basketball the most. “That’s what I played until my junior year of high school – then I put my focus into riding bulls.” His goal was to get a full ride scholarship, and that’s what he did at SWOSU. He competed for Oklahoma State High School Rodeo, making the National High School Finals both his junior and senior year. He was fourth in the nation his junior year, and was riding with a torn MCL his senior year, so he didn’t ride as well. “I got that fixed and went to college,” he said.

His dad works in the oil field and was instrumental in teaching Nathan the basics. “He’s always there,” said Nathan. “He goes to every rodeo – he drives umpteen miles – Rock Springs to Casper – and everywhere in between.”

Craig wasn’t crazy about Nathan riding bulls at all. “I know how dangerous it is – now I’m pleased that he is. He’s very gifted – Nathan is very athletic and has put a lot of time and effort into this.” Craig has supported him with practice bulls at home and helping him find the coaches he needed along the way. “He is very dedicated and when he sets his mind to something, he puts 110% in it. He finishes what he starts.”

Nathan remembers watching his dad and uncle ride when he was young, but he wasn’t formally introduced until one day when Craig offered to let Nathan and his brother get on a steer. “We didn’t know what we were getting into. My brother was a football star, and I thought it was fun, but didn’t ride one steer for the entire year to date, not one.”

The second year, he won the championship in the COJRA – Central Oklahoma Junior Rodeo Association. After that, he kept riding in another little association in Edmond. He started going to a bull riding school put on by David Berry (Monster Bull Company) out of Locust Grove, Oklahoma, “He puts them on once a month and he had the perfect stock for me to get on,” said Nathan. “We went back month after month and I spent summers out there in high school and worked for him. We did drills and drills and that’s how I got started. He’s been a huge help to me. Still to this day, he welcomes me and is always there to help and comment on my riding.” The drills consist of a stationary drill on a barrel as well as walking on a pipe for balance plus other things. “Another good one is getting a medicine ball and sitting on them and squeezing it with your legs – then try standing on top of that ball and keep that ball underneath you. When I’m on the back of a bull, I can’t see, so that’s where the subconscious comes into play. And the balance comes in.”

David Berry has put on bull riding schools for more than 20 years. “I wasn’t a world champion bull rider; my claim to fame was the PRCA Resistol Rookie of the Year in 1988 alongside Ty Murray,” said the 51-year-old. The next year, in the short go of Cheyenne he broke his jaw. “That was the same year Lane Frost died – the bull after me. Growing up in Oklahoma all you heard about was Lane Frost. His school helped me a lot – he gave me the time of day.” David took his love of bucking bulls and started raising them and helping others learn how to ride. “I recognized the heart and try in Nathan – you can help coach to ride, but you can’t teach them to try. They have to bring that on their own.” David saw Nathan’s work ethic and dedication to learning. “Talking about riding a bull and getting on one are two different things. I can’t remember Nathan ever talking about riding a bull; he just gets on them. And he does everything with a grin on his face.”

Once Nathan went to college, he turned to Chad Drury, with Nothin’ but Try Ranch. “They have accepted me into their family – I took a bunch of buddies over there and got on some of his young bulls and he ended up sponsoring me and we’re pretty much family – that’s the name on my chaps.”

Both Chad and his brother, Shane, went to college at SWOSU. After college, Chad stayed around and Shane moved to Nebraska. Chad raised bucking bulls and would call the college to get his young bulls ridden. “Nathan is a good kid,” said Chad. “He’s talented and takes care of business- that’s the kind of person I wanted to sponsor. Anytime I need help, Nathan comes over and helps. It works out really great for both of us. He’s a really good kid and his fiancé is good as gold. He’s a winner, but he’s not arrogant and that’s the kind of guy I want to represent me and our ranch.”

 

Nathan met his fiancé, Kodi Holloway, through friends at SWOSU, she’s on the soccer team, and will also graduate this spring with her nursing degree. The couple got engaged on August 6, 2018. They will get married on September 20.

