Monthly Archives: February 2026

Johnny Dudley is an accomplished clown and rodeo entertainer, and he will have his first Oklahoma Panhandle experience during this year’s Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo. (PHOTO BY JOSH HOMER   GUYMON, Okla. – The sunsets in the Oklahoma Panhandle have something spectacular about them. Whether it’s a combination of the atmosphere, the relative flatness of the Plains or the dust that invigorates the region, Johnny Dudley will get to experience it during the Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo, set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 1; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2; and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 3, at Henry C. Hitch Pioneer Arena. “That’s one of the places I’ve never been to, but I’m looking forward to it because I know I’m going to work with a great crew,” said Dudley, 47, of Aubrey, Texas. “Andy Stewart is (one of the announcers), and one thing I know about working with Andy is that I don’t have any problems. He’s going to make sure we have a great show no matter what.” That’s part of the production value that comes with the Richest Rodeo in Oklahoma, with Stewart and hometown cowboy Ken Stonecipher on the microphones. They’ll work closely with the man who goes by the moniker “Backflip,” a well-recognized rodeo clown and entertainer. He will provide a unique approach to his comedy and antics in the arena and collaborate with Stewart, Stonecipher and the crew from Frontier Rodeo to ensure the fans get an experience that will rival a sunset. “I’m more of a safe clown, a hybrid-type of clown,” Dudley said. “I’m not really an old-school clown, but I’m also not one of these cheerleading entertainers. I’m a little bit of both, and I think that my blend of comedy kind of spans multiple generations. I can relate to the young kids, but my old-school comedy and my old-school upbringing – piggybacking off Rudy Burns and Lecille Harris – also gets me in with the older crowd.” Dudley’s purpose is to coincide with the competition while also serving as a comedy relief for the thousands of fans that help make the Guymon rodeo such a showcase. He can help the transitions between events, rides and runs become seamless, and he uses humor to do it. There are also the acts that he hopes will keep the audience in stiches. “I now have the act, ‘Cow Patty,’ which is the act Jim McLain had for a long time, and I would watch those old VHS tapes of Rodeo Bloopers and see that act in Guymon,” he said of the shows produced by Rodeo Video that were released on VHS cassettes decades ago. “That was the first time I ever saw the Guymon rodeo, and there were a bunch of videos of ‘Cow Patty.’ “I remember watching that and thinking, ‘That’s a cool act.’ Now, I own it.” “Cow Patty” will be back at Hitch Arena for the first time since McLain was a regular fixture in Guymon. It’s quite fitting that a man who goes by “Backflip” is making it happen. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Dudley has been entertaining for better than 20 years. His work has transitioned over time. “I don’t know if the comