Rodeo Life

Author: Siri Stevens

  • Matt Paulsen

    Matt Paulsen

    Matt Paulsen is the vice president-elect for Mid-States Rodeo Association and he’s looking forward to the job. “I want to be available for members to talk to me about concerns or issues related to the association. I’d like to be that ‘good listener’ and help out when I can. I’ll try to do my best to help the members as best I can, and always keep my door open to them.”

    He first joined the association in the mid-’90s. “I was riding barebacks in my younger and not-so-smarter days. I got out for a while and rejoined in 2003. Now I compete in the mixed team roping. I like the Mid-States Association for all the great people you meet and friends you make. We’re pretty well located so we can get to most of the rodeos in a day and be back home that night. My wife, Tracy lives and breathes rodeo and she gets to 50 plus a year. I get to probably 20 or so a year.” The couple has two young boys, Coy, 3 ½ and Kip 1 ½ that go along, “…I’ll go just to keep an eye on the boys. We try to make it a family event. Tracy competes in the barrels, breakaway, and mixed team roping. We rope together in the mixed team roping and since I’m a southpaw, I heel and she handles the head side.”

    Visualizing the run before hand is a big part of his preparation for a run. “I try to see those feet coming back to me so I get in time with the steer. The biggest factor in roping is the mental part of it. If you don’t think about roping two feet, you won’t do well. For me it’s the mental prep that makes a good run.”

    Matt got his introduction to roping through a high school girlfriend. “Her dad roped quite a bit and he got me started. I think I was sophomore then. In college some buddies convinced me that  I’d make a bareback rider and I went to a Lyle Sankey bareback school. Eventually I moved to just team roping.”

    Today Matt has abandoned his old superstitions. “When I was riding barebacks, I’d try to wear the same socks, shirt, pants, and underwear…the whole nine yards. But it never helped, the next pony you’d draw would be totally different. Being mentally prepared would have done me a lot more good than wearing the same underwear.”

    Matt barely finds time for rodeo between his ranch and farm operations and his duties as bank president. “I’ve been here for seven years. Things have been good here in the ag economy, our business is 80 to 90 percent ag-related. I’m not the kind of bank president that goes to the golf course at 4:30. I’ll go bale hay, work cattle, or go roping.” His experience working on ranches and feedlots combined with his college education in agriculture provided a solid base for his career in banking. “I think my work ethic that I developed has helped me also. I’ve worked pretty hard to get where I’m at and I’ve had a lot of help from a lot of good people. It’s been a heck of a journey.”

    Matt, 39 makes his home in Primrose, Neb. He says that his wife has been his biggest influence to him credits her and her love of rodeo and horses for where they are today. “I’d have to say she is the bone in my back.” Goals for the future are to build his ranching operation and keep his options open for coming opportunities with his banking career. Leisure time is to rope or going to rodeos. “Those are my get-aways, to go down the road to rodeo and get forget about what you have to do next week.”

  • Sherri Odell

    Sherri Odell

    Taking the reins and whizzing through the cloverleaf pattern, Sherri Odell dominated the barrel racing competition in the Kansas Professional Rodeo Association (KPRA) and won her first year-end title by close to $4,000 above her closest competitor. “I have an awesome horse,” she credited to her animal athlete.

    Her 11-year old partner (Bully) has been a part of Sherri’s string since he was a two-year old and Sherri says that it has taken a lot of years to get him where he is today. “We spent a lot of time working cattle. Between shagging in the feedlots and ranch work, Bully and I have spent quite a bit of time together,” she said of the training process. “When I was younger, my parents would never buy me a started barrel horse and said that if I wanted to run, then I had to train my own and for that I am very thankful.” Her race horse has also racked up a reserve-champion title in the KPRA and a year-end title within the Texas Cowboy’s Rodeo Association (TCRA), along with winning Horse of the Year in 2010. “He finally decided that he would much rather run barrels and he has proven that,“ she said. Tearing up the competition, Bully created a cushion for Sherri in the 2013 KPRA standings and allowed for enough space to be turned out. “I didn’t even run him at the finals. Instead, I ran colts and gave Bully a little vacation,” she explained.

    Sherri has been a member of the KPRA off-and-on since 1993, where she qualified for her first finals. Since that time, she has been a finals contender four times. “They do a great job with the rodeos and ground conditions, but I was really impressed with the payout. They pay as well as the pro circuit rodeos,” she said of the organization and her $9,723 season winnings.

    The Liberal, Kans., cowgirl got her start in the arena through her parents and she was entering her first junior rodeos by the age of four. “I’ve run forever,” she said. While her dad (Melvin Odell) worked as a pickup man, her mom (Linda Smith) ran barrels. “Through my family, I‘ve always been around rodeo. It is something that I‘ve always done and I can‘t imagine a life without my horses,” she said of why she likes to rodeo. Both parents continue to be very supportive of Sherri. “Mom is very instrumental in my rodeoing. She helps with the daily grind of taking care of our 20 head of horses and, at times, will travel with me,” she said. While Linda lives with her daughter and will occasionally still run, her ranching father made the trip to the KPRA Finals to support her. “I was the first time that he has watched me rodeo in about 20 years,” she said while explaining that he has thought himself to be a jinx to her.

    Outside of rodeo, Sherri and Linda are partners in a cattle processing business (L and S Processing) that they started about 15 years ago. “There are a lot more women in the cattle industry and we have been very successful with our business,” Sherri said. The business partners have opened the door to Sherri’s husband (Ty Crutchfield, a team roper within the KPRA) and he has taken on a lot of the responsibility to allow Sherri to chase her dreams inside of the arena. “He doesn’t get to go as much, because of his support of me,” she said. The couple will celebrate their one-year anniversary in December and Sherri says that they have plans on spending it at a Denver Broncos game.

