Category: Newsletter Articles

It’s time to get Punchy! Punch Hole siding with our in-house corrugated side sheets creates a versatile siding for a livestock trailer, by corrugating the metal and making the punch holes, the steel is actually strengthened in this process through the corrugation. The punch hole siding is perfect for the rancher who lives in a hot climate but also wants to keep the public eye off their cattle and keep them cooler at the same time.

The Swift pipe trailer revolution continues as Swift Trailers introduces the Punched Side option –
24’ punch sided stock combo.
“We started Swift Trailers 6 years ago to be the best in a crowded livestock trailer industry,” said Swift Trailers CEO and managing director, John Murdock. The pipe steel trailers were started to fill a need in the industry. “This style of trailer is rugged and fully suits the needs of ranchers. Our trailer was designed to never see an easy day on the ranch and to live a hard life. It takes being a tough person to be a rancher, and a rancher needs a tougher trailer.”
“All along the way, our motto has been to listen to the customer. The success of the company has been built on the partnership between our dealers, friends, and customers. Piece by piece we continue to improve our trailer with feedback from ranchers who use the trailer.”
The company continues to test and work on new options and designs based on the needs of the customer. “The Punch Side design is important for those haulers requiring more air flow,” explained John. “This concept was born in the hot humid south where more air flow was critical to keeping livestock comfortable.” Along with that, the limited rattle concept has also been incorporated into the New Cattle Puncher Swift model. “As on all of our Swift Trailers, we hand corrugate the side sheets in house – now we punch the sides in house as well.” Corrugating the side sheets increases the strength of the sides.

“Even as we continue to grow bigger and better we have not forgotten our roots. Swift Built was started by people who saw the need for an affordable trailer that could handle any job, whether that’s hauling horses to the branding, taking two track roads to your pasture, or going off road and finding that sick bull, we just want to build the perfect trailer for you that will hold up to the hardest conditions.”
The basic sizes of Swift Trailers has expanded in the last two years to expand on the standard 6.5’ wide to now include 5’, 6’, 6.5’, 7’, and 8’. The revolutionary powder coat application is second to none as is the laser cut assembly process.
The new 2021 punch side will be showing up on dealers’ lots soon.

This image was taken at the Evergreen Assisted Living Facility last week. I’m confident there were residents who enjoyed Riley, Chester and Strawberry, however, I am certain no got more joy out of the experience than we did.

The opportunity to give a moment of happiness and distraction will always be a treasured memory.

Brady Wakefield’s first head horse Chester may have found his highest and best gift.

I have spent the last few weeks being still and waiting on the Lord. Most of you know me well enough to realize this is a real challenge … I’m always on the move and the go … have been my entire life.

The message yesterday from church was about what the meaning of the word quarantine is … a period, originally 40 days, of detention or isolation imposed upon ships, persons, animals, or plants on arrival at a port or place. It also reminds us of the 40 year journey into the unknown for those following God’s instruction.

Ok … that doesn’t work for a magazine full of deadlines and an office that cannot be entered except on Tuesdays or Thursdays by one – not five.

Top that off with May marks the 28th anniversary of the Rodeo News and we will not be printing this May issue of Rodeo News – it makes me sad … but I hope and pray that the future will make that option available in one shape or form – what has Rodeo News meant to you?

My bio includes more than 40 years in the print industry, with a passion for human interest stories and taking photographs, so publishing the Rodeo News is a perfect fit.

This is straight from the website: “Everything I’ve done in my life has led me to this – the perfect job. I give all the credit to the Lord for allowing the Rodeo News to thrive and provide a great resource for Rodeo News. My background in cooking has helped keep my staff as well as clients happy. I drive more than 30,000 miles a year looking for the next great picture.

Here I am, working from home and diligently working on the next book – the history of the American Hat Company – and cleaning out an office that hasn’t seen the light of day in 15 years.

In the meantime – lets share our favorite rodeo recipes … Go!!! And let me know what you’d like to see the Rodeo News being after this is all over. We have more than half a million on FaceBook and 28,000 unique visits per week on the website … rodeonews.com … and if you belong to an association, all your meet the members are archived on our website = please look and share them …

And last – we also have posters of all the covers for the past 5 years … if you’re interested in your’s let me know – it would cost $150 plus shipping ($50) to get them to you .

