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Matt Britton - Rodeo News

Meet the Member Matt Britton

story by Lily Weinacht

Matt Britton and his mom, Lori, learned to rope simultaneously eight years ago while vacationing in Arizona, and it proved not a pastime, but a passion for the 18 year old from Wheatland, Wyoming. Today, he’s sitting fifth in the WHSRA team roping standings with heeler Jaymis Sonesen of Douglas. “I also rope calves, but I like team roping a lot more – it comes easier,” Matt explains. He and his partner for the 2015 season, Jace Berger, qualified for the NHSFR that summer, and topping off his senior year with one more trip to the finals is high among Matt’s goals.
“I love watching those ropers on TV that can spin one in three seconds, and that’s what I strive for,” says Matt. “I want to get quicker, and I hope to rodeo for the rest of my life, so I figure I should practice hard now while I have the horses and steers to do it.” Each summer for the last eight years, Matt has spent a day working with team roping trainer Rickey Green during the roping school he puts on at the Britton’s. “Mom went to a school of his in Colorado a few years ago and really liked it, so she asked him to come put on a school here in Wheatland. I really like the way he teaches, and I also enjoy his videos.”
Matt and Lori, a heeler, often enter team roping jackpots together, while Matt practices with Jaymis twice a week during the rodeo season. He heads off a white gelding, Reno, whose previous owner, a roper from Arizona, competed on him in Reno, Nevada. Matt ropes calves on a black gelding, Jack – short for Captain Jack – dubbed such because he has just one eye. “At first, it was kind of different riding him because I’d only ridden my mom’s horse in the tie-down roping, and I was still pretty green in that event, but we get along really well. I wish we knew the story behind his one eye, but we’re guessing he was born that way,” says Matt. His dog, Sundance, also comes with him to ropings.
A senior at Wheatland High School, Matt plays basketball for the Wheatland Bulldogs, and particularly enjoys Biology II, while his mom teaches biology at Eastern Wyoming College in Douglas. He also takes welding, and is a member of the FFA Ag. Mechanics team, which held its competition in Laramie in November. “For welding class, I’ve been building a set of lamps with a foot wide frame that has three bucking horses in it,” he describes. “I’m giving them to my FFA chapter for an auction. My mom and I also bought about 600 used horseshoes that we’ve been grinding and soaking, and we use them to make wine racks.”
Matt uses any extra time to rope the dummy or go duck hunting, and especially likes making duck jerky. In the summer, he runs a hay business, splitting the hay 50/50 to cut, rake, bale, and stack it for the customer. “I take the other 50% of the hay to my barn and feed our horses off that,” he explains. “My mom usually drives the truck while I throw bales on the trailer and do the stacking. It’s a lot work, but I like it. We usually get 1,500 bales from one field, and we have six fields we do.”
Following graduation, Matt plans to college rodeo, and is currently working on rodeo scholarships. “After college, I’d like to get a job like welding or being an Ag. teacher, which would let me rodeo on weekends,” he says. “It takes a lot of money and a lot of time, but I want to save up enough to travel and compete on the pro circuit.”

