Of the roughly 25 Wasatch High School students who qualified for the Utah High School Rodeo State Finals at the Wasatch County Event Complex late last week, seven will advance to the national finals next month in Nebraska. There, these cowboys and cowgirls will vie for a winner’s saddle and belt buckle, along with the chance to meet college recruiters and potential sponsors.
For most of the students, the four-day gauntlet of bronc riding, bulldogging and goat tying was a lesson in how to brush the dirt off their chaps and get back up after being thrown to the dirt, both literally and metaphorically.
“It’s definitely been a marathon trying to avoid burnout and have consistent runs and have fun. It’s been quite the journey,” said junior Isla Bell, who competed in breakaway and team roping events.
Breakaway roping involves the competitor roping a fleeing calf while on horseback. Team roping is similar, except the target is a steer, and there are two competitors — referred to as a header and a heeler — who rope the animal’s head and legs, respectively.
“It’s like catching a fish,” described Eva Hunsaker, a fellow junior and breakaway roping competitor. “It’s just a great feeling.”
On a hot day like Friday, the key to managing sweaty hands is baby powder, Hunsaker explained. Still, her lasso came short, in part because her little calf was as speedy as a shotgun.
Breakaway roping was challenging for Bell, too, in no small part because her breakaway horse of five years, Jerry, tore a deep flexor tendon mere days before the event.
“His career is over,” Bell explained. “I had some really amazing friends offer me a horse to use this week, but I’d never ridden it before, so it was just a rough time trying to get the whole run to click.”
Ty Bingham, Bell’s stepfather and the director of the team, explained that the horse she had borrowed had come from an unlikely person: her rival.
“They’re competing against each other, and one of her competitors is like, ‘Hey, jump on my horse,’” he recalled. “That’s a very common thing in rodeo. Whatever you need, your competitors will typically do it for you.”
Although contenders came from all over the state, Hunsaker said everyone was more like friends than adversaries as they chatted in line for events and played an evening kickball game together.
The almost familial bonds of the rodeo world are rivaled in closeness only by the bonds competitors have with their animals.
Sam Haderlie of Wallsburg, Utah, wrestles the steer to the ground during the steer wrestling competition at the Utah High School Rodeo Association State Finals Wednesday, June 3 in the Wasatch County Event Complex Arena. Credit: Christopher Reeves/For The Park Record 
Maxwell Andersen of Wallsburg, Utah, rides the horse named “KC Lite” during the JV saddle bronc competition at the Utah High School Rodeo Association State Finals Wednesday, June 3 in the Wasatch County Event Complex Arena. Credit: Christopher Reeves/For The Park Record 
Koy Barker, left, with the Wasatch Rodeo Team, and Kash Martin, right, with the West Desert Rodeo Team, race to catch the steer during the team roping competition at the Utah High School Rodeo Association State Finals Wednesday, June 3 in the Wasatch County Event Complex Arena. Credit: Christopher Reeves/For The Park Record 
Sophie Haderlie, with the Wasatch Rodeo Team, rounds the first barrel during the barrel racing competition at the Utah High School Rodeo Association State Finals Wednesday, June 3 in the Wasatch County Event Complex Arena. Haderlie finished second overall at Wednesday’s event. Credit: Christopher Reeves/For The Park Record 
Ellie Thompson of Francis, Utah, rounds the second barrel during the barrel racing competition at the Utah High School Rodeo Association State Finals Wednesday, June 3 in the Wasatch County Event Complex Arena. Credit: Christopher Reeves/For The Park Record
That was true of Hunsaker and her steed, Holy Smokin’ Cayenne, or Cayenne for short. Hunsaker has been riding Cayenne since she was in eighth grade, but they only became best friends once they started rodeoing in Hunsaker’s freshman year.
“Now, my parents say that we’re a lot alike,” joked Hunsaker. That includes both horse and rider’s fiery red manes.
She continued, “We’ve worked together super well, and I can feel what she’s feeling. … We just want to compete the best we can. No matter how fast the calf is, she always gives me a shot.”
Hunsaker’s love for Cayenne has blossomed into a desire to become an equine dentist.
Bell, on the other hand, hopes to work in marketing, ideally for a western-themed brand. She already has the poise and unwavering confidence of someone used to speaking with the media.
Her communication and public speaking skills can be owed to her experience serving as the vice president of the Utah High School Rodeo Association. In that role, she helps organize events like dances and activities during the state finals, votes on changes to state high school rodeo rules and bylaws and acts as a role model for her fellow competitors.
Next school year, Bell will be president of the association. She also plans to train hard and “kick some butt.”
Just as rodeo is a family tradition for Bell, it plays the same role in senior Jenna Jepperson’s family.
Like Bell, Jepperson switched horses after one of her team roping horses sustained an injury. She borrowed her older brother’s horse, which had a lot more energy than hers did.
“If you get after it, it’s going to bring out even worse in you,” Jepperson explained.
Something similar could be said about Jepperson’s brother, though he has been one of her greatest mentors.
“Me and my brother have gotten closer in ways, but we also know how to fight pretty good,” Jepperson laughed. “But it’s drawn us so much closer. He knows what bugs me and how he can help me when things are going wrong.”
And in rodeo, anything can go wrong, Jepperson explained, from ripping a brand-new pair of pants mid-competition to eating dirt. The key to enjoying rodeo is resilience.
That’s something Jepperson’s younger sister, sophomore Lydia, is learning, as well. She’s figuring out how to focus on the good aspects of a bad run and control her feelings amid high-pressure competition.
Now that Jepperson has graduated from high school, with plans to serve a Latter-day Saint mission in Pennsylvania and attend nursing school afterwards, she will carry the lessons she learned in rodeo with her.
“It is great to win, but you’re going to lose more, and you’ve just got to keep your head up and keep going,” she said. “Otherwise, you’re going to get stuck there and not go anywhere.”
Here are the seven Wasatch High School competitors advancing to the National High School Finals Rodeo in July.
- Genevieve Graham: Rodeo Queen
- Sam Haderlie: Steer wrestling
- Jack Rodeheaver: Saddle bronc riding
- Westin Simpson: Bareback riding, bull riding
- Colton Smith: Trap shooting
- Wiley Thomas: Bareback riding
- Ellie Thompson: Barrel racing, breakaway roping, goat tying, All Around Cowgirl