At 12 years old, 7th grader, Braxton Guillot, has already been rodeoing half of his life, and certainly has roping calves on his mind for the rest of it. As the oldest of Janea and Brandon Guillot’s three children, Braxton is grateful to be following in his father’s footsteps and especially appreciates competing in the Louisiana High School Rodeo Association, knowing his father is an LHSRA alumni. In his second year with LHSRA’s junior division, Braxton is competing as a tie-down roper and ribbon roper, roping calves for the 2nd season for his partner, Grace Dubois.
Tie-down roping has always been Braxton’s favorite event, and he was glad to win a bet with his dad last season so he could compete in the event this year. As a 6th grader, Braxton competed in breakaway roping under an agreement that if he qualified for national finals in breakaway roping, they would discuss Braxton switching to tie-down roping for his 7th grade season. If Braxton won the state breakaway title, he could switch to tie-down this season for sure. Braxton was determined to achieve this goal and gladly took on the challenge. As a rookie, he finished the season as LJHSRA’s 2019 champion breakaway roper and went on to national finals where he finished 4th out of the top boy breakaway ropers in the world. “It was exciting doing so well at nationals last year, but tie-down roping is a lot more fun, I love getting off and tying.”
Braxton attends school at Leonville Elementary, where his favorite class is math. When he was younger, he played basketball and baseball, but has focused his energies on roping for a few years now. Braxton’s dad works as a farrier with a large portion of his clientele being racehorses; and his mom stays at home to care for Braxton, his 10-year-old brother, Colt, and 4-month-old sister, Josie. The family also raises beef cattle and trains performance horses. Braxton’s dad still competes in amateur rodeos, seasoning many of the performance horses he is readying as future mounts for Braxton and his siblings. The success Braxton had in breakaway roping last season was even sweeter because it was accomplished on a 12-year-old chestnut mare named Big Momma, that his dad had trained for him. Braxton also competes on a home-raised and trained 8-year-old sorrel bald-faced gelding named Ocho.

After school, Braxton cleans stalls, helps feed livestock, and spends most days practicing for his next rodeo. “I rope almost every day and I tie my Perfect Calf dummy a lot.” Besides competing in the LJHSRA, Braxton has made trips to Las Vegas, Nevada for major youth rodeo competitions in the past two years. Last season, Braxton competed at Mike and Sherrylynn Johnson’s Vegas Tuffest Jr. World Championship, and also at Chris Neal’s Las Vegas Stars, where he won the champion 12-and -under breakaway roper title, and his brother Colt won the fastest time in the same roping with a 2.4 second run on his dun pony, Squirrel. Braxton looks forward to having Colt competing in the LHSRA as soon as he is old enough. “I like competing in the LJHSRA and hanging out with all my friends there. It will be fun when Colt is competing in the association too.”
For the future, Braxton hopes to train performance horses and have a professional tie-down roping career like his favorite professionals, Joe Beaver and Shane Hanchey. Although he aspires to compete at the professional level, he plans to do it his way. “My main goal is just to be the best version of me that I can be.”
Braxton is very grateful to his sponsors for their support: Lone Star Feed, T-Pop Leather Shop, Equine Catalyst, Kaylon Rodriguez, Backyard Bits & Spurs, Cowboy’s Western Store, and Delta Equine Veterinarian.

Big Horn Rodeo Company of Lamar, Oklahoma has been proudly offering quality rodeo livestock and full personnel and rodeo options for committees since 2009. Kyle Robison always knew as he grew up on the competitor side of the rodeo business, that working as a stock contractor was what he wanted to do one day in his future. Big Horn Rodeo Company has been a part of International Professional Rodeo Association events for 5 years now, and they’ve had the honor of bringing their bucking horses to the IFR for the past 3 years.
Growing up, Kyle mainly competed as a team roper and tie-down roper. He was a member of the Oklahoma High School Rodeo Association, and after graduating high school he went on to compete at the college level at Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Kyle graduated from Bacone College in 2006 with an associate degree in natural resource management and a bachelor’s degree in business administration. After competing in amateur rodeos for a few years, he started his rodeo company and does approximately 23 rodeos each year. “We own everything, the horses, bulls, steers, and calves. We used to lease some bulldogging steers or bulls when we started out, but now we own most everything that we use.” Big Horn Rodeo Company keeps approximately 15 to 18 hauling bulls, plus about 60 horses for the saddlebronc and bareback events. “Four years ago, we started our own bucking horse breeding program, and we have about 8 mares that we breed. So far, we have a lot of young horses that we are just starting to buck, but we’re looking forward to seeing this generation of our bucking horses in the rodeo arena soon.”

