Association Member

Join Rodeo News
< Back

Nebraska Youth Qualify For National High School Rodeo Competition

story by Ruth Nicolaus

The Nebraska High School Rodeo season wrapped up last weekend with the high school finals in Hastings at the Adams County Fairgrounds. Rodeo athletes from across the Cornhusker State competed in two go-rounds on June 15-16 and the short go-round on June 17. The top four contestants in each of twelve events were determined, and they will go on to compete at the National High School Finals Rodeo in Gillette, Wyoming, July 16-22.
Champions from the 2017 Finals are: Gauge McBride, Kearney, bareback riding; JT Bradley, Brewster, boys cutting; Morgan Kessler, Callaway, girls cutting and breakaway roping; Maddee Doerr, Creighton, goat tying; Grant Turek, St. Paul, tie-down roping; Sage Miller, Springview, saddle bronc riding; Brook Jamison, Ashby, barrel racing and pole bending; Zane Patrick, Bartlett, and JT Bradley, Brewster, co-champions in the steer wrestling; Mason Ward, North Platte, bull riding; and Tee Whited and Rio Whited, North Platte, team roping.
The year-end all-around winners were JT Bradley, Brewster (boys), and Brook Jamison, Ashby (girls).
Reserve all-around champs were Gauge McBride, Kearney (boys) and Maddee Doerr, Creighton (girls). Rookie of the year went to Gracie Pokorny, Barlett, (girls) and Gauge McBride, Kearney (boys). The V-Bar Sales Men’s Timed Event Trailer was awarded to Gus Franzen of Kearney. The 2017-2018 Nebraska High School Rodeo Queen is Joscelyn Soncksen of Lexington.
The following are highlights of a few of the champions.

Breakaway roping and girls cutting champion Morgan Kessler
Callaway’s Morgan Kessler came home with two titles: breakaway champion and girls cutting champion.
The seventeen year old cowgirl switched breakaway horses in the spring, which made a difference in her roping. She won second in the first round in Hastings, then knew all she had to do for her second run was “rope clean” and not break the barrier. It was hard for her to hold back and not push the barrier. “I like being fast and going for first,” she said, but she held off, making a clean run.
A broken barrier in the short round and a time of 12.9 seconds caused her to think she didn’t win the year end title, till her mom, Tina, also the high school secretary, told her she did.
This will be her second qualification for the National High School Finals; she competed there two years ago in the cutting. The cutting is tough at Nationals, she said. “It’s hard to be amazing with some of the horses there.” But Kessler is ready to do whatever it takes. “I’ll do whatever my trainers (Don and Kelly Troyer) tell me to do.”
Kessler, who is homeschooled, is the daughter of Kevin and Tina Kessler.

Tie-down champion Grant Turek
Grant Turek used his experience to his advantage.
This year’s state finals was the second qualification for the St. Paul cowboy, which made his competition this year better.
He came into state finals in first place in the tie-down roping, and he had a plan. “I knew I had to go make my runs, and do what I wanted to do: be consistent, be smooth, and no mistakes.”
And second time around helped. “Not everything was new,” he said. “Being in the short round last year helped. I felt like I’d been there.”
Turek, who will be a junior at St. Paul High School this fall, will make his first trip to National High School Finals. He qualified for the National Junior High Finals three times.
He also competed in the team roping at state finals, finishing in sixth place.
In high school, he plays basketball, is on the honor roll, and is a member of the National Honor Society.
He is the son of Jeff and Sheila Turek.

Goat tying champion Maddee Doerr
Maddee Doerr didn’t let a rough patch this spring get her down.
The fall rodeo season was good to her, but in the spring it was “a little rough,” she said, “till I pulled my head out and started doing good.” Her problem? The goats were tough, and “figuring out how to tie them took me a little while. Once I figured that out, I took off from there.”
The goats were also difficult to keep tied at state finals. In the first round, out of 28 cowgirls, only eight had their goats stay tied. Maddee’s was not one of them, but a solid run in the second round, with a time of 8.6 seconds, won her that round.
This is the fourth time the Creighton cowgirl has qualified for state finals. This year, she also competed in the breakaway roping this year, finishing second in the state.
This is also the fourth time she has qualified for Nationals. Last year, she finished as fourth in the nation in the goat tying.
This fall, she will attend Cochise College in Douglas, Arizona, on a full ride rodeo scholarship. She will compete on the rodeo team in the goat tying, breakaway, and possibly the team roping. She plans on studying agri-business at the two-year school.
This is the second year Doerr has finished as the Nebraska goat tying champion.
She is the daughter of Eric and Monica Doerr.

Bull riding champion Mason Ward
Mason Ward led the pack of bull riders in the Nebraska High School Rodeo Association all year long.
The North Platte resident, who will be a junior at McPherson County High School this fall, broke his ankle at the 2016 National High School Finals Rodeo in July of last year, and ended up sitting out the first three rodeos of the fall season. But then he never looked back, winning first at eight rodeos (O’Neill, Grand Island, Nelson, Callaway, McCook, Mitchell, Harrison and Crawford), and placing second at Stapleton.
He entered state finals in first place, and won the title with a total of 129.5 points, more than forty points ahead of the number two bull rider, Conner Halverson.
Ward knows the mindset of a bull rider has to be positive. “You have to believe in yourself, and you can’t ever fight your head. You have to go at it 100 percent.” He describes his attitude towards bull riding as “grinding” away.
Ward also plays football and wrestles at Tryon High School and is on the honor roll.
This will be his second qualification for the National High School Finals.
At state in Hastings, Ben Wood, Greeley, was the only bull rider out of six riders to cover two of his three bulls; two riders covered one of three (Ward and Halverson).
Ward is the son of a former bull rider, Mark, and his wife Kelly.

For the 2016-17 year end rankings, visit http://hsrodeo-nebraska.com/rodresults/rgn1ev.htm. For more information on the state finals and national finals, visit www.AdamsCountyFairgrounds.com, www.hsrodeo-nebraska.com, and www.nhsra.com.
The complete list of qualifiers for Nationals follows. Final results from the 2017 Nebraska State High School Finals Rodeo can be found at http://hsrodeo-nebraska.com/rodresults/rgn1ev.htm.

Related Posts

Meet the Member Ella Lacey

story by Ruth Nicolaus Ella Lacey hasn’t been a member of the Nebraska High School Rodeo Association for long, but she loves it. The Weston, […]

January 19, 2023

Meet the Member Kate Rathjen

story by Ruth Nicolaus Kate Rathjen has set standards and goals for herself. When the Nebraska High School Rodeo Association cowgirl was a little girl, […]

October 20, 2022

Meet the Member Caiden Milam

story by Ruth Nicolaus t took a letter, written by Caiden Milam to his parents, to convince them to let their son ride bulls. It […]

September 23, 2022

Nebraska High School Rodeo Association (NHSRA)

Standings

TERMS:
Rodeo Newstm (ISSN 1934-5224) is published 12 times a year, semi-monthly May-Nov; once in Dec Jan, Feb., March, and April by Publication Printers, 2001 S. Platte River Drive, Denver, Colo., 80223. Iris Ink, Inc., parent company of Rodeo News is located at 3604 WCR 54G, Laporte, Colo., 80535. Subscriptions are $30 per year. Periodicals postage paid at LaPorte, Colo., and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Rodeo News, PO Box 842, LaPorte, Colo., 80535.

Canada Post (CPC) publication #40798037. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without permission. Rodeo News carries advertising and editorials as a service to the readers. However, publication of advertisements and editorials in Rodeo News does not commit Rodeo News to agree with or guarantee any of the merchandise or livestock advertised.

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

X