Meet the Member Kyle Whitaker
story by Lindsay Humphrey Few father son duos have collected more Linderman Awards than Chip and Kyle Whitaker of Chambers, Nebraska. Kyle alone has 10 […]
Gage Kraeger - Susan Hoover
story by Lindsay King
Four bull doggers, all bearing the same last name: Kraeger. At 21 years old, Gage is the youngest in his family and following closely in the footsteps of both his dad, Bump, and two older brothers, Hoyt and Reed. “There are a lot of people who are pretty handy with a rope but not a lot of people who have the courage, or stupidity if you will, to jump off a horse onto a steer and throw it down,” said the Weeping Water, Nebraska, cowboy. Gage and his brothers grew up in rodeo, but didn’t get started competing until high school. “I remember thinking bull dogging was super cool. My buddies’ dads were all roping steers or calves while my dad was throwing some steers down.” In the Kraeger family, bull dogging isn’t a viable option until after their 16th birthday.
“I don’t really know why my dad has that rule. I wasn’t much of a roper, so I started riding broncs as a freshman.” Although the roughstock event might not have been Gage’s first choice, he certainly showed promise in it after he made the National High School finals in it that year. As soon as he turned 16 though, it was full steam ahead in the family event. “My dad and brothers have really pushed me to get better over the years. It’s a competitive sport and we are a competitive family.” Now a junior studying animal science at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Gage is a steer wrestler for the Huskers.
“My dad was the rodeo coach when I started college, so I got to rodeo for him for a few years.” Now with Marshall Peterson at the reins, Gage essentially has two coaches in his corner. “I really like what Marshall is doing for the program. I am trying to do my best to help the team succeed and he is trying to help me be more competitive in the college ranks.” After Gage graduates he wants to follow in the footsteps of a different family member than the ones that led him to rodeo. “My grandpa had a commercial cow calf herd and I really appreciate what he did on his operation and developed a passion for it as well. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”
In 2019 Gage took his first steps into the world of amateur rodeo through the M-SRA. He wasn’t alone of course, he traveled with his dad, oldest brother, and a family friend, Lynn Nieveen. “My brothers and I really push each other to get better. We send videos to each other all the time and break down what we did well and what we need to work on. I get a lot of feedback from them.” Of course, no rodeo family would be complete without their cheering section. “My mom (Leesa) is always, always there for us. She likes seeing us all go out there and do our thing. She’s always in the stands cheering for us and videoing. She tries her best not to move the camera when things go bad though.”
As many athletes will say, iron sharpens iron, so does Gage in reference to his fellow bull doggers in the M-SRA. “The thing that drew me to the mid states association is just the amount of stout competition there is. If you want to keep getting better you have to compete against the best.” This year one of the best was Gage’s older brother, Reed, who won the steer wrestling at the M-SRA finals. Gage walked away as the M-SRA Rookie of the Year. Gage’s favorite rodeo after just one year in the M-SRA happens in Madison, Nebraska. “The crowd is always hooping and hollering. They want to see some good competition and know what it’s all about.” As the rodeo season closes in on the summer months, Gage is looking forward to his second year in the M-SRA but also the NHSFR coming to Lincoln, Nebraska. “I am excited for the Lancaster Event Center to host the high school finals, I think it is going to be a great thing for Nebraska and for the sport of rodeo.”
