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Zack Bradley - Sandall Photography

Meet the Member Zack Bradley

story by Ruth Nicolaus

A broken leg might keep Zack Bradley down, but it won’t keep him out.
The Nebraska High School Rodeo Association member was doctoring calves last July when his horse went down, breaking his tibia and fibula bones and requiring surgery, three plates and various screws. And it all happened the week before the National High School Finals Rodeo, where he would have competed in the team roping.
So Zack went to Nationals not to compete, but as a spectator in a wheelchair.
It wasn’t the way he wanted to go to Nationals, but he was at peace with it. “My good buddy Dane Pokorny took my spot (in the team roping) and they ended up twelfth in the world. I was pretty happy to see that, even if it wasn’t me.”
The broken leg hasn’t kept him down. He wasn’t able to compete last fall but this spring is back to team roping and hopefully will be tie-down roping soon.
A resident of Brewster, Neb., the cowboy’s heel horse (his header is Cooper Bass) is a nine-year-old chestnut mare named Mary Jane. She was purchased when he was in the eighth grade, “and she’s been my go-to horse ever since,” he said.
He is in his senior year and is homeschooled online through Grace Christian Academy. He loves homeschooling, after having started it in the fall of 2020. “I get the freedom to work and travel a bit and help my parents. I love homeschool, and looking back, I wouldn’t change it.” He knows homeschooling requires discipline and motivation, which his mom helps provide. “If I don’t get my schoolwork done, I can’t do the things I like to do.”
When he’s not doing schoolwork, he works for area ranchers and helps on his family’s ranch.
For fun, he and his buddies can be found at Merritt Lake or Calamus Lake, boating, water skiing, or tubing behind the boat, or on the North Loup River, which is right out his back door.
He loves to hunt waterfowl, including Canada geese and mallards. The meat needs to be cooked just right: “if you overcook them, you just as well be eating a boot,” he said. They often turn their waterfowl meat into jerky or sticks. He also deer hunts in the fall.
His favorite meal his mom makes is steak, medium rare, on the grill or the smoker, with a baked potato on the side and topped with butter, sour cream and cheese.
He loves his mom’s and grandma’s peach cobbler, and to wash it all down, likes a big glass of iced tea.
If he was given $1 million, he’d use it to build a nice barn or shop and start his own business as a welder.
This fall, Zack will attend Laramie County (Wyo.) Community College, working towards a welding degree. He plans on team roping collegiately, and might add tie-down roping.
He doesn’t have full motion of his leg yet, and if he isn’t able to tie-down rope, it’s not the end of the world. “I darn sure prefer team roping (over tie-down) and that’s why it doesn’t break my heart if I miss out on roping calves.”
After college, he’d like to work in various parts of the country, possibly in the oilfield, to “make some money, come home and start a welding shop.” There’s a shortage of welding and machine shops in north central Nebraska, and Zack knows he’d have plenty of work.
Zack has qualified for state finals in Hastings all three years in both events and for Nationals all three years, twice in the team roping (his freshman and junior years) and once in the tie-down (his sophomore year.)
He has two older brothers who were both high school rodeo contestants: Blayne, who is 27, and JT, who is 23.
He is the son of Justin and Tracy Bradley.

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Nebraska High School Rodeo Association (NHSRA)