Kyle, and his longtime girlfriend, Amber Butler have three children: 4-year-old daughter, Liz Robison, 2-year-old son, Leigh Robison, and their newest addition, 2-month-old daughter, Anelle Robison. “I couldn’t do what I do without the support of my family and all the great people that work for me.” Their oldest daughter, Liz, helps them gather stock from the back of her little bay roan pony, Mighty Mouse. “Liz will help run a gate when we are sorting; the kids love being out there with us. This is a lifestyle I always liked and knew I wanted for my own family from the time I was a little kid myself.”
Each rodeo that Big Horn Rodeo Company is a part of, has its own special significant value to Kyle. They are generally gone about 40 weekends per year between the IPRA rodeos, junior rodeos, ranch rodeos, and other events they are a part of producing. “This year we have 9 IPRA-first rodeos and 14 that are IPRA co-approved. It was really neat being a part of the IFR50 at the Lazy E Arena and always feels like a reward to be included at the IFR. One of the best things about the IPRA is seeing how hard they work to always make the association better.”

Of course, with the COVID-19 pandemic on everyone’s mind, Kyle is discouraged with the rodeo cancellations that are taking place and what that means for a family in the industry his is in. “It doesn’t scare me or bother me; we will keep going on with what we have to do to take care of the stock and we just hope and pray that we will all resume like we were soon.”

Very few people can say their horse shares bloodlines with their role model, but that’s exactly the case for Cheyenne Semmel. Her mare MP One Day Hayday, Sylvia for short, is a first-generation daughter of Dinero just like Hailey Kinsel Lockwood’s mare, Sister. “Sylvia is really fun to ride; I feel like she keeps me safe. She has quite the personality though, she can be really sassy but is also super sweet,” said the Woodward, Oklahoma, barrel racer, pole bender and ribbon racer. Cheyenne has ran Sylvia for just over a year and a half. Sylvia was a step-up horse for Cheyenne between the OKJHSRA’s fall and spring season.
She started out junior high rodeo on Duke, another great mount. In 2018, Duke and Cheyenne were the NBHA OK 07 Youth 3D Champions and won the NWOJRA year-end barrel saddle. The following year followed suit, but this time with Sylvia; Cheyenne once again won the NWOJRA year-end saddle, the Young Guns barrel saddle and tied for first in the NBHA District 7 Youth 1D and 2D Open. “I was really proud and felt accomplished when I won the state championship in the NBHA youth, but I also am proud of myself when people talk about me being kind both inside and out of the arena.”
Cheyenne is simply thankful every day that God blessed her with good horses, the ability to rodeo and all the people who have helped and encouraged her. That’s something Cheyenne said she also admires about Haley. “I’ve learned that you don’t always win, but good things will still come out of it. You can learn from your mistakes and you always have the opportunity to do well next time.” These are all lessons Cheyenne has learned from first-hand experience, but she has also watched her parents – Lacey and Jason – lead by example. “My parents always help me work on my events and they encourage me. I’m very thankful for them. My dad always hauls me to rodeos and my mom helps me with horses at home.” Cheyenne’s sister – Callie, 8 – is also an avid rodeo competitor. “It’s fun to see how much she has grown and the difference between us; how she is good at one thing and I am good at another.”
Working hard and having fun go hand-in-hand for Cheyenne. Learning how to make adjustments when something isn’t working proves to be a challenge for this 12-year-old, but she’s working hard at learning from her mistakes and using them to her advantage. “I just really want to work hard and have fun. I practice as much as I can, but sometimes I just ride around for fun. I like to spend quality time with my horses.” Just like her fellow OKJHSRA competitors, Cheyenne hopes to make it to nationals next year as an 8th grader. “The competition in the OKJHSRA is very tough, so it makes me push myself a lot harder. I also have lots of fun and love all the people I meet.” Although Cheyenne enjoys all the rodeos, her favorite is in Thomas, Oklahoma. “I just like having fun with my friends and I really like the shaving cream fight we always have there.”
This Woodward Middle Schooler aspires to one day become a physical therapist. “One time I hurt my knee and I had to go to physical therapy for it. I want to do something that helps people, but I am not very good with blood. I decided physical therapy was the way to go.” Cheyenne got her first pony at just 2 years old and got led around the barrels at the local round-up club. At about the same time, Cheyenne took up dancing at the local studio. She continues to dance in tap, jazz, lyrical and ballet to this day. Of course, rodeo is her favorite sport, but Cheyenne enjoys mixing it up between rodeo, basketball and dance.

