Kelly graduate competiting for National High School Finals Rodeo Championship

sports@standard-democrat.com

ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. -- Nearly four years have went by since an accident forced Dilan Rucker to switch from riding bulls to roping them down.

His tradeoff will come full circle when he competes in the 66th Annual National High School Finals Rodeo Monday in Rock Springs, Wyoming in both team roping and calf roping.

"Mom and Dad said no more bulls after [my accident]," Rucker said, which resulted in a helicopter ride to the hospital following his final bull ride. "I picked up a rope and never looked back from there."

His mishap turned out to be a fortunate step for Rucker's rodeo life. To qualify for the National Rodeo Finals the recent graduate of Kelly High School won the Kentucky State championship in team roping along with his partner, Trevor Howton, in Murray, Ky.

The duo ended up with a total of 386 points while the closest competitors sat 30 points away. Rucker also finished fourth in calf roping which is another event he will be competing in while at Nationals.

The National rodeo is promoted as the world's largest rodeo. More than 1,500 participants from 42 states will be in attendance as well as representatives from Canada and Australia. There's more than $200,000 in prizes and $350,000 in scholarships up for grabs.

"I'm a little anxious but I'm ready to go," Rucker said. "We've got a 19 hour drive so probably a lot will run through my mind in those 19 hours. There's a bunch of money out there to try and get that's for sure and there's hundred of boys that will be there aiming for the same thing. It won't be easy."

Rucker, who turns 19 in September, has been roping since he was 15 years old and it's taken much of that time to nail down. He's the header of the tandem, which means Rucker catches around the calves horns while Howton grabs the back legs. Both Rucker and Howton are on horseback while the calf is given a head start out of the chute.

"The first year I did it I thought, 'why am I doing this?'," Rucker admitted. "But, I know Trevor will get the feet and he knows I'll do my job too. I'll get the horns, turn left and [Trevor] will get the back feet. It's not easy."

Although it wasn't much of a thought when he started, but roping has given Rucker the opportunity to not only compete for National championships but earn a college scholarship. He recently received a scholarship from Missouri Vally College in Marshall, Mo.

"When I started roping I was young and wasn't really worried about college too much," he said. "The older I got I started looking into college rodeo. I started getting better and looked at different colleges from Troy, Ala., to Sam Houston, Texas to UT Martin. Missouri Valley has a good rodeo team and that's where I wanted to go."

Rucker leaves for Rock Springs tonight with the longest drive he's ever been on ahead. The first round of team roping begins July 14 and the second round is that following Friday. Rucker will begin calf roping on July 15 with the second round starting two days later.