    A cowgirl through-and-through, Sherri’s list of associations expand into the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA), where she has been a member since 1990. With only ten days of riding Bully prior to the 2013 WPRA World Finals, she was able to place in the second-go. “My goal has always been to make the NFR and hopefully 2014 will find us there,” she said and will travel outside of the Prairie Circuit that she designates.

    Setting a high standard for herself, Sherri still plans on hitting the KPRA rodeos as often as she can. Her and Ty plan on kicking off the 2014 season by hitting the “Gunslinger Series” and have hopes of coaxing Linda to go along with them. “She has fallen in love with one of the younger horses around here and hopefully we’ll get her to go as well,” she said.

  • Lucas Camac

    Lucas Camac

    Lucas Camac proved to be no underdog in the Central Plains Rodeo Association (CePRA) as he climbed the ladder from sitting sixth in the standings to finishing out the year as the reserve champion steer wrestler. A second place in the first-go, followed by a first place finish in the second-go, found Lucas leading the average heading into the third-round of the Finals, but luck of the draw seemed to be the cause of missing his last steer. “It’s part of the game we play,” was his explanation. The unfortunate last round incident didn’t play too big of a role on the bulldogger as he took third in the aggregate race with an 8.5 on two head and brought his year-end winnings to about $400 from the top hole. “I had a pretty decent finals and was happy with the results,” he said.

    The youngest of three boys, Lucas has been a member of the CePRA for six years. “It’s a good association. The finals pay decent and the winter rodeos allow for contestants to keep going throughout the year,” he said of the organization. The five-time CePRA Finals qualifier can most often be found traveling with his steer dogging older brothers (Cole and Travis), who also compete in the association. “My brothers are always my first option to travel with and we travel together when we can, but sometimes we are going in different directions and we have to jump in with someone else,” he said. In these instances, Lucas hops in with the 2013 CePRA steer wrestling champ, Shane Henderson.

    Rodeo has been handed down through the family, starting with his grandfather (Norman Hazeleaker), who was a bull rider. From there, Lucas’ two uncles (Mike and Doug) found their love from two separate ends of the arena and while Mike rode bulls and bareback horses, Doug was a bulldogger and calf roper. The love for competition wasn’t left to the boys, as Lucas’ mother (Carol) competed in the barrel racing and showed horses. “My Granddad was a big part of rodeo and it was passed down to his kids and now all of his grandkids,“ said Lucas. Surrounded by the rodeo way of life, Lucas got his start through Norman during the summer of his eighth grade year. “Granddad let me jump my first steer in the practice pen,” he remembered. Progression in the event found Lucas competing in the National High School Rodeo Association and later getting a rodeo scholarship to Northwestern Oklahoma State University, where he was a member of the Rangers rodeo team for four years and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Health and Sports Science Education. Currently, Lucas’ associations are split between the CePRA and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), where he has been a member since 2007. “Rodeo has been a part of me for a long time and I just love the sport,” is his reason for competing.

    The Rose Hill, Kans., cowboy makes his living within the second-crop program of ADM Alliance Nutrition and is looking forward to a future with his fiancé Jacey Andrews. An all-around cowgirl, competing in the barrel racing and breakaway roping will help to carry on the family tradition as a card holder of the CePRA. The couple of set the date for May 24, 2014.

    Halfway through the 2013 season, Lucas switched his steed to his 12-year old horse (Maverick). “I’ve had him for a while and he was started as a heading horse, but he has gotten more solid and proved to be a winner,” said Lucas. Now with the horsepower under him, Lucas hopes to get in enough circuit rodeos to qualify for the Prairie Circuit Finals, within the PRCA, next season. “I would like to give it a legitimate shot,” he said of one goal. Nonetheless, his sights are still set within the CePRA and he has targeted the year-end saddle. “I would definitely like to win it,” he said.

  • Shada Brazile

    Shada Brazile

    There will be five first time qualifiers at the Wrangler National Finals this year in the barrel race and each one has a great tale to tell of their journey. None though have the same perspective of Shada Brazile.

    You could say that Shada grew up around rodeo but that would be an understatement. Let’s see, she’s married to Trevor Brazile, a 17-time World Champion, including seven consecutive All Around World Championships. Her grandfather is Clifton Smith who qualified for the NFR in the 1960s. Her uncle is Stran Smith, an 11-time WNFR qualifier and a World Champion Calf Roper. Shall we continue? Her brothers are none other than Clif and Tuf Cooper and stepbrother Clint Cooper who combined have 14  WNFR qualifications and two World Championships. Her father is Steve Norris from Colorado Springs, Colo., who is a two time World Champion cutter. Her other grandpa, Bob Norris, owns the famed T-Cross Ranches. See what I mean?

    Shada was destined to love horses or at least have every opportunity provided. There is a difference though between what you are provided with and what you do with it. There are many people who are provided ample opportunity but do not have the perseverance and work ethic to succeed. Shada is not one of these individuals.

    As the mom of two young children, Treston, 5, and Style, 3, Mrs. Brazile has her hands full. For the past several years since marrying Trevor, she has been his partner on the road never feeling like she was in his shadow. “I’ve never really felt like I was in Trevor’s shadow. We worked together for every one of his gold buckles. I don’t ever feel like I’m just Trevor’s wife. I have been completely comfortable with how it was,” Shada said lovingly.

    With several rigs on the road at one time and a husband who competes in three different events, Shada had a full-time job just tending to business. Even when she wasn’t on the rodeo road herself she kept her hand in the barrel racing business.