“Sometimes we’re tested not to show our weaknesses, but to discover our strengths.” This quote speaks to the challenges and obstacles that Ella Zonneveld, a 17-year old junior, has endured and her decision to push past the obstacles and continue rodeoing which is one of her passions.

After a life-changing accident when she was fifteen that totaled her truck and trailer, but thankfully spared her horses, Ella’s life has been filled with multiple surgeries, including one to repair cracks in her skull that were causing cerebral spinal fluid leaks. Since the accident, her activities were restricted for two six-month periods to enable healing. Riding her horses was definitely off limits.

While living with daily headaches and endless rounds of physical therapy, rodeo has been a “huge, huge lifesaver” for Ella who vows she “would do anything to do it” as it is a motivator and a source of hope.

Ella, a home-schooled junior, and the youngest of four children born to Linda] and Ernie, lives on ten acres outside of Berthoud, Colorado. Mom keeps the household running smoothly and Dad works as a Materials Operations Supervisor at Xcel Energy. She has competed every year since the wreck, scheduling her surgeries after the rodeo season ended. Though Ella explained “2019 wasn’t the best season because my horse and I weren’t synching up that well,” she went into the state finals ranked fourth in the barrel racing. Then her horse ducked the second barrel, knocking her out of qualifying for the national high school finals. Past achievements include qualifying for nationals in her eighth-grade year in barrels and breakaway roping. In 2018, Ella was sitting at fourth in the state, but didn’t accomplish the outcome she was hoping for. This season, she’s currently ranked eleventh in barrels and eighth in goat tying in the CSHSRA and is hoping for a good comeback after her last surgery. “I’m very excited for the spring rodeos” and she’s using sky-high motivation, along with the physical therapy, to get her body ready to give her all.

Synchronicity may be an overused word but it fits where Ella is with her competition partners, Legs, a 14-year old barrel racing horse who was trained by her sister, Ava. “Legs is solid all around horse and I can do anything off him.” A big teddy bear of a horse aptly named Teddy, whom Ella trained as her goat horse,rounds out the Zonneveld rodeo equine team.

Though she’s focusing chiefly on barrels as a high-schooler, Ella has posted some great times goat tying with Teddy who “loves it so much he pushed me to love it more. It’s so essential to find the right horse that helps you to keep doing the best you can.”

Traveling to rodeos and competing in new arenas gives Ella a thrill. She likes Eagle in particular, especially the dance, and finished in the top ten in all three rounds at Cortez last year. Leaving home is something Ella would like to do for college and given her familiarity with the practice, she thinks she’d like to study physical therapy. “I want to help people get better and go higher in life.” It’s a matter of doing the work and staying positive.

Based on her goals, Linda focuses Ella’s studies on science, including anatomy and physiology. Though Latin is usually described as a “dead” language, Ella has embraced learning it because of her interest in the medical field and she finds it helpful in knowing the roots of the English language. “Once you start understanding the roots of the language, then everything else is easier.” Given this context, it isn’t surprising that Ella enjoys listening to all kinds of music. “I must have music in my life,” she claims.

The Zonneveld kids are no strangers to hard work. Ella works part time at the local Chili’s in Loveland, Colorado. “If I didn’t work then I couldn’t rodeo,” she explains, “it helps with entry fees and keeping the horses shod.” Her parents taught their brood that if they wanted to do something, they have to work.

Ella also loves being an aunt! She didn’t think she would, but once she got to hold her big sister’s brand new baby last fall, she fell in love with Hazel. Not that she’s ready to have any of her own. At seventeen, Ella has lots of other worlds to conquer. And she is ready.

Every year since 2017 gets Ella closer to a new normal. A positive mental attitude and her faith keep her from getting down and staying in a bad place. And Ella Zonneveld has too much going for her to stay in a bad place. Now, if only she could get her braces off.

