Cowley resident JR Vezain, 17, went into the Wyoming High School State Rodeo this weekend in Douglas with victory on his mind and he hit his target dead on, finishing first in his signature event of bareback bronc riding and second in bull riding. He also won the saddle in bareback bronc riding with a total score of 264 points and the belt buckle in the event with a 142 average. He was named the boys year end all around contestant with a score of 6,037.397.
Vezain, a junior at Rocky Mountain High School, said he began the weekend slow but finished up well. Having already qualified for bareback bronc, he wanted to cover in saddle bronc and bull riding Thursday, he said, but was bucked off in both events.
“It was kind of a hog deal,” Vezain said.
Saturday, it was more of the same for the two events, being bucked off a bull and blowing a stirrup in saddle bronc, he said.
Also on Saturday, Vezain took first on two rounds of bareback bronc, with scores of 70 and 72.
In the short go for bull riding, Vezain said he had to cover to advance to the national rodeo. He scored 195.5 to qualify for Nationals in second place behind Garrett Lowham of Cody with 231 points.
He said he would’ve liked to have one good round in saddle bronc, but he was really happy to qualify in the other two events.
With the national championships coming up July 19-26 in Farmington, N.M., Vezain said he has his eyes on being the bareback riding champion. If that doesn’t pan out, he said he would like to at least finish in the top five bareback riders and the top 20 bull riders.
“You gotta leave some room to dock,” he said, “but if everything goes right, a national championship would be just right.”
This will be Vezain’s third trip to Nationals. He finished in eighth place in bareback bronc last year and 16th his freshman year.
Vezain said he will ride in three rodeos this week, Belle Fourche on July 2, Kaycee July 3, Lander July 4 and Ten Sleep July 5. He said he also plans to ride in the Cody Night Rodeo a few times before Nationals.
“There’s no such thing as relaxing,” he said. “I’ll spend some time working on the basics. The harder work you put in, the greater the outcome.”
He thanked sponsors Beefmaster Rodeo Products and G Bar G Saddles for supplying a saddle bronc saddle.