    “After college I didn’t rodeo a whole lot. I would buy a horse here and there. After Trevor and I were married I would take his second and third string head horses and train them and then I would end up selling them. I think that helped me more than anything is training my own. I’ve done it both ways – I’ve bought horses and I’ve trained my own,” Shada said.

    After taking some time off to have her children and enjoying every minute of raising them, the desire to barrel race came back, but it wasn’t without heartache. “I bought two horses in October of 2011; that following January I lost two horses in two days. Salmonella got one and another horse crippled himself out in the pasture. Both of those horses were just about ready to go and literally, I was just heartbroken,” she said.

    The desire was gone. It wasn’t long though before her husband and friend, Brittany Pozzi would light a fire in her. Probably little did Trevor know how much a quick comment would change things! At the Texas Circuit Finals, a horse that Pozzi was riding caught the attention of the great horseman. Trevor casually asked about the horse and commented that he liked him. A few weeks later, Pozzi would come to stay with the Brazile family during the rodeo at Fort Worth and strike up a conversation with Shada about a horse she had that she felt like Shada should try. Politely Shada shrugged off the suggestion feeling like she wasn’t ready. Persistence on Pozzi’s part about a week later paid off.

    “Brittany called and said since she was coming back, she would just throw Dial It in the trailer and I could ride him. I figured it couldn’t really hurt anything so I agreed. I knew the minute I loped him through the pattern that he was perfect. It wasn’t like it was a perfect pattern either – I think he even bucked a little bit, but I just knew,” Shada said. Call it instinct, call it luck, call it whatever you want – Dial It was “it” so to speak. The success didn’t come easy though.

    “Dial It was a little wild and crazy when I got him. In fact, I wouldn’t let my kids within 30 feet of him when I got him. He was terrified of cattle and just in general wild,” Shada laughed. “Now, he literally looks for my kids when I take him back to the trailer. They give him treats and honestly, he loves them. I think he’s in his comfort zone when he is at the trailer with them.”

    After a full year of seasoning and doctoring injuries, Shada confessed that at the beginning of the 2013 year, it was her goal to make the Wrangler National Finals and come running down the alley at the Thomas and Mack in Las Vegas.

    “I had a good winter and was about seventh in the standings and then things got rough. I put a lot of emphasis on Calgary and I didn’t win anything there. Dial It wasn’t feeling good and it was apparent in his runs. After Cheyenne I had slid all the way to 23rd in the World. After Cheyenne I had to make a decision – either send Dial It home and call it a year or get busy and figure things out. I chose the latter. I can’t say I did it all by myself either. I have a great support team in my mom, my entire family, and my friends. Bambi Robb never missed a beat in helping me figure out what was wrong and how to tend to Dial It,” Shada reflected.

    The team did things right and Shada got back on the top of her game. It was a struggle to make the top 15, but Shada never took her foot off the gas and if there is a bet to be made on a barrel racer in Las Vegas, there is no doubt Shada will be prepared.

    “I’ve watched the epitome of work ethic in Trevor. The pace in Vegas is something that we have been used to all year. Trevor says we took the busiest rig in all of rodeo and just added another event to it. I guess that’s right. We just do what we have to do to make it happen but it sure doesn’t happen without all of the people that support us. Faith is what gets us through. I know we have a loving God who has a plan for our lives that is much bigger and greater than I can even imagine. I thank Him for blessing our family with this moment and for helping me and guiding me through the year. I didn’t take this challenge on this year to prove anything or for my happiness. I was happy filling my role as wife and mother. I did this because I have a passion for horses and rodeo. I love it and the life it allows for us. I’ll be prepared when I get to Vegas but I don’t have to win to have a storybook ending. It’s already perfect in my eyes. Just making it and riding in the grand entry behind Trevor and the Texas flag…that’s a happy ending and more than enough for me.”

  • Devon Waters

    Devon Waters is a steady kind of guy. “You just have to keep consistent,” is his motto, and he applies it not only to his rodeo, but his education and extracurricular activities. The fourteen year old cowboy who lives near Meade, Kan., in the southwest part of the state is a member of the Kansas Junior High Rodeo Association. He competes in the dally ribbon roping (with Carlie Jones as his runner), team roping, tie-down roping, goat tying, and chute dogging. Of all his events, tie-down is his favorite.

    He rides a buckskin pony named Jet for the tie-down, goats and heeling, and a roan horse named Roanie for the dally ribbon roping and the tie-down. His header is Cinch Bullock, who lives in Campo, Colo.
    Many weekends Devon can be found practicing at his cousin Shade Etbauer’s house in Goodwell, Okla. Shade, a sophomore in college, is also a tie-down and team roper (as well as steer wrestler and saddle bronc rider), and he and Devon practice together. Shade goes to school at Oklahoma Panhandle State University, along with Cinch’s older brother Caleb, and Shade and Caleb are a great help to Devon.

    Devon is an eighth grade student at Meade Junior High, where the best part of the day is social studies. He loves his teacher, Mr. Leiker, who makes learning fun. Devon loves learning about American history, and if he could choose a person to meet from the past, he’d choose his Great-Grandpa Poteet, who was a World War II veteran and who “inspired me a bunch.” Devon faintly remembers his grandpa, who died not long after he was born, and loved him very much.

    He participates in track, where he runs the mile, the 800m, the 400m, and the 4×4 relay. He loves to read the Great Illustrated Classics, adaptations of great works by Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and others. His favorite so far is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and his favorite book ever is Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.