At 16 years old, Natalie Larabee is the youngest of four – Emily, 25, Morgan, 20, and Lindsey, 21. She’s also the only one of her siblings who got serious about rodeo. “When I was little I can remember always going to small rodeos with my family. My dad has always owned horses and roped a little, but nobody in my family has ever competed at the level that I do. It’s something that I have explored on my own,” said the 16-year-old. And the level Natalie is talking about just so happens to be nationals. In the 8^th grade, she took 8^th in the nation in the goat tying. As a sophomore, Natalie is looking to get back to one of the biggest stages of high school rodeo.

“A week before state last year, at a local rodeo, I was getting some runs in when my breakaway horse kicked me in the knee.” Sitting third in the state, all Natalie had to do was tie clean and she would punch her ticket. “I drew a really good goat, but my knee was really bad and I fell during my run.” Natalie missed nationals by only two points. After state finals, Natalie didn’t rodeo or play sports while letting her knee heal properly. “I just had to realize it wasn’t about winning, it was about the process of getting there. Sometimes I lose focus of the bigger picture of rodeo.” As a five-event athlete, Natalie has a lot to capture her attention.

Sitting third in the state for goat tying, Natalie is hoping to recreate her first trip to nationals. “That was one of my favorite trips ever. My whole family got to go, even my grandparents from Nebraska came up.” Eight days in a horse trailer with her entire family and parked right next to her teammates was heaven for Natalie. Meeting people from all over the globe was just a fringe benefit. “I really love the environment of rodeo and how it is based a lot on faith. Everyone is so friendly too.”

It was a couple of friends that got Natalie into rodeo in the first place and they have only continued to bolster her decision to make it her main priority as a sport. This New Mexico transplant now lives in Midland, Texas, but continues to rodeo in her home state with the NMHSRA. It’s her friends that Natalie misses the most about her hometown. “New Mexico is a lot smaller than Texas, so we are really tight. I’ve roped with most of my friends my whole life.” Natalie only recently started team roping at more than just jackpots. Learning the ropes of her other four events – barrels, poles, goat tying and breakaway roping – from scratch set her up for success. “I’ve always known how to team rope and done it with my friends, but once you get in the arena to be serious about it the game changes some.”

Dan and Cheryl, Natalie’s parents, have learned a lot about rodeo right alongside their youngest daughter. “My dad has always been a coach for one sport or another. He knows how to break things down for me so I can understand them better. And he’s really good at focusing on the little things that make a big difference.” One of those details is follow through in roping. Natalie compares it to the follow required for a nothin’ but net free throw. “Rodeo has really made my mom and I get close. We both have a special love for it, so we have learned it all together and that’s been cool.” Still undecided between becoming a veterinarian or breaking into the world of business, one thing is for sure: Natalie doesn’t plan on leaving rodeo in the wake.

New Opportunity Created for Female Athletes Seeking New World Title

AUSTIN, Texas and PUEBLO, Colo.- WCRA (World Champions Rodeo Alliance) and PBR (Professional Bull Riders) have announced a new, breakthrough event in women’s rodeo: the Women’s Rodeo World Championship, taking place at South Point Equestrian Center on November 3-7.

This first-of-its-kind world championship is open to any female athlete in the world competing in breakaway roping, barrel racing and team roping.

The new Women’s Rodeo World Championship will award a minimum of $750,000 and name a champion in the individual disciplines of barrel racing, breakaway roping, team roping as well as a Women’s Rodeo All-Around Champion.  The event will be held in Las Vegas during the PBR World Finals.

Qualifying positions will be open to all eligible women across the world. Ten riders will have direct paths to the Championship based on their final ranking on the WCRA leaderboard.

The event will begin with onsite open-qualifier rounds November 3 – 5. Those ranked in the top 10 from the open qualifier will advance to the Championship on November 6 – 7, where they’ll compete alongside the Top 10 from the WCRA leaderboard and an additional four competitors awarded exemptions from to-be-named events.

“Working with our partners at PBR to provide female rodeo athletes an opportunity like this is a game-changer,” said WCRA CEO, Gary McKinney. “This historic addition of the Women’s Rodeo World Championship to the WCRA 2020 tour will give female ropers and barrel racers more opportunities, including the ability to compete for big-money payouts.”

“Women in rodeo haven’t had the same opportunities as men, and they deserve this exciting national platform and world title competition,” said PBR CEO Sean Gleason. “We’re very proud of our partnership with WCRA which helps us celebrate and reward talented female athletes while inspiring the next generation of young women to pursue rodeo.”

