story by Lily Weinacht
“Our dad’s always team roped. He got us into it when we were young, and we just fell in love with it since then and kept going,” says Trevor Nowlin. He and his fraternal twin brother, Trey, team rope together in the GCPRA, and both of them qualified for the GCPRA finals for the first time last year. Trevor competes in heading and heeling in both the incentive and open, while Trey prefers heeling. He’s sitting in the top 15 of the GCPRA open team roping standings, and Trevor is in the top 10. “I think heeling is a lot more fun, and I think it’s a little more challenging,” says Trey. “Roping just makes me want to do it more and more and get better.”
The brothers, 19, have grown up in Casa Grande, Arizona, helping on their family’s dairy farm. They also raise and sell replacement heifers, and own several farms in the area. Their dad, Daniel Nowlin, is a third generation farmer, and his grandfather Louis Johnson was partners with John Wayne on the farms and the 26 Bar Ranch. Roping is a long-held family tradition, and Daniel won the #11 roping at the World Series Finale in Las Vegas in 2008, and he’s coached his sons and daughter, Kalee, since they were young. Their mom, Elaine Nowlin, doesn’t rope, but she’s always there to support them. “My dad’s probably my biggest inspiration. He always helps me out, and Brock Hansen is a big inspiration. He and Erich Rogers always help me to be the best I can be,” says Trevor. Trey agrees, “Erich Rogers and Brock Hansen have helped us a lot, and with riding my horse better and making sure I catch every steer. I rope with my brother and Wyatt Kent a lot, and we go to a lot of Ty Yost’s ropings, and jackpots.”
Trey and Trevor finished their final season of high school rodeo in the AHSRA this spring, and competed at the IFYR in July. “We didn’t do any good, but we had a lot of fun!” says Trevor. “I just have a lot of fun at rodeos, and I like practicing to be the best I can so I can keep winning money.” Trey and Trevor are both working to fill their PRCA permits, and Trevor competes in World Series and USTRC ropings, with plans to rope at the USTRC finals in Oklahoma City in October. In the summer, they often get up at 4:30 in the morning so they can rope. Their horses and arena are all at the family dairy, and they also have an equine pool, which is how they met Erich Rogers when he started bringing his horses to swim there. Trey rides a 12-year-old mare, Cheetah, and has a back-up horse, Roxy, and Trevor rides a 12-year-old head horse, Ferrari, and an 11-year-old heel horse, Tarzan.
This fall, the brothers moved just an hour southeast to Tucson, Arizona, where Trevor is attending University of Arizona, and Trey is attending Pima Community College before transferring to UA. Both of them are majoring in animal science. Trevor wants to become a veterinarian, and Trey wants to be a dairy farmer specializing in raw milk. They’ll continue helping out at home during breaks, where Trevor likes working at the dairy or driving a border disc, and Trey hauls hay, drives the retriever truck, and checks cows.
Both Trevor and Trey are working hard to qualify for the GCPRA finals this fall, and Trevor also hopes to make it to the World Series Finale in Las Vegas in the #15. “I’m hoping for first, but I’ll place and still be happy,” he says. “This will be the third time I’ve gone.” Trey adds, “My goal is to make it to the NFR with my brother. We’re doing circuit rodeos on the Turquoise Circuit for now, and after college, we’ll go to some others out of state.”
