above: UJHSRA member, T.J. Bolwer at the 2015 NJHSR Finals – JenningsRodeoPhotography.com
stories by Ruth Nicolaus
TJ Bowler
TJ. Bowler is the 2015 National Junior High School Team Roping Champion Heeler.
The Utah Junior High School Rodeo Association member won the event last year heeling for his younger brother Blake.
He also competes in the tie-down roping and the ribbon roping, as a roper for Macee McAllister.
For the tie-down and ribbon roping, he rides a nine year old Palomino named Dusty. For the heeling, he rides an eight year old named Diablo. Of the two horses, Dusty is his favorite.
He is an eighth grade student at Enterprise High School, where P.E. is his favorite class. He also enjoys Career and Technical Education class, where students learn cooking, sewing, woodworking, and more. T.J. loves to cook and bake, and is quite accomplished at making bread and all kinds of cookies, cakes and treats.
He is involved in Boy Scouts and is very close to attaining his Eagle Scout Award. He is also on the honor roll.
He has qualified for state finals in the breakaway, team and ribbon roping in sixth and seventh grades and has been to the National Junior High Finals Rodeo both years as well. At his first Nationals, in sixth grade, he went as a header.
When he grows up, he’d like to train horses and run cows. He loves to help his dad with the cattle.
In addition to his brother Blake, who is twelve, he has two more brothers: Luke, who is seven, and Jhet, who is two, and a sister, Paige, who is nine.
He is the son of Bret and Melinda Bowler.
above: UJHRSA member, Range Martin at the 2015 NJHSR Finals – JenningsRodeoPhotography.com
Range Martin
Range Martin loves the buckaroo lifestyle.
The 13-year-old boy, a resident of Evanston, Wyo., loves to spend all day in the saddle with his dad, on the Martin Ranch, trailing cows up Medicine Butte.
But if he can’t be cowboying, he loves to rodeo.
The Utah Junior High School Rodeo Association member is a tie-down roper, team roper, and ribbon roper. He heads for Boone Latham and ropes for his twin sister Mesa in the ribbon roping.
For the tie-down, he rides an eight year old horse named Spotlight. For the team roping, he rides a seven-year-old named Alan who the family has had since Alan was a baby. His favorite horse is Spotlight, because he’s honest, Range says.
He is a seventh grade student at Evanston Middle School, where he loves lunch time because the kids have the chance to goof off. English is definitely not his favorite subject, and he considers himself best at math. He is on the honor roll, but it might be because he does home work with his sister, Mesa. “I have a smart twin sister,” he says.
Range already has his own herd of mother cows started, about 10 of them, and he works alongside his dad, Justin. “I rely on him for work,” Justin said. “He’s a good worker.” When Range grows up, he wants to be a cowboy.
He qualified for state finals in the breakaway, ribbon, and team roping last year and went on to the National Junior High Finals in the breakaway, where he finished 11th in the nation.
In addition to his sister Mesa, Range has an older brother, A.C., who is 19, a younger brother, Ridge, who is seven, and two more sisters: Montana, age 16, and Mecarti, who is 10.
He is the son of Justin and Lindie Martin.
above: UJHRSA member, Cael Stratton – courtesy of Ralph Trideaux
Cael Stratton
Cael Stratton has a lot of hobbies, but of all of them, rodeo is his favorite.
The Utah Junior High School Rodeo Association member is a tie-down roper, team roper, ribbon roper, and goat tyer, and also plays football and basketball, loves to snowboard and hunts and fishes.
For the tie-down roping, the 12-year -old resident of Mountain View, Wyo. rides a horse new to him, a sorrel named Chuck who has a white stripe down his face. His head horse is Dan, a chocolate buckskin who has competed at the National Junior High Finals. Dan is older but a really good horse, Cael says. “He’s just automatic.” For the goat tying, he rides Cotton, a mare he trained himself.
Cael is a sixth grade student at Mountain View (Wyo.) School. P.E. is his favorite part of the day, and he loves to play dodge ball. He also likes studying American history, especially pioneer times and the Civil War. Reading is not his favorite subject, however.
He is on his school’s honor roll and has a 3.7 GPA. He has received a youth farmers loan to buy some Corriente heifers so he can begin raising roping stock.
When he grows up, he’d like to be a professional rodeo cowboy and all-around champion like Trevor Brazile.
Cael has two sisters, Kenna, who is 10, and Kamry, who is seven.
He is the son of Lane and Tonya Stratton.