After the college finals, Nathan will move down to Castle Rock, Colorado, and start learning the tricks of the trade for his grandfather’s (Jim Lovell) construction business (Lovell Group), hoping to become a project manager and perhaps eventually taking over the company. He will also continue rodeoing, and plans to shoot for Resistol Rookie of the year next year once he buys his card. For now, he definitely is aiming for the Permit Challenge at the South Point this coming December. “I was leading the permit standings until April, and since college rodeo I’m sitting 7th and I’m focusing to make the permit standings challenge which happens during the Benny Binion Sale. This is my fourth year to fill my permit, but as long as you have a NIRA card, you can fill your permit more than twice.”

“Graduating college is a big deal for me. There is a life after rodeo, especially riding bulls, and this degree will help me provide for my family,” said Nathan. “The biggest thing I learned from college is responsibility – showing up for class – nobody is there to get you going, you have to do it yourself and grow up and learn that responsibility.” He admits that college has gone by very fast, but he is looking forward to settling in Colorado with his wife and eventually starting a family and raising some bucking bulls of his own. “I want to take what I have and run with it and help others the same way others helped me.”

He has been a believer his whole life, thanks to his grandmother, and the generosity of others that would get him to church since none of his immediate family went. “I bounced from home to home when I was young, and my brother and I finally ended up with my dad. We never had much money growing up, but I learned it’s not about your past; it’s about where you’re going. My past doesn’t define who I am now. I definitely didn’t have a very good childhood but I’m blessed it all worked out.”

“Follow the Lord and your dreams will follow you. Everybody is chasing their dreams, but I’m chasing the Lord and my dreams have come to me. Don’t let anything set you back from that.”

“We were blessed to have started out at a good time with a good group of rodeos. Actually, we have had some of the same rodeos ever since I started,” said Mike Cervi, who was born in Denver, Colorado, September 9, 1936.

 

For five decades, Mike, who earned PRCA Stock Contractor of the Year (1983, 2001), and his sons (the late Mike Jr., Binion, and Chase) have produced many of the country’s biggest rodeos, including RodeoHouston, the National Western Stock Show & Rodeo in Denver, and the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo and 27 others. They continue to take many of their animals to the Wrangler NFR. Recognized for his accomplishments, Cervi was inducted into the PRCA Hall of Fame in 2003.

 

Today, Mike and his sons are recognized as one of the largest rodeo producers in the country, yet he has always been a deal-maker and entrepreneur. As an elementary schoolboy, he sold flavored toothpicks and Christmas trees, hauled ashes and rode racehorses. Cervi became fascinated by rodeo clowns and, by age 14, had a trained mule act at Little Britches and junior rodeos.

 

Mike grew up in Littleton, Colorado where his dad had a newspaper. He got interested in rodeo through the Centennial racetrack, which was not far from his childhood home. “I started out galloping horses at the race track in 1952 at age 12. Many of the people I met were involved in rodeo. I took off with it from there.” Two years later, Cervi was at a Little Britches rodeo, where he was competing in steer wrestling and bull riding. He ended up clowning as well, because someone didn’t show up, and his passion for crowd-pleasing performances was sparked.

 

 

Spending a semester at Colorado State University, Mike got his first taste of stock contracting. “Marvin Brookman sent all the stock to that rodeo in 1957, but didn’t have any help, so I pitched in,” recalled Mike. “That’s when the arena was outdoors – it was just a simple wire and the cars would park all around the outside of it.” Cervi Championship Rodeo now provides stock for CSU every Spring.