Standings

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September 20, 2020
Girls All Around
1 Madison Mills 3176.75
2 Brooke Mccully 2248.35
3 Elle Ravenscroft 2232.8
4 Wacey Day 2219.93
5 Clancy Jo Brown (R) 2068.18
6 Jessica Stevens 2060.55
7 Mekenna Fisher 1996.93
8 Faith Storer 1756.85
9 Emma Ohm 1720.71
10 Abigail Lawton 1577.7
Boys All Around
1 Cooper Bass 2348.35
2 Rhett Witt 2238.35
3 Zane Kreikemeier 1579.85
4 Cody Miller 1548.61
5 Sage Schrunk 1521.75
6 Tanner Drueke 1520.7
7 Jate Saults 1379.6
8 Coy Johnston 1225.65
9 Cole Kerner 1079.25
10 Sid Miller 1076.6
Bareback Riding
1 Tanner Drueke 73
2 Tate Miller 63
3 Cole Kerner 47
4 Spencer Denaeyer 46
Barrel Racing
1 Elle Ravenscroft 87
2 Taci Flinn 57
3 Brooke Mccully 57
4 Madison Mills 56
5 Jenae Whitaker 35
6 Bailey Bell 32
7 Ashlyn Henderson 30
8 Ashlyn Jensen 30
9 Mekenna Fisher 28
10 Morgan Rosander 28
Boys Cutting
1 Cooper Bass 81
2 Cody Miller 73.5
3 Tatum Olson 66
4 Hayden Jennings 63.5
5 Bo Bushhousen 60.5
6 Frazier Kaelin 56
7 Matt Symonds 54.5
8 Trey Vance 45
9 Devin Konicek 41.5
10 Hayden Stump 32.5
Breakaway Roping
1 Emma Ohm 49
2 Summer Richardson 38
3 Tehya From 38
4 Ali Vaughn 38
5 Wacey Day 37
6 Jaya Nelson 34
7 Jessica Stevens 27
8 Jace Hurlburt 24.5
9 Shayda Vaughn 24
10 Whitney Jennings 24
Bull Riding
1 Jett Sjeklocha 28
2 Cole Kerner 27.5
3 Dalton Garey 20
4 Tanner Drueke 19
5 Drew Farrell 10
6 Hunter Boydston 9.5
7 Brady Painter 9
8 Cooper Kursave 8
Girls Cutting
1 Faith Storer 112
2 Mekenna Fisher 99
3 Emma Pearson 74.5
4 Peyton Fisher 68
5 Gracyn Hicks 64
6 Whitney Jennings 62
7 Jenna Rutar 36.5
8 Jordan Downing 11
Goat Tying
1 Jessica Stevens 77
2 Wacey Day 68.5
3 Emma Ohm 56
4 Abigail Lawton 49
5 Kaci Wickersham 49
6 Ally Micheel 43.5
7 Ashlyn Henderson 43
8 Emma Warren 42
9 Kinley Greenough 39
10 Clancy Jo Brown 29.5
Pole Bending
1 Madison Mills 100
2 Clancy Jo Brown 65
3 Abigail Lawton 58
4 Jenae Whitaker 53
5 Emma Pearson 44
6 Lauren Lehl 34
7 Ashlyn Jensen 29
8 Brooke Mccully 28
9 Jordan Peterson 27
10 Elle Ravenscroft 24.5
Saddle Bronc
1 Brody Mcabee 60
2 Monte Bailey 30
3 Leif Meidell 19
4 Dean Schroder 9
Steer Wrestling
1 Rhett Witt 60
2 Dane Pokorny 50
3 Tucker Ravenscroft 46
4 Sage Schrunk 42
5 Coy Johnston 40
6 Thayne Kimbrough 39
7 Dalton Kunkee 35
8 Cody Miller 33
9 Gage Davis 33
10 Kaden Wooters 33
Team Roping
1 Jate Saults 58
2 Brent Charlton 52
3 Cooper Bass 43
4 Zack Bradley 43
5 Jasper Neal 38
6 Sage Dieter 38
7 Zane Kreikemeier 33
8 Coy Johnston 33
9 Ryan Shepherd 30
10 Carter Anderson 30
11 Sage Schrunk 30
12 Hayse Wetzel 30
13 Cinch Painter 28
14 Roper Wetzel 25
15 Chance Symons 23
Tie Down Roping
1 Rhett Witt 62
2 Zane Kreikemeier 56
3 Matthew Miller 50
4 Sid Miller 47
5 Tate Talkington 46
6 Layne Wallinger 43
7 Jate Saults 31
8 Sage Schrunk 30
9 Trace Travnicek 28
10 Carter Anderson 25

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