story by Lindsay Humphrey Few father son duos have collected more Linderman Awards than Chip and Kyle Whitaker of Chambers, Nebraska. Kyle alone has 10 […]
story by Lindsay Humphrey Escaping the scorching Arizona heat each summer led Shawnee Sherwood and her family north. They eventually landed in Nebraska and discovered […]
story by Lindsay Humphrey At just 13 years old, Monte Snider went to the bank and took out a loan for $3,500 to buy his […]
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September 20, 2020
All-Around – Men’s
1 Lane Day $8,530.23
2 Jeff Johnston $7,246.83
3 Kyle Whitaker $5,292.63
4 Austin Hurlburt $5,097.91
5 Taylor Davis $1,748.76
6 Riley Wakefield $761.17
All-Around – Women’s
1 Ginalee Sinner $12,794.12
2 Brooke Jamison $9,472.45
3 Danielle Wray $7,126.15
4 Amber Coleman $5,459.04
5 Peyton Mentzer $3,456.19
6 Pam Hollenbeck $2,520.73
7 Shawnee Sherwood $2,408.62
8 Sydney Graff $1,700.97
9 BoDelle Mueller $1,409.90
10 Tracey Paulsen $1,407.28
11 Katie Haythorn $982.15
Bareback
1 Whitten Hoover $5,196.87
2 Tanner Rupprecht $4,665.05
3 Rob Keeney $3,861.60
4 Nick Schwedhelm $1,820.99
5 Spencer DeNaeyer $923.54
6 Logan Glendy $897.21
7 Riley Ryan $689.88
8 Cade Svoboda $307.28
Steer Wrestling
1 Chad VanCampen $5,880.65
2 Kyle Whitaker $4,377.68
3 Hoyt Kraeger $4,185.01
4 Tom Littel $4,118.32
5 Dru Melvin $3,968.52
6 Boyd Sawyer $3,958.68
7 Jeff Richardson $3,917.08
8 Reed Kraeger $3,541.28
9 Lane Day $3,098.07
10 Weston Winkers $3,038.76
11 Kris Rasmussen $2,306.12
12 Ben Robinson $2,287.30
13 Jeff Johnston $2,282.12
14 Austin Hurlburt $1,785.44
15 Trevor Haake $1,566.85
16 Richard Coats $960.48
17 Tucker Ravenscroft $733.84
18 Taylor Davis $709.01
19 Travis Kester $507.56
20 Gabe Taylor $339.98
Ladies Breakaway
1 Brook Jamison $5,780.73
2 Brittni McCully $5,111.57
3 Makenzie Wilson $4,993.34
4 Brooke McCully $4,321.00
5 Ginalee Sinner $4,041.30
6 Jan Brown $3,926.00
7 Kelly Haythorn $3,788.58
8 Katie Mundorf $3,357.20
9 Jessica McMaster $3,165.69
10 Amber Coleman $3,098.44
11 Danielle Wray $2,911.91
12 Dana Judge $1,673.54
13 Peyton Mentzer $1,382.86
14 Kirby Eppert $1,153.06
15 Lillian Fletcher $717.20
16 Rylee Rich $661.34
17 Katie Haythorn $576.66
18 Tracy Paulsen $576.58
19 Sydney Graff $489.55
20 BoDelle Mueller $460.64
Saddle Bronc
1 Derek Kenner $7,541.04
2 Brody McAbee $3,240.20
3 Sage Miller $2,761.17
4 Triston Eklund $1,426.22
5 Rowdy Chesser $1,279.30
6 Kyle Whitaker $795.41
7 Miles Kreeger $542.83
Tie-Down Roping
1 Riley Pruitt $5,499.12
2 Lane Day $4,853.75
3 Chip Wilson $4,157.60
4 Austin Hurlburt $3,312.47
5 Miles Garwood $2,957.16
6 Cody Reiker $2,913.09
7 Cole Wilson $2,557.02
8 Chance Oftedahl $2,543.67
9 Miles Kenzy $2,319.29
10 Tanner Stec $1,890.99
11 Patrick Martin $1,169.21
12 Grant Turek $1,157.23
13 Rhett Witt $867.80
14 Clete Scheer $794.38
15 Trey Young $654.00
16 Terry Graff $454.40
