Six competitors from Pahrump Valley High School’s revived rodeo club will travel to Winnemucca this week for the Nevada State High School Rodeo Association state finals.
Because Pahrump’s program is in its first year, none of the six have competed at this level before.
“They’re all rookies,” Pahrump Valley Rodeo Director Buddy Krebs said. “They’re really excited about it. They’ve put Pahrump, Nevada back on the rodeo map.”
Junior Tye Hardy goes into the state finals with the strongest credentials. Hardy ranks second in the state to Fernley’s Cody Alexander in bull riding and stands fourth in saddle bronc riding.
But Hardy is not alone in being ranked among the state’s best. Freshman Raelean Sutton is sixth in trap shooting and 11th in rifle, while eighth-grader Randy Witte ranks fifth among junior high school competitors in saddle bronc riding and ninth in bull riding.
Senior Mia Krebs will be competing in breakaway roping and goat tying, classmate Taylor Clasen will compete in bull riding, and junior Kyrstyn Peugh is slated for barrel racing and pole bending. Sutton will compete in barrel racing, breakaway roping, goat tying and pole bending.
Buddy and Mia Krebs will not be well rested when the high school competition begins at the Winnemucca Fairgrounds.
“On Friday my daughter is graduating high school, then I have to drive to Winnemucca,” said Buddy Krebs, adding that Mia’s goat-tying competition will be held Saturday.
Buddy Krebs is upbeat about the Pahrump competitors’ chances.
“They all have a chance, but Tye could win the state in the bull riding, and if he rides really well there’s a chance he could win in saddle bronc riding,” he said. “He’s still going to nationals in both of them.”
Witte is also going to nationals, qualifying in saddle bronc riding.
Krebs is excited about bringing six competitors to the state finals in the first year the rodeo program returned to Pahrump, and he thinks it could help lure more kids out for rodeo next year.
“It’s pretty amazing,” he said. “Hopefully, we get more kids. For sure we’ll have about four or five, but I would like that number to go up.”
The rodeo program practices twice a month at McCullough Arena in Pahrump and competed in 15 rodeos this past year throughout the state. Those practices require animals, of course, and Krebs wanted to offer his appreciation to D&R Bucking Bulls and Griffith Feed and Livestock for bringing out stock for the kids to practice on during the year.
Contact Sports Editor Tom Rysinski at trysinski@pvtimes.com On Twitter: @pvtimes