 

Mike decided college wasn’t for him and took off for the rodeo road, taking his clown acts, steer wrestling and bull riding with him. One of his acts, the famous mule act, came from George Mills. “He gave me the mule, trailer, and everything I needed,” said Mike. “Gravel Gertie (the mule) would ride into the arena in the taxi cab, get out of the car and lie down while putting her feet in the air. She would get back in the car to leave the arena.” He had another trick that involved a station wagon with windows that were soaped up so nobody could see inside. “We’d get about 32 kids and pack that wagon. We were bringing the kids to the rodeo and every five or ten feet we’d stop the car and let a few more out. At the end, we’d let Gravel Gertie out – that’s how we got the idea of the colt coming out of the limo that we still use today.”

 

The family had a ranch near Sterling, Colorado, which was homesteaded by his grandfather starting in 1852. In 1958 Mike acquired the family ranch. “When I first got to the ranch, I bought a load of cattle from Oregon. I was only 19,” explains Mike. “My dad called and asked how I was going to pay for them. I hauled the load to Scottsbluff and resold. I made a little over $350 – that was a lot of money back then. From there I started trading – I would bring cattle from the west, back to Colorado. It put a little change in my pocket.” He bought an airplane, put a good friend in charge of the ranch and took off. “That’s what I did from 1960 through half of 1980.” During that time the Cervi’s expanded their Colorado operations – adding a ranch in Roggen in 1979 and the Cervi Feedlot east of Greeley in 2001.

 

Along with trading cattle, Mike was also producing rodeos. In 1967 he acquired the Beutler Brothers Rodeo Company, now known as Cervi Brothers Rodeo Company, and in 1974 the Billy Minick Rodeo Company, now known as Cervi Championship Rodeo Company. “When I got in it, there were two major stock contractors – Harry Knight and Beutler. Harry Knight was one of my best friends and one of the most professional people I’d ever been around.” During that time, Mike bought quality bucking horses. “I would buy all the good horses out there that I could. In the early 60s, 70s, 80s, my goal was to grow and improve our string of horses. That was the key to a lot of it. When we were in Oklahoma at the Finals, we sent as many as 35 horses to the Finals every year.”

 

Mike Junior was born January 4, 1971, and his role in the stock contracting grew over time. At the age of 16 Mike went up to Canada and borrowed a stud from Donny Peterson. “He drove up there and wanted this stud – he’s the one that started the breeding program here,” said Mike. 70-80% of the first set of colts yielded good bucking horses. He got a scholarship at Sacramento State for football as backup quarterback. He graduated with a degree in history, and went to picking up for Mike. “He married Sherry (Cervi), and started to trade cattle. He was going to circuit finals, roping, and helping with the stock as he could.” Mike Junior was killed in 2002 when the twin-engine Cessna that he and four others were traveling in crashed. He was on the bubble in the standings and trying to get to a rodeo in Missouri. The loss was a void that Mike will never fill.

 

Another tragedy struck the Cervi family in 2005 when Mike was charged with violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act. “It had to do with wastewater disposal for an oil field,” Mike explained. “I had built a monitoring well in 2000 and we had a leak – my employees were bypassing that without my knowledge.” Three years later, Mike spent five months in prison. “I came home from court and told Binion and Chase that I had to go to prison. They were 19 and 21.”

“It felt like a lot of responsibility at the time, especially given our age, but everything happens for a reason,” said Binion.
“I ran the ranches in Lompoc, California on Vandenberg Air Force Base,” said Mike. “They asked me to take care of 900 cows for them. The game wardens had five horses that were terrible, so I asked Chase to bring me some pickup horses and they stayed with me awhile.” Mike was able to raise their calf weight by 42 pounds by implementing his experience raising cattle and teach the game wardens how to do it. “They didn’t want me to leave,” he said with a laugh, then adding with a serious note about being in prison. “It matures you dramatically and you learn what the real world is – meeting all kinds of interesting characters.” He got out while RodeoHouston was going on, “All my committees stuck by me,” said Mike. He had home detention for five months, paid $30,000 in fines, and did several hundred hours of community service.

