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Northeast Junior Rodeo Association (NJRA)
Phone: 405-742-0791
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Members
Meet the Member: Tucker Kelsey
September 25, 2015
By Lindsay Whelchel For 11-year-old Tucker Kelsey of Henryetta, Okla., competing in the Northeast Junior Rodeo Association is a path he was probably always destined to take. Rodeo has been in his family for generations, with his grandfathers competing and his grandmother Lisa South McAfee rodeoing all of her life. “It’s been in our family forever,” Lisa explains, adding that Tucker’s mother Rein Howard has also competed. And lucky for Tucker, who started around the…
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Meet the Members – Trenton and Jewel Crawford
September 4, 2015
story by Lindsay Whelchel The Crawford siblings, Trenton and Jewel, are wild things, their mom Jordee laughs as she describes. The children are full of energy and life, perhaps nowhere more so than at a rodeo. Trenton, 10, likes to ribbon rope, breakaway, and goat tie. He’s also diving full force into the world of bull riding starting out with calves and steers. Jewel, 7, is involved in just as much when it comes to…
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Meet the Member: Jimmy Joe Tyler
August 6, 2015
By Lindsay Whelchel For 17-year-old Jimmy Joe Tyler, it’s always been about focusing on getting better, graduating up and inevitably winning. The Northeast Junior Rodeo Association cowboy started in rodeo at a young age and progressed through the levels of roughstock as quickly as he could before heading to the other end of the arena and picking up a rope. “I first started rodeoing when I was about 4 or 5. My dad rodeoed, and…
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Meet the Member – Piper Davis
June 19, 2015
By Lily Weinacht Piper Davis, 4, is full of life. She doesn’t have a slow speed, her mother Lindsay describes. “She doesn’t understand what walk means when she’s on a horse. She likes to run run run everywhere, all the time.” And a horse is the perfect vessel for Piper to live to the fullest. Pretty much her entire family is involved in rodeo, and Piper has been on a horse since she could hold…
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Trae and Tanner Kupsick
June 5, 2015
story by Lindsay Whelchel It’s a happy coincidence that the No. 1 and No. 2 Mutton Busters in the Northeast Junior Rodeo Association are brothers. Trae, 7, and Tanner, 4, Kupsick have got a tight grip on all things NJRA. “Trae mutton busted off and on from the age of 4, but two years ago on Christmas he said he would give up everything if he could rodeo, so I looked around for associations, and…
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Meet the Members – Dakota and Savannah English
May 22, 2015
story by Lindsay Welchel Dakota and Savanna English are growing up on a small acreage in Dewey, Okla. surrounded by their animals and love of rodeo. The siblings jumped full force into the Western lifestyle when they moved to Dewey and entered the Northeast Junior Rodeo Association, explained their mom Amber. Her husband Billy competed in high school and PRCA rodeo and encouraged Dakota and Savanna to give horses and rodeo a try when they…
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Meet the Member Dalton Grussendorf
January 29, 2015
story by Lindsay Whelchel Dalton Grussendorf, 17, has learned that when you do something, you aim for being the best you possibly can. “I’m not one of those people who like to go for 2nd or 3rd [place]. Dalton says. And though he adds jokingly that if you’re not first, you’re last, his point is clear. He’s in it to win it. “If someone tells me to win second or third you’ve got to be…
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Meet the Member: Taylor Varner
September 9, 2014
Meet the Member Taylor Varner story by Lindsay Whelchel Even this summer, when school was out, Taylor Varner was still busy. The 14-year-old cowboy from Mannford, Okla. has spent his time working hard to help his family bale their own hay fields, and he’s even busier inside the arena. Taylor competes for the Northeast Junior Rodeo Association in a host of events that includes goat tying, breakaway and ribbon roping, tie-down roping and both heading…
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NJRA Meet the Member: Mercadez Mills
June 5, 2014
Meet the Member Mercadez Mills story by Ruth Nicolaus Mercadez Mills is spunky. The nine-year-old cowgirl from northeastern Oklahoma loves to go fast on her horses and channels her energetic nature into her dreams of rodeo success. She competes in three events, barrels, poles and flags in multiple rodeo associations. And though Mercadez has won money in the previous season for the Northeast Junior Rodeo Association of Oklahoma, this year is her first year to…
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