    He has been a member of Little Britches Rodeo since he was seven. Devon is in his first year as a senior in Little Britches, and competes in the team roping, tie-down, and ribbon roping. He heels for Sean Doherty of Branson, Colo., and his dally ribbon roping partner is J.D. Draper of Oakley, Kan. He made it to the Little Britches Nationals from 2008 through 2013. In 2012, he finished third in the world in the goat tying, and this year, he finished sixth.

    He has two older sisters, Kaylee, who is 25, and Shayla, who is 21, who pick on him incessantly. He is the son of J.A. and JoBeth Waters. When he grows up, he’d like to attend Panhandle State and then run a ranch in southwestern Kansas.

  • Aaron Ferguson

    Aaron Ferguson

    Aaron Ferguson has been dreaming about yellow chutes for a long time. They’ve been the backdrop on his phone and his computer for the past three years, and now finally he’s going to be the bullfighter in front of them. Those yellow chutes are the famous chutes at the Wrangler National Finals in Las Vegas, and for the first time, Ferguson has been chosen to fight bulls there. And for the 25 year old, it’s a dream come true.

    He grew up in High River, Alberta, Canada, and at the age of twelve, spent a summer traveling with his older brother, a bullfighter. “We traveled in Alberta and Saskatchewan, going to rodeos, and I decided I wanted to do it. I thought it was the coolest thing. The way he got around those bulls, it looked like so much fun. (My brother) was a handy bullfighter, and once I got the chance to try it, I did and never looked back.”

    After graduating from high school in 2006, he spent a semester at Olds (Alberta) College. Every Tuesday night, they had a practice pen, and Aaron was there. “I just had no clue what I was doing, but I fought a ton of bulls up there.”

    After that, he had the chance to attend Western Oklahoma State University in Altus, so he came south. His first break into the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association came with Jerome Robinson and Bronc Rumford. A friend got him the job at one of Robinson’s bull ridings in Wichita, Kan., and he met Bronc, who needed a bullfighter for his Kansas rodeos. “I got five (PRCA) rodeos in Kansas, just enough to get my name out there,” he recalls.

    After that, Aaron’s list of rodeos grew steadily. “I got lucky to get good rodeos.” He kept his faith during the rough times. “There were times where I had no hope of getting a rodeo, and the call would come: ‘hey, so and so got hurt, can you be there’? It ended up leading me to great people.” He’s been loyal to those who have helped him since the beginning: he still works all of Jerome Robinson’s events, for the Korkows, Bar T Rodeo, and others. “Just the great people in this business that you meet, they want to help you out, and help you get to the next level. It makes it special to me.”

    And he’ll be working the Finals with friends Dusty Tuckness and Cody Webster. “Me and ol’ Tuck go way back,” he says. “I’ve been lucky to fight bulls with him, and we really fight good together.” And he’s excited to work with Webster for the first time, too. “It’ll be cool, The first time to fight together is at the NFR. I’ve watched him a lot and I know he’s upstanding talent.”

    A special guest will be in the stands cheering for Aaron. His grandma, Viv Schwab, age “29” – (that’s what she tells everybody), will be there. “I’ve always had a deal with my granny,” Aaron says, “that when I get (the Finals) she has to come down. It’ll be pretty special to have here there. She’s definitely a character, a very strong woman.”

    Aaron’s parents, Brenda and Glen, and his brothers, Craig, who started his bullfighting dream years ago, and Trevor, a former bareback rider, and their wives and daughters, will be in the stands. “They’re all really special to me. They’ve supported me not just with good advice but financially when times were tough.” And they all can get pictures of Aaron in front of those yellow chutes.

  • Kelli Neville

    Kelli Neville

    Kelli Neville is a barrel racer in the Kansas High School Rodeo Association. The eighteen year old Kingman, Kan. cowgirl used to run poles, but when her pole horse sold more quickly than she planned, she let him go, and now she concentrates on barrels.

    She has two barrel horses. Ace, who is 17, is a big bay quarter horse who “is the biggest sweetheart ever,” she says. “He gives me 110% every time. He always takes care of whoever is on him.” Her second horse is a little palomino mare named Ira who is new to Kelli this summer. Ira will eventually replace Ace, and the ten year old mare is not typical. “She is very mellow for a mare. She’s almost like having another gelding around. She’s not moody or cranky, but very sensitive. You can put anybody on her, but if somebody is heavy-handed or rough, she doesn’t like that.”

    Kelli is a senior at Kingman High School, where she enjoys it, but is excited for her senior year to end so she can get out and “start a whole new chapter in life.” Her younger sister, Valerie, is a freshman and plays sports, so Kelli enjoys watching her play. “She does the sports, I do the rodeo. During the week, we’re at her games, cheering her on, and on the weekends, she comes to the rodeos and cheers me on. It’s fun to watch my little sister do well at sports.”

    After school, she works as a clerk at the Kingman Drug Store. She packages and delivers medicine for the local nursing home, and loves the experience she is gaining. She is saving her earnings for college. After Kelli gets home from work, she helps out on the family farm and hog operation. She, her brother, and her dad rotate in doing hog chores each evening, so after riding horses, she does her chores, showers, homework, and heads to bed.

    Her mom and dad raise wheat and own Neville Built Trailers and a welding shop. Her dad made a deal with her. If she’d pay for the grain, he’d provide the hay from the waterways between wheat fields.

    When she’s not at school, working, riding, or doing chores, she likes to go with friends to Wichita. They like to watch movies or go to the Buckle (“that isn’t good because I like jeans”) or Shepler’s, “and that isn’t good because I like shirts. Mom doesn’t let me go to Wichita for that reason.” They like to stop at Texas Roadhouse for their delicious steaks.

