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June 7, 2009

Rodeo bucks the weather

High school cowboys, cowgirls come to tourney prepared

By Mark Fischenich

ST PETER — When the time comes for the goats to be tied, the bulls to be ridden and the steers to be wrestled, it doesn’t matter if the sun is shining or shrouded by clouds, if the air is warm or frigid, if the turf is dusty or a giant bowl of muck soup.

The rodeo must go on.

About 140 junior and senior high school cowboys and cowgirls at the Nicollet County Fairgrounds in St. Peter went on through beautiful weather on Friday, a foul day on Saturday and a lingering mud bath on Sunday.

The junior high kids were participating in the state finals Friday and Saturday. The older kids were riding on Sunday as part of the Region 4 Rodeo of the Minnesota High School Rodeo Association.

They came from as far away as Roseau and Ashland, Wis., and as near as Pemberton. That’s where the Oftedahls reside, and they were on hand as organizers and participants.

It’s the second straight year that St. Peter has hosted the event, and LeAnne Oftedahl hopes that continues, citing the central location and the facilities and the support of sponsors. The local hospitality industry might agree.

“Most of ’em come with their entire families,” she said of the cowboys and cowgirls.

“It’s probably 500 people,” Tony Oftedahl said.

Some of those families will be traveling to Hugo in two weeks for the state high school finals. And some of the families of the younger riders will be taking an even longer trip later in the month.

The junior high riders, competing in the Wrangler Division, were vying for a trip to the nationals in Gallup, New Mexico, in late June. A trio of area kids will be there: Chance Oftedahl of Pemberton, McKenzie Smith of Lake Crystal and Colten Carlson of Wells.

Organized a bit like gymnastics, rodeo has individual events and an all-around champion. Instead of the vault and the floor exercise, it’s events include chute dogging and pole bending, calf roping and bareback riding. The all-around cowboy in the Wrangler Division was J.D. Struxness of Appleton and the champion cowgirl was Dani Aus of Granite Falls.

As much as getting down in the dirt is inevitable in rodeo, the kids would have preferred not to be dealing with the cold mud that was everywhere by Saturday afternoon.

“I think it’s miserable for them,” Tony Oftedahl said.

Not that any of them were looking to bow out.

“It’s part of rodeo. They come prepared,” LeAnne Oftedahl said. “Rodeo is rain or shine.”

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