17 Nick Becker $430.25
18 Riley Wakefield $396.68
19 Casey Redman $377.27
20 Tate Oftedahl $317.94
45 & Over Tie-Down Roping
1 Jon Wooters $3,087.99
2 Rusty Kluender $2,777.68
3 Mark Lovitt $1,932.13
4 Jim Buss $1,702.52
5 Terry Graff $1,586.70
6 Jay Hollenbeck $1,577.83
7 Tyler Gracey $1,176.21
8 Arden Garwood $1,066.71
9 JL Spurgeon $996.67
10 Kaden Wooters $991.77
11 Sid Miller $528.65
12 Tuff Larson $511.44
13 Charlie Kenney $395.76
14 Joe Kimmel $271.60
15 Carl Fordyce $247.35
16 Cooper Phillips $211.46
17 Layne Wallinger $205.16
18 Dwight Doffin $113.98
19 Brad Hollenbeck $101.52
Barrel Racing
1 Dori Hollenbeck $14,269.13
2 Ginalee Sinner $7,349.27
3 Patty Finney $6,357.58
4 Gayle White $6,322.26
5 Carla Jensen $4,898.42
6 Jena Garwood $3,347.10
7 Jessica Leach $3,214.11
8 Sandy Hickey $3,154.35
9 Korrina Hughes $2,468.45
10 Presley Whitaker $2,409.53
11 Branda Marsh $2,142.52
12 Jordan Littel $1,887.78
13 Carrie Sutton $1,506.96
14 Kelli Reichmuth $932.50
15 Jamie Chaffin $844.14
16 Pam Hollenbeck $817.05
17 Katie Loughran $708.18
18 Cheryl Wallace $580.36
19 Lindsey Evers $571.75
20 Justine Jobman $524.75
Team Roping – Heading
1 Jeff Johnston $4,964.71
2 Cooper Brott $4,336.83
3 Nick Becker $3,569.44
4 Jade Schmidt $3,186.70
5 Brian Dunning $2,987.92
6 Andy Knott $2,979.17
7 Steve Sherwood $2,907.66
8 Mark Wray $2,793.86
9 Levi Tyan $2,534.57
10 Reece Weber $2,389.52
11 Corby Chytka $2,195.26
12 Clay Holz $1,346.07
13 Seth Swanson $1,082.97
14 Taylor Davis $1,039.75
15 Blaine Finney $1,039.27
16 Spencer Sinner $980.71
17 Cole Morgan $886.60
18 Nathan Poss $869.58
19 Jason Schnoor $759.43
20 Troy Hermelbracht $679.73
Team Roping – Heeling
1 Levi Tyan $5,131.57
2 Tucker White $4,477.88
3 Matt Kasner $4,086.90
4 Jett Hillman $3,903.69
5 Dawson McMaster $3,569.44
6 Todd Hollenbeck $3,181.86
7 Toby Mentzer $2,987.92
8 Clay Elkington $2,907.66
9 Gralyn Elkins $2,793.86
10 Dustin Harris $2,732.80
11 Troy Hermelbracht $2,326.26
12 Monte Snider $2,195.26
13 Riley Rhone $1,082.97
14 Dustin Chohon $1,039.27
15 Doug Finney $980.71
16 Gunner Walker $869.58
17 Dalton Pelster $838.66
18 Heath Barlow $759.43
19 Ty Talsma $601.15
20 Lane Day $578.41
Mixed Team Roping
1 Leigh Sherwood $4,249.57
2 Danielle Wray $4,214.24
3 Brooke Jamison $3,691.72
4 Amber Coleman $2,360.60
5 Shawnee Sherwood $2,121.74
6 Peyton Mentzer $2,073.33
7 Pam Hollenbeck $1,703.68
8 Ginalee Sinner $1,403.55
9 Sydney Graff $1,211.42
10 BoDelle Mueller $949.26
11 Tracy Paulsen $830.70
12 Michelle Wilson $719.61
13 Denise Nelson $531.20
14 Katie Haythorn $405.49
15 Kelly Gambill $355.48
16 Lakota Elkins $301.96
17 Hadley Teut $263.20
18 Taylor Walker $238.33
19 Makayla Wray $155.10
20 Stannis Hoffman $131.60
Bull Riding
1 Brett McAbee $6,404.37
2 Ethan Lesiak $4,594.09
3 Mason Ward $4,206.19
4 Lane Gambill $3,288.29
5 Dodge Daniels $2,580.05
6 Austin Wickett $603.00
7 Teran Sharman $249.57