    After high school, Kelli might attend Ft. Hays State University, of which her dad is an alumni. She’d like to major in sports medicine. In school, she is reporter for her FFA chapter, and is on the Eagle Honor Roll. In addition to her sister Valerie, Kelli has an older brother, Cole, who is 20. She is the daughter of Marvin and Jill, who have “done so much for me, to get me where I’m at,” she says.

  • Garrett Yerigan

    Garrett Yerigan

    Garrett Yerigan graduated from high school last May and is hoping to make rodeo his career. “I would use college as a backup plan – but right now rodeo is my main gig. I think I can make that work, but you never know what tomorrow will bring.”

         He is checking one goal off his bucket list this year by announcing the International Finals Rodeo, in Oklahoma City, Okla. January 17-19, 2014. “Announcing the IFR was on the top of the list,” said the 19-year-old from Pryor, Okla. Garrett started as a technical director of the IFR several years ago. “I handled the lights, the video, oversaw the music, and built the performance outlines – pretty much one step down from the production manager.” His dad, Dale, is the General Manager for the International Pro Rodeo Association, so Garrett has worked many angles of the event over the years. “I never competed. Everybody always thought I was crazy especially having a dad as the bulldogger. But I looked at the for sure paycheck and did the back end work instead.” Garrett started announcing when he was 11, locally at some rodeos and barrel racings in the Claremore, OK area. “When I started, I just used the equipment that was there, and now I have a sponsor – Red Master Harrow – that provides the tractor and harrow that I use is for my jobs working ground. Floyd Fain, who owns the company out of Amarillo, comes to the event now. I’ve been with him almost two years.” Another one of his sponsors, Cody Jensen with Oxbow Tack, helps advertise anything that he’s doing. “That company is a family company and I appreciate those kind of people – that’s how our country keeps turning. Anybody that can make something out of nothing is impressive. I and I have a pair of chaps, saddle, and breast collar made by them.”
    Garrett considers announcing as a conversation between himself and the audience. “I’m not going to talk at you, I’m going to talk to you. I like to think of myself as a person that can relate to the audience, wether they are watching rodeo for the first time or the 500th time. It goes back to the sports broadcaster – our job is to explain the event – things that people may not realize, but we’re educated to make them aware. The toughest part of that is coming across in a way that is understandable to the first time rodeo fans, but not obnoxious and elementary to the people that watch week in and week out. I don’t ever feel like I’m going to work, I’m going to have fun.”
    He does his homework before showing up at an event. “I get day sheets and find out what contestants are there – hometown, money won and even some personal interest stuff. Then I take a look at the livestock coming and the accolades of that. I meet with sponsors and producers – there’s a lot more to it than showing up and picking up a microphone.” He is announcing the IFR with Brandon McLagan – it is Brandon’s second trip. “Brandon and I are great friends and we talk on the phone several times a week. Once we get closer to the date, we will talk a lot more. Whose doing what will happen the day of.”
    Garrett has learned a lot about public relations through FFA. He joined in 2008 and has won two National Awards through that association. The first one was the National Ag Communication Proficiency Award for FFA, which he received Friday, Oct. 26, 2012, in Indianapolis at the National FFA Convention and Expo.
    After winning the title for Oklahoma, he moved to the national competition. “They start with 51, then the top four are the national finalists. We moved on to the interview process, which included an application, interview, and a fifteen minute question and answer session. The hardest question was how do I look when I go to a new location as an announcer, I’m taking someone’s position that was there the year before, does that change your mindset or are you yourself. I told them that if the committee liked  what I did in another location, they will like me there – I don’t change my style – I’m going to be myself wherever I’m at.”
    His second title was achieved this year – the Outdoor Recreation Proficiency Award. “After the state level, they crown three winners. The state winner from every state goes to summer judging, where the application is judged. The top four become national finalists. The final live interview is 75% of the score. My SAE, Supervised Agricultural Experience, is Rodeo Announcing, Sound and Music – all the things I do in rodeo.” Because the FFA is such a prestigious organization, these awards looks great on Garrett’s resume. Garrett is still trying for one more award – the American FFA Degree – the highest any single member can receive. That will be something I’d go to convention for next year. It’s a lengthy application that you submit and get judged on.”
    Garrett came upon his love of rodeo naturally. His dad, Dale, was an eleven time IPRA World Champion steer wrestler. His mom, Kathy, was an IFR barrel racer, who now works as an office manager at a local hospital. “Dad grew up in Minnesota playing hockey and wrestling, he got into high school rodeo through friends of the family. Mom is from Ohio; she was born into rodeo; her mom and dad were both competitive (Barbara Ink, Bob Ink – IFR judge multiple times, bareback riding). My other grandparents, Dean and MaryLou, were not involved in rodeo, but they supported my dad the whole way, just like they do with me. Both sides are very supportive of continuing the family tradition of rodeo. I’ve got a phenomenal support system at home. Whatever path I go down, my parents are going to be behind me one hundred percent.”
    Garrett spent years collecting music and sound effects. He has more than 15,000 songs on his computer – that includes songs and sound effects. “I can do both announce and music. If I can concentrate on one or the other, I can be more responsive and not concentrating on something else. Music is fun because of the mood setters and you have some control over that feel. On the other side, you get to accent the music by setting the scene of what the ride means for the cowboy. There are some guys that I work multiple events with, but every event is different.”
    Along with his expertise in sound and music, Garrett is also sought out for his expertise in ground work. He was part of the ground crew for the International Finals Youth Rodeo for several years and works the ground for several barrel races around his house. “Diversity is definitely there. I’ve always been a personal tractor nut. Growing up I’d spend time with my grandfather in Minnesota. He was a farmer and I drove big John Deeres up there.”
    Come Jan. 19, when the IFR is all done, Garrett can check that one off his bucket list. “I would love to announce the NFR, obviously, and the bigger ones like Cheyenne, Houston, and the National High School Finals.  I did get selected for the National Junior High Finals in DeMoines, Iowa in 2014. There’s always expansion in my future and growing – rodeo and announcing is where I’m headed.”