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May 12, 2019
Bareback Riding
1 Donny Proffit 120
2 Riggen Myers 71.5
3 Derrick Robinson 10
4 Dimaggio Hamilton 9
5 Denton Pavlenko 9
6 Drake Amundson 9
7 Cameron Henson 8
Barrel Racing
1 Shelby Petersen 109
2 Shay Hough 102
3 Maddie Fantaskey 91
4 Taylor Nichols 89
5 Ellie Bard 83
6 Haiden Thompson 78.5
7 Cedar Kohr 75
8 Isabelle Camino 51
9 Baily Coombs 37
10 Halle Hladky 32
Boys Cutting
1 Wes Bray 111
2 Hunter Hayden 100
3 Preston Schwartzkopf 92
4 Joseph Hayden 91.5
5 Kasen York 91
6 Broc Schwartzkopf 15
7 Kall Mayfield 11.5
Reakaway Roping
1 Ellie Bard 67
2 Ellie Anderson 59
3 Jordyn Mcnamee 56
4 Rayne Grant 56
5 Kaydin Davis 49
6 Hadley Furnival 45
7 Shaylee Terry 42
8 Haiden Thompson 40
9 Hailey Hardeman 36
10 Kyra Corson 35
Bull Riding
1 Brody Hasenack 90
2 Dalton Mccaslin 84
3 Zain Fitzgerald 82
4 Wyatt Phelps 74
5 Donny Proffit 43.5
6 Matthew Fenton 41.5
7 Cjay Firnekas 41.5
8 Landen Brownlee 34
9 Tipton Wilson 28
10 Derek Grant 18
Girls Cutting
1 Ayanah Winsor 115.5
2 Emme Norsworthy 100
3 Taylor Gibson 92
4 Aniya Teppo 88.5
5 Maddie Fantaskey 34
Goat Tying
1 Tavy Leno 118
2 Haiden Thompson 109
3 Brooke Worman 92.5
4 Shaylee Terry 79
5 Karissa Phillips 76
6 Mckenna Clingman 56
7 Ellie Bard 49
8 Rayne Grant 47
9 Baylee Delbridge 41
10 Lanna Jordan 38
Light Rifle
1 Colter Nunn 30
2 Stratton Kohr 27
3 Tipton Wilson 23
4 Cody Caldwell 20
5 Peityn Manor 19
6 Alexis Wilson 14
7 Kennedy Sheehan 10

Pole Bending
1 Shay Hough 118
2 Halle Hladky 99
3 Shelby Petersen 73
4 Rayne Grant 66.5
5 Ellie Bard 64.5
6 Madison Wolff 61
7 Jordyn Mcnamee 45
8 Hailey Hardeman 44
9 Haiden Thompson 42
10 Amber Salazar 42
Reined Cow Horse
1 Clay Kinnison 38
2 Preston Schwartzkopf 32
3 Kasen York 30.5
4 Maddie Fantaskey 27
5 Tierney George 23
6 Peyton Kottwitz 21.5
7 Ayanah Winsor 19
8 Morgan Vaughan 12.5
9 Scotlyn Flitner 11.5
10 Hanna Griemsman 3
Saddle Bronc
1 Jase Longwell 63
2 Kayson Dory 49
3 Donny Proffit 38
4 Cian Ahern 20
5 Parker Manor 18
6 Wyatt Phelps 10
7 Guston Lozier 10
8 Cody Acord 8

Steer Wrestling
1 Winsten Mcgraw 98
2 Kaden Berger 78
3 Kagen King 73
4 Skyler Lubkeman 69
5 Jake Deveraux 63
6 Chase Stricklin 60
7 Danny Goold 52
8 Derrick Robinson 37
9 Chance Sorenson 33
10 Donald Quick 19
Team Roping
1 Jade Espenscheid 95
2 Coy Johnson 95
3 Kolby Bradley 62.5
4 Arye Espenscheid 62.5
5 Blake Afdahl 61
6 Clay Reiner 61
7 Carson Johnson 53
8 Teegan Leno 51
9 Bryan Lemmon 51
10 Jared Lemmon 51
11 Jase Longwell 48
12 Winsten Mcgraw 44
13 Lane Anderson 44
14 Cooper Deveraux 40.5
15 Jake Deveraux 40.5
16 Tanner Handy 40
17 Cameron Klatt 40
18 Bryton Scheller 37
19 Teagan Bentley 36
20 Dawson Mccuin 36
Tie Down Calf Roping
1 Jake Deveraux 83
2 Preston Schwartzkopf 77
3 Cooper Deveraux 69
4 Colter Ellis 67
5 Clay Reiner 63
6 Teagan Bentley 46
7 Cody Caldwell 45
8 Teegan Leno 45
9 Coy Thar 44
10 Weston Mills 43
Trap Shooting
1 Colter Ellis 28
2 Bryson Bartholomew 27
3 Carsten Hughes 25.5
4 Kolton Miller 17
5 Dawson Mccuin 12.5
6 Quincy Reynolds 12
7 Brodee Barkhurst 11.5
8 Alexis Wilson 10.5
9 Kagen King 8.5
10 Clay Reiner 7.5

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TENTATIVE SPRING RODEOS
May 25 Sheridan (Held in Buffalo)
May 26-27 Buffalo

FINALS
June 3-8 WY HS State Finals – Gillette
July 14-20 NHSFR – Rock Springs, WY

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