| Justin Miller tackling the bare back bronc riding. |
On June 8-11, 13 Emery County cowboys and cowgirls competed at the Utah State High School Rodeo Finals in Heber City. Emery County was well represented: five of the 13 went to the State Finals in the top 10 and finished well. They will go on to other national competitions. Two freshmen, Justin Miller and Cade Whittle, will compete at The National High School Rodeo Finals. Emery cowboys impressed the judges and the crowd. Jaden Bagley, Wacey Allred, and Brock Winn all finished in the top 10 in their events, earning them the opportunity to compete at the Silver State Invitational Rodeo in Fallon, Nev., and the Panguitch Invitational in Panguitch.
Other state qualifiers were Karidon Allred, Zac Jensen, Revis Rogers, Tawn Jewkes, Trent Moosman, Colten Grange, Andy Sitterud and Chris Wilson.
Justin Miller, a freshman, rode two of his three bareback broncs, placing second in the first go and third in the final go. Justin earned most of his state qualifying points from April to May then finished at the Finals in fourth place. He will travel to Gillette, Wyo., with his parents, Scott and Lesa Miller of Huntington, to compete at the National High School Rodeo Finals.
Cade Whittle, son of Eldon and Wendy Whittle of Ferron, also a freshman, competed in cow cutting. He was fourth in the first go, fifth in the second go, and also finished fourth at state. This outstanding performance qualified Cade to compete at the National High School Rodeo Finals on July 18-24.
After winning four first place rides in the rodeo season, Jaden Bagley, a junior, went to state in third place. He is the son of Steve and Loretta Bagley. Jaden placed fourth in the first go, then bucked off in the second go and the finals. In spite of this run of bad luck, Jaden’s bronc riding skills placed him in eighth place at State.
Wacey Allred, a sophomore, went to state in 10th place, then rode his way to eighth place at the state finals by placing seventh in the first go and sixth in the second go. He will be competing in Panguitch later this month. Wacey is the son of Guy and Tina Allred.
Brock Winn, the son of Kash and Valerie Winn of Ferron, qualified for state in both team roping and saddle bronc riding in his first year of high school rodeo. Brock is a sophomore. He and his roping partner, Devin Day, from Juab, had a good state finals, but did not place. Brock rode two saddlebroncs, placing fourth in the first go and finishing ninth in the finals. Brock is going to compete at Fallon in both saddle bronc and team roping.
Tawn Jewkes, the daughter of Derri and Stacey Jewkes of Ferron qualified in breakaway roping by winning first place at the Pleasant Grove rodeo and placing at other rodeos. She caught her calf at state.
Karidon Allred, a freshman, qualified for state in pole bending. She is the daughter of Kip and Kerrie Allred of Orangeville.
Zac Jensen, son of Frank and Rayne Jensen of Cleveland qualified for state in team roping with his partner, Revis Rogers of Cleveland. Zac is a junior who has competed and qualified for state finals in high school rodeo for three years.
Revis Rogers, the senior son of Butch and Rada Rogers, qualified in both team roping and bull riding. At state, Revis placed second in the first go.
Colton Grange qualified in team roping. At state, he and his partner, Kelly Peterson from Lake Shore, caught both steers. Colton is a freshman and the son of Hugh and Sherrie Grange of Huntington.
Andy Sitterud, the son of Scott and Valynn Sitterud of Huntington, qualified in two events. At state, Andy and his team roping partner, Chad Haskell from Spanish Fork, placed in the top ten in the first go. He also caught his calf in the calf roping event. Andy is a sophomore.
Chris Wilson, son of Steve Wilson and Debbie Staker, of Huntington, qualified for state finals in bull riding. Chris is a sophomore.
Trent Moosman, the son of Ralph Moosman, went to the Utah State Finals in bull riding.