  • Jake Cruzan

    Jake Cruzan

    Jake Cruzan lives in Cave Creek, Ariz., a recent transplant from Cortez, Colo. His family moved a month ago and the National High School Reserve Team Roping Header Champion is excited about the move.
        “It’s really been good for me since I’m into the cutting and there is a bigger opportunity for me here,” said the 17-year-old home schooled senior. Jake won the Colorado State High School Finals in both cutting and team roping. “This move will allow me to show our rope horses, reiners, and cow horses at the AQHA shows close to where we live.” Jake won reserve World Champion Heading at the AQHA World Show this year and he is hoping to become a professional performance horse trainer. “I’m hoping to continue to get my name out there,” he said.
        Jake has always rodeoed, beginning with the junior rodeos at the age of eight. Junior high was the next step, and he moved into the high school rodeo after that, working his way up to making Nationals for the first time in the team roping his junior year. He made it both sophomore and junior year in the cutting. Jake has shown rope horses, cutters, and other horses in the AQHA and qualified three horses this year for the first time. Arizona has given Jake another opportunity to compete against some tough competition. He’s sitting second in the All Around, second in team roping, and winning the cutting. “My goal this year is continue going after the All Around. I want to be competitive in all three of my events – cutting, team roping, and tie down roping. I have a really good partner this year, Zane Yates, from Cortez, who is going to keep living in Colorado and rodeo in Arizona.”
        Jake splits his time between school, his nine horses at home, and his full time job with a local horse trainer.  “We have quite a few show horses – they are under lights, blanketed, and exercised daily so that‘s a lot of work. I work for Brad Barkemeyer six days a week – this will be my third year working for him. I’m an assistant rope horse trainer for him and help him with whatever he needs done. He’s taught me a lot – and helped me on all levels of life from riding to being a good person,” said Jake. “Brad has a lot going for him and he his endorsement with Weaver Leather has opened up some doors for me. I’ve got some really good sponsors from his help.” He is endorsed by Bobs Custom Saddles, Anderson Bean Boots, New West Performance Horses, BetterBoots.com, and is working on a sponsorship with Twister Trailer. “The hardest part of getting sponsors is getting your name out there. I have tried hard by introducing myself to everyone I can. I have worked on getting a very clean appearance from myself to my horses. I’m one of the only kids that is endorsed by some of these companies. I work hard at keeping my record clean and everything tidy.”
        Jake’s family owns an irrigation company (Cruzan Irrigation) in Cortez and his dad (Kyle) commutes now that the family has moved to Cave Creek. They still have the house in Cortez and they spend time there in the summer. Both Jake and his brother (Brock) work at the company in the summer. They help with deliveries, as well as help take down and set up pivots and side rolls. Brock took to motorcycles instead of horses. He does a little bit of competing, but mostly rides for fun. His mother (Rickie) is the secretary of the business and devotes a lot of time helping Jake with the horses at home