The Women’s Rodeo World Championship will be carried on RIDE-TV and RidePass, the PBR’s western sport digital network.

Additional details on how to qualify and leaderboard information will be released at a later date.

About WCRA

WCRA is a professional sport and entertainment entity, created to develop and advance the sport of rodeo by aligning all levels of competition. In association with the PBR, WCRA produces major rodeo events, developing additional opportunities for rodeo-industry competitors, stakeholders, and fans. To learn more, visit wcrarodeo.com. For athletes interested in learning more about the WCRA Virtual Rodeo Qualifier (VRQ) system, visit app.wcrarodeo.com.

About PBR

PBR is the world’s premier bull riding organization. More than 700 bull riders compete in more than 200 events annually across the televised PBR Unleash The Beast tour (UTB), which features the top 35 bull riders in the world; the PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour (PWVT); the PBR Touring Pro Division (TPD); and the PBR’s international circuits in Australia, Brazil, Canada and Mexico. PBR’s digital assets include RidePass, which is home to Western sports. PBR is a subsidiary of IMG, a global leader in sports, fashion, events and media. For more information, visit PBR.com, or follow on Facebook at Facebook.com/PBR, Twitter at Twitter.com/PBR, and YouTube at YouTube.com/PBR.

Media Contacts

For PBR – Andrew Giangola

andrew.giangola@img.com or 646-871-2402

For WCRA – Kyle Jones

Kjones@wcrarodeo.com or 432-683-4816

Champions:

Steer Wrestling: Matt Reeves – Matt was one of five people in a room in Omaha, Nebraska, when Randy Bernard talked about producing the AMERICAN. It seemed too good to be true. “40 has been good to me”

Bareback: Kaycee Field – second win at the AMERICAN. “I had an accident last year got hit on the head – I think it made me smarter.” With his first win, he invested in two companies PWR PRO CBD – unique brand that controls crops, and produces the products in a 300,000 square foot plant in Utah-  it’s the first time I’ve made money without using my body. The other company – gel blasters, a gun that shoots Rodeo has been good to me – I’ve got great friends all over the country.”

Breakaway roping: Kaycee Hollingback. Kaycee grew up in a rodeo family. She made it to the AMERICAN on the last qualifier. She’s riding a horse that she has only had for less than a year. “I remember dreaming of this as a little girl.”

Team roping: Luke Brown – header. “We bought this horse seven years ago. I’ve won Cheyenne and the BFI on him, then he got hurt and we were told we could never ride him again. We prayed a lot about it – and he got better and here we are.” Joseph Harrison – heeler – “Since I was a young boy trying to learn how to rope and win – you need a good partner and a good horse – and I have both.” The duo hasn’t roped together for very long. “We roped around each other a lot, and we roped together one day before the AMERICAN.”

Barrel Racing: Stevi Hillman on board Truck. “He’s a very special horse – he turned 13 this year. I”ve had him for six years, made the NFR four years now. I like that we had an alley and the ground was great.” There was a lot of consultation about the new set up on the arena. Stevi travels with her husband, Ty. “He does everything for me.”

Tie Down Roping: Shad Mayfield “It’s unbelievable – that much money helps. Now I can lay low – maybe take a vacation.” He’s riding a new horse that he got in October. “He’s made it so easy – he’s changed my roping.” Shad has won more than $700,000 this year. “I don’t want to ever go through that again,” he said about last year, when he was on the bubble for the last month. “To be on top already this year is great.” He handles pressure well. “I’m under pressure every day in the practice pen being around my dad. This is a lot easier.”

Saddle Bronc Riding: Wyatt Casper won the College finals in 2016. He is also leading the PRCA world standings. “The money I’ve got won is more than the last three years in PRCA. Last year got me down, from June to August I only won $3,500 – super glad I had my parents and my beautiful wife and kids – behind me. I owe it all to the good Lord – I’ve never drawn so good in my whole life.”

Bull Riding: Sage Kimzey/Joao Ricardo Vieira. Joao has been at the AMERICAN for three years and won it every year. “This is the best for me. ” Sage – “This is a great place to come – you dream about this as a kid.” He competed in pain – three weeks from surgery on and accident – he had a bull fall on him and it tore the ligament that attaches two bones together in his ankle. “I’m going to take some time off and get everything ready for the busy part of summer season.”