 

 

After that, it was business as usual. Mike settled into his role running the feedlot, while Binion and Chase continued down the road. “I run this feedlot and oversee the two ranches,” he said. “When things increase, you put parts together and you have good people around you is how you do it.”

 

“We call him for advice,” says Binion, “Dad gave us an opportunity that most people would die for. He would give you whatever you needed to get the job done. He crafted Chase and I each to do what we wanted to do and did best.” Cervi Championship Rodeo provides stock for pro, amateur, college, and high school rodeos. “We’ll take an animal for everybody – we bring enough for all of them. We make it as fair as we can for college and high school to compete on the same level.”

 

Chase handles the livestock end of the ranch, on both ranches. He also picks up at every rodeo that Cervi produces. Chase was horseback his entire life, beginning his picking up at the age of 14. He gets horses that are started and then he trains them to be pickup horses. He doesn’t sell any, but when they retire, he gives them to a kid as a good retirement home and family friend. “We are blessed to be able to do what we’ve done our whole lives. Binion and I plan to be part of the rodeo thing forever, and we hope to carry on my dad’s legacy. It’s some pretty big shoes to fill.

 

“These boys goals for high school and college is to develop the cowboy; help these youngsters come up so they have something to get on later,” said Mike. “They try to bring horses that the kids can be taught something on.” Part of that program includes a nonprofit that they started to provide free schools to help teach the next generation of bronc riders. To-date, the Ace High Roughstock Academy has put on 25 free schools in the last eight years and hosted over 700 aspiring saddle bronc and bareback riders. “We will host the first one of the year at the ranch in Stoneham, Colorado May 24-26. At the end we give prizes and scholarships.” Acehighroughstockacad.com has more information about the schools.

 

A lot has changed over the years in rodeo for Mike. “Rodeo has increased in popularity considerably,” he said. So has the number of stock contractors. “There were probably 15-20 active stock contractors in the PRCA when I started; now there are over 70.” He has remained at the forefront of that list by being an example to others. “The best management is the owners’ footprint – the best fertilizer for a ranch.”

 

Mike ended with this, “One day, if it all went away, we’ve been blessed to be able to do it.”

Madison “Madi” Outhier has been competing in rodeo since she was one. “I started in the lead line,” said the 16-year-old sophomore who made history by winning both the Junior American and the American in the breakaway roping on March 3 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. “I started roping when I was 8.” Helping her get the win was her equine partner, Rooster, a 10-year-old gelding that was raised on the ranch and trained by her dad, Mike.

 

“Rooster is amazing. My dad let me start roping off him when he was seven, three years ago. He didn’t let me ride him too much because he would stop way too hard for my roping abilities. We are so molded together – he’s the sweetest horse in the barn. When I saddle him, he turns his head and nudges me. He goes wherever we need to go with a great attitude.”

 

Rooster is a grandson of Colonel Freckles and a son of Gallo De Cielo. His mom is Colonel C Hermosa, a horse that was raised on the Outhier ranch as part of the LA Waters Quarter Horse breeding program started in the 1970s by Madi’s grandparents, Lou and Wanda Waters. “Colonel Freckles was a futurity Champ and one of the best cutting horses around,” explains Mike, who is Madi’s main coach. I had Rooster ready three years ago, but Madi wasn’t. We worked on position and the basics. Madi works real hard at rodeo and she’s so coachable.” Mike competed in both ends of the arena; bareback, saddle bronc, bull riding, calf roping, team roping, steer wrestling, and steer roping. He entered his first International Pro Rodeo at the age of 15 and went to the International Finals Rodeo, winning the All Around in 1995, 1996, and 1997. He made four appearances at the Wrangler National Finals, 2001 – 2004, competing in saddle bronc riding. He won the PRCA Linderman Award twice; 2004 and 2007. Through rodeo, Mike has developed a huge circle of friends that have been instrumental in his daughter’s success. His good friend, Ricky Canton, is a huge part of it. “He always keeps us in calves and puts on ropings every Saturday and Sunday in the fall and winter. It’s really helped her roping- she’s roping against girls that have roping schools of their own.”

 

 

Madi also honed her horsemanship skills by playing polo, something her mom, Kristy, did professionally for 25 years. She played her last polo match last year, retiring to stay home with her family and help Mike with the horses that they train and sell .“Polo has helped me a lot with my competition skills, my mind set,” said Madi. “You have an hour and a half to make up your mistakes in polo, in rodeo you have 2 seconds and then you have to drive home. I bring my polo mindset to rodeo – and don’t get too stressed out.”

 

All that support and Rooster’s incredible abilities have paid off greatly this year. They won the Junior NFR in Vegas in the 15 and under; Joe Beaver 15 and under, Cody Ohl and won second in Lari Dee Guy’s open breakaway.

 

The family ranch is in Utopia, Texas, but they also have a place in Fulshear, 30 minutes from the middle of Houston, where they live during the week so Madi and her younger brother, Ace, can attend school. “Mom has a big polo barn. We live in a little house attached to the barn. Rooster is 200 feet away from my bedroom. We have polo fields out front that our family built.”

 

Ace (11), is involved in baseball, basketball, football, fishing, and hunting. They both work hard at school. “School is very important to me and my family. I play basketball as well so basically ever since school started I’ve had basketball, then come home and rope and then homework. I work really hard to keep all As, but it’s worth it to keep good grades to get into a good college.” Kristy handles all the communication with school when Madi has to take time off to attend rodeos. “The teachers know I work hard and they give me my work and I usually get it done before I leave.”

 

Besides polo, rodeo, basketball, and school, Madi has another passion – acting. “I was an actress and that’s all I wanted to do when I was 9. We spent one summer living in New York City. My mom had a couple of polo jobs in upstate New York that summer. I had won an acting competition that gave me an agent in New York City that sent me on auditions, sometimes three a day… all summer,” she said. “I was in a couple movies with Robert Duvall. That’s what I did and what I loved.” She was also in a fabulous children’s movie called “Charlie, A Toy Story.”

 

She missed the ranch, though, and they came home. “It’s so much different when you have a whole ranch in Texas versus a tiny little apartment in New York City. My mom was so awesome to support me in taking me there, but they didn’t want to live there either. I had an agent in Houston that I still do auditions for, but a year ago I started focusing on everything else I was doing. It was too much to balance rodeo, basketball, school, – I still love the acting world – in fact Robert Duvall called my dad to congratulate me.” She felt the experience with acting gave her the skills to interview, something she has done a lot of since winning the American.

 

Madi found out about the Junior American through the International Finals Youth Rodeo. “We signed up there and I went to a few others – Joe Beaver and Cody Ohl had qualifiers. Joe Beaver is also where I qualified for the open breakaway.” She had two spots in the Junior American and two spots in the main semi finals.

 

After she won the Junior American short go on Friday, at the Will Rogers Memorial Stadium in Ft. Worth., she moved to the fifth round of the semi qualifiers at Cowtown Coliseum. “I honestly think I used up all my nerves in the semifinals. Once I made it to AT&T I knew I had accomplished my main goal. I was just like okay, get this one run at a time. Three runs. The last one was a 2.2 – my fastest time is a 1.7 at Ricky Canton’s roping. I was a 1.9 to win the Junior American at Will Rogers. I was actually a 1.9 three times that week. I’m usually not that fast.” She gives her dad the credit for that. “My dad giving me the perfect start. He can watch the calf and how long the box and barrier is. And then the calves were great there all week. We kept a list on them and we watched a video on them.” After that, she just remembers what he told her and nods her head. “Tip down, throw down. Look at the shoulder.”