  • Jim Watkins

    Jim Watkins

    Jim Watkins was born in Fairfax, Missouri. His dad was a tanker driver for Farmers for MFA oil company. After getting his start in Little Britches, Jim competed in bareback, bull riding, steer wrestling, and calf roping in high school rodeo in Missouri, graduating in 1963. He was National High School Vice President from Missouri in 1963 and qualified for the high school finals in the bareback and calf roping, adding bull riding to that list his senior year.
        He went on to college, graduating from Sul Ross State University in 1968, and rodeoing on his PRCA card in the summer. “I rodeoed full time after college,” he said. Jim made the big ones across the country from Cow Palace to Cheyenne. “I was in the top 15 and tore a groin – that finished that year,” he said. His wife had been calling him about a job offer in Odessa as an Industrial Technology teacher. “I was going to teach for one year, just until I got healed up, and I ended up teaching and coaching for a total of 40 years,” he said. “I’ve never done anything I’ve enjoyed more. My wife says I never had to grow up because I got new kids to play with every year.” He kept rodeoing, weekends and summers, until 1984. He also judged a lot of rodeos including Cheyenne Frontier Days, Pikes Peak or Bust, Pecos and Odessa for several years. He was also the chute boss at Deadwood, SD, after Jack Buschbaum. 
        Jim and his wife, Katherine Carol (KC), met in college. They have three children, two boys and a girl in the middle -Todd, Jamie, and Ty. “My wife was a teacher of chemistry and biology at Crockett Junior High – she taught for 31 years. When I started teaching, she stayed home with the kids and went to school part of the time.” They built a place north of Odessa that included an arena.  “We built a bucking barrel and roping dummy at school the second year I taught and the kids would get off the bus with rigging bags and rope cans and we’d ride the bucking barrel and rope,” he recalls. In 1974, Joe Turner, with El Torro Bucking Machines, found out what Jim was doing and donated a brand new bucking machine to the cause. “We bucked that thing until we wore it out,” he said. He charged $.05 to ride during the week and then had trophy days on Fridays – the winner got the trophy. “We had a lot of fun with that bucking machine.” 
        Jim supplemented his income as a teacher by making bull ropes. “Booger Bryant and I were rodeoing together in the summer of 66. He was building bull ropes and I was braiding the tails. I braided tails for him all summer. During the spare time during the rodeos that’s what we did. Come time for me to get a new bull rope, I asked Booger to do it and he said for me to make it myself. He taught me how and I’ve made them over the years for several world champions – Harry Tompkins, Freckles Brown, Benny Reynolds, Bobby Steiner, Larry Mahan, Cody Snyder, Jim Sharp – he was still wanting them when I quit in 1993. That was the best insurance policy I had.” The first ones he made he charged $35 each, when he quit they were $175. “I’d work after supper 11:30 to 2:30, and in three nights I’d finish a rope. I’d start the next one the third night. Then I’d get up at 6:30 and go to school. I’d do that three nights a week. School teacher didn’t make a whole lot of money and making ropes saved my bacon more than once.”
        All three of their kids started in junior rodeo and worked their way up. “Both boys rode steers and roped calves, my daughter did everything. And long story short, they were all three several times AJRA world champions, Texas State High School Champions, national high school go around winners and my oldest son held the record for highest marked bull ride at the high school finals.” Ty went on to be the PRCA rookie of year in 1991. One arena turned into two at the house and in 1983 Dr. Miles Eckert from Odessa College got in touch with him to see if he would be interested in putting together a rodeo program.
        “They had a rodeo club and they had two kids that college rodeoed. Dr. Clara Willis was the rodeo club advisor,” said Jim, who accepted the job, and started the program in 1984. “They used my facility because the college didn’t have anything. The first year was very lucrative for me. I got $5,000 for the whole year – that included my coaching and the use of my facility.” Jim recruited some great rodeo athletes including Jim Sharp (two-time bull riding world champion), who won Rookie of the Year in 1985, and the college championship in 1986 and 1987. “We hauled Jim to the high school finals – the same one Lane Frost won.” He also coached nine-time world champion and seven-time all-around champion Ty Murray, the late Shawn McMullan, Jerome Davis, Adam and Gilbert Carrillo, Cimmaron Gerke, and Ryan Gray, who won Jim’s last college championship – bringing the total to 11.
        Jim taught public school and coached the Odessa Rodeo Team from 1984 – 1998. “I’d teach all day, get off at 4:30. The team would be at my house and we’d start practice at 6 and be out there until 11 at night.” In 1998, his 4.5 acre place with two arenas, was also home to 28 kid , 20 calves, 20 steers, five goats, and ten bucking horses. “We had panels put up and horses everywhere.”
        All that changed in 1999. “Herbert Grahm called me at Thanksgiving – he owns Grahm Central Stations across the country. He said ‘Jim, looks like you’ve outgrown your place. I came by there the other day with Kenny Carr, a promoter who put on all the top gun PBR in Odessa, and we both agreed that you can’t grow anymore.’” Herbert gave credit to Odessa College for a lot of his success and after talking it over with his family, they decided to donate the West Texas Stud farm (120 acres) to the rodeo program. There were no arenas, but lots of horse stalls (400). “I could see where the arenas could go and that’s what became a reality.” Jim convinced the board and Dr. Vance Gipson (president of the college) that he could do it and when they agreed, he went to Butch Pinkerton with WW Arena. Butch improved on his schematic of the layout which included three arenas. “$59,000 is what it cost for everything – now something like that would be more than $500,000. In 11 days we had the whole thing done.” 
        Jim retired in 2009, and was honored as coach of the year for the NIRA and was inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame in 2010.  “I loved teaching, rodeoing, and coaching – It was a great way for my wife and I to raise a family and we did it all together. She was my best supporter and critic. Now we stay busy on our place taking care of her mom and dad. My goal is to get to team rope a little bit and travel more in Europe. We’ve raised three great kids, have wonderful daughters’ in law, a great son in law, and four fantastic grandchildren. We are all doing well. We’ve been blessed all the way around. What more could we ask for?”

  • Derek Weinreis & Levi O’Keeffe

    Derek Weinreis and Levi O’Keeffe make one heck of a team, whether it’s in the rodeo arena or on the basketball court. The North Dakota cowboys are leading the team roping in the National Standings of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, and their intramural basketball team doesn’t have many losses.

    The two are in their third year of roping together and are students at Eastern Wyoming College in Torrington. Right now, they’re more than 300 points ahead of the number two team, but Derek isn’t counting his chickens yet. “We try not to look (at the standings.) We still have to rope every steer.”

    Derek will graduate next May with a degree in business, and will probably head back home to the Weinreis farm and ranch operation located about an hour south of Beach, N.D. In the summers, he helps with the family business, which involves farms and ranches in several states. He stays busy branding, haying, harvesting, and moving cattle. He also competes in the Wrangler Team Roping Championships, World Series of Team Roping, and U.S. Team Roping Championships.

    Levi will also graduate in May, with a degree in ag business. In the summers, he often helps his dad with his fuel business and putting up hay. He is a member of the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association, the Wrangler Team Roping Championships, and the USTRC. He just competed at his first PRCA Badlands Circuit Finals, finishing sixth in the year end standings.

    The two not only rope together, they’ve played intramural basketball together the past two years. Their team has done well, except for last year, when Derek and Levi had to miss the first game of the year end tournament, and they lost. Derek says basketball is a lot like team roping: “You can’t do much with one guy.”

    They have a good relationship, which makes for a great team. “We’re pretty open with each other,” Levi says. “We sit down and talk about what we need to change, and what the other person needs to change. There are no secrets between us.” For Derek, a positive attitude pervades. “Mainly, not beating ourselves is the most important thing. Whatever we draw, we try to make the best out of (the steer) and go on with it. If you have a steer to be a six on, go be six, and don’t try to be five.”

    The cowboys devote a lot of time to practice. Each man saddles four horses, and they’ll run anywhere from 30 to 100 steers nearly every day. In the first four college rodeos this year, they’ve placed second at the first one and won the next three. Last year, they won second at the College National Finals, and the previous year, won second in the Central Rocky Mountain Region.

    Derek has two older sisters and an older brother; Levi has two older sisters. Derek’s parents are George and Pam Weinreis. Levi’s parents are David and Lisa O’Keeffe.

  • Willie & Loretta Cowan

    Willie & Loretta Cowan

    Willie and Loretta Cowan believe in giving back. The Pierre, S.D. couple grew up in hard times, built a home and made a family, all the while contributing to others through rodeo. Willie was born into the rodeo world in Highmore, S.D. in 1937, the son of Art and Mary Cowan. His dad rodeoed and owned a rodeo string when Willie was young. His mom’s dad, Boots Gregg, put on rodeos on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation.

    Willie can’t remember a time he wasn’t horseback. His dad bought, sold and traded horses for a living, and after World War II, he helped with a U.S. Government contract to supply horses to Eastern Europe, to rehabilitate the small farmers whose stock had been killed or destroyed. The story goes that the night Willie was born, Art was trading horses with Pete Metzinger, his future wife’s grandfather and another horse trader, and “there may have been a little brown jug involved,” Loretta laughed.

    Because the Cowan place saw so many horses come through it, Art kept back the potential bucking horses. “My dad sent 10,000 horses to Yugoslavia,” Willie said. “Me and my brother were horseback forever.” Any time anyone found a horse that would buck, they’d hang on to it. “We had an arena and chutes, and pretty quick we found out (if they’d buck). We kept the good ones and sold the rest.” And Willie grew to appreciate good horseflesh. “We had to ride all kinds of junk. Dad was trying to make a living, so if we got something that worked good, he’d sell it.”

    As a youngster, there were no youth rodeos. He rode bucking horses at home and did some roping, but it wasn’t till high school that he competed in a more structured setting. He competed in every event: barebacks, saddle broncs, bulls, roping, bulldogging, even the cutting, and qualified for the South Dakota State High School Finals in 1954 and 1955, winning the saddle bronc riding championship in 1955. He qualified for the 1954 National High School Finals, but getting to Huntsville, Texas “was out of the question with a ’49 Chevy pickup,” Willie said. When Nationals were at Harrison, Neb. the next year, he attended.

    After high school, Willie had a scholarship to play football at South Dakota State University in Brookings, but he didn’t want to go. The next year, when he was ready to go to college, “Brookings wasn’t interested in me,” he laughed. Two friends from Texas were attending Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, and they got him a rodeo scholarship and supposedly a football scholarship, so Willie was headed south. But the day before he left, a bull stepped on him and broke four ribs, so his football career was over before it started, “but that’s probably a good thing anyway.”

    The Sul Ross team made the College National Finals, but that summer, Willie was home in South Dakota and the funds weren’t available for him to travel. “Money didn’t grow on trees then,” so he didn’t go. After one year of college, he was back home, ranching with his dad.

    But his rodeo wasn’t over. He competed in the South Dakota Rodeo Association, winning the saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, team roping, and even the all-around. Saddle bronc riding was his strength. “I never could ride bareback horses worth a damn,” he remembered. “And the bull riding, sometimes I would and sometimes I wouldn’t. I would never say I was really good at it, just good enough to stay in it.” His rodeo competition didn’t last long, however. “I quit pretty young,” he said. “I didn’t think a guy should be on the road when he had a wife and family.”

    Willie had married in 1960, and he and Loretta began ranching near Harrold, S.D. After the ranch owner died in a blizzard, they spent several months calving for Raymond Sutton near Gettysburg. Then the chance to buy some land came, and they bought the ranch where they live now, 15 miles northwest of Pierre, on Lake Oahe. That was in 1963, and by then, they had two children, Shane and Kim.

    When he and Loretta were done, there were six Cowan kids: the first two, plus Carmen, Colleen, Casey and Lori, and the kids competed in 4-H rodeo. In 1972, he and Loretta helped begin the South Dakota 4-H Finals Rodeo, because “there was a need,” Willie remembered. “We really thought we could keep the older kids in 4-H, so we started the finals. It just evolved and got bigger and bigger.” Willie served as president and Loretta secretaried the finals for fifteen years.

    He also worked as a pickup man. He began for his dad, and then worked for Korkow Rodeo and Sutton Rodeo for several years. He picked up the National High School Finals Rodeo five times, and the College National Finals once. And he did so much more. He served on the Hughes County Fair Board for nine years, and won the Heartland Saddle in 1992 for helping the youth of Central South Dakota. In 1982, he won the South Dakota 4-H Outstanding Service Award, and was inducted into the South Dakota 4-H Hall of Fame during its centennial celebration. He was the 2002 National High School South Dakota High School Rodeo Person of the Year, and in 2006 was the Casey Tibbs Honoree as a Past Rodeo Great.

    Just last year, he retired as arena director for the Casey Tibbs Match of Champions, which he had done for twenty years. Willie credits his family for his volunteering service. “Everything she and I have done, we’ve done for our family. We’ve been blessed with a good family, we haven’t had any trouble with our family. We’re really blessed. Our health is good.”

    At the young age of 76, Willie is still going strong. He and his daughters made an eight day, 132 mile wagon trip from Buffalo, S.D., to Medora, N.D., and he was delighted that his girls went with him. He and Loretta are partners with one of their sons on their beautiful ranch in the Missouri breaks, where they run a cow-calf operation. They lost a daughter, Kim, to cancer in 2003 and are proud to enjoy their thirteen grandkids and four great-grandkids. And his giving back? “All this stuff I’ve done, if it wasn’t for my family, I’d never have done it. You do it with your family and for your family.”