 

After that win, what’s next for this young roper? She competes in barrel racing and cutting, but breakaway is her favorite event. “I get direct results – the horse is a huge part of it, but I have control of the winnings because it’s myself doing the roping.” She practices every day – she ropes on Rooster and one other practice horse and I rope between 10 and 20 calves every day. I try to rope the dummy too.”

 

College is definitely in the future. “I really don’t know what I want to do – I love the business industry, I’ll get into that like my grandpa did. My mom’s dad (Lou Waters) has taught me how to act and be and go about things. He’s such a respected and humble man.” Madi is quick to give her parents the credit for her success. “They taught me all their horsemanship skills and to stay humble and take everything as a blessing. I pray to God every night. They’ve showed me how to live.”

Born and raised in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, Tyler Waltz was the oddball through high school, focusing on rodeo instead of other sports. “I grew up with Jeff Askey and he and I had rodeo in common.” Tyler worked every event in high school, trying to make his childhood dream of winning the world in the IPRA come true. Several injuries would have shattered that dream for most, but not Tyler. He’s leading the bareback riding in the IPRA by more than $10,000; and he’s more determined than ever to make his childhood dream come true. “It’s in my blood,” said the 28 year old. “My dad (Dave) and uncle (Steve) both rodeo, and I love to do it.”

 

His list of injuries started his junior year in high school, when he broke his right femur at the National High School Finals in Farmington, New Mexico. He recovered from that and made it back to the high school finals again the next year. At a pro rodeo he attended before the Finals, he got hooked by a bull.. “It bent the rod in my femur; it was a bad deal. I really thought they were going to amputate my leg. We went to four different hospitals to find someone that could get the rod out.” He was headed to the University of Tennessee in Martin and the college rodeo red shirted him until he was better. “My dad went to school there and was on the rodeo team; my best friend Jeff Askey was going to school there, so I figured that was the place to be. The coach (John Luthi 731-514-4630) is really good too.” He made the college finals his freshman year in bareback and steer wrestling. “I missed my sophomore year for knee surgery, but went my junior and senior year.” He graduated with an Ag business degree and plans to be a rodeo coach. “I’d like to rodeo first, and when I slow down, I’d like to coach.”

 

 

Tyler has focused on bareback riding, but has added steer wrestling to his events. He also team ropes and hopes to make a run for the IPRA All Around next year. He stays in shape by doing T25 on his phone at least a couple times a week. He also made the decision to stick closer to home to rodeo, something that has helped him stay healthy. “I think when I was starting, I just went too hard, and that led to some of my injuries,” he said. Tyler travels with his girlfriend, Bri Dubar, the 2017 IPRA Breakaway Champion. “She’s honestly done all the entering, she’s done it all,” he said. “I don’t like the road part of it. I like when you get there, and hanging out with your friends.”

 

His dad knows all about overcoming rodeo injuries. “Its part of rodeo,” said Dave, who owns a fuel and coal business and farms on the side. “I was injury plagued when I rodeoed too – he’s mentally tough and that’s what he wants to do.” Dave and Tyler raise bucking bulls, hauling to 25 rodeos a year around the northeast. Tyler works for his dad in the winter, both in the fuel business and the bucking bulls. “My success is because of my dad – he’s always been there and taught me everything I know about rodeo. He gave me every opportunity he could get me to succeed.”

 

His mom, Cindy, rode English and Western Pleasure and her parents produced a rodeo at Jersey Shore, which is how they met. “My parents put a rodeo on a few times a year,” said Cindy. “It was an open rodeo and lots of people came out.” Cindy knows rodeo is her son’s true passion. “He has a strong will and a good faith and I’m hoping this is his time. I’m very proud of him for going after his dream.” He has two older sisters – Lauren and Courtney –33, and 30; Lauren still runs barrels.

 

Tyler and Bri will both be competing at IFR 49. “When I was a kid, I always wanted to win the world in the IRA It’s been a really good year – I’ve worked really hard to have a year like this.” Tyler wants to be remembered as a good person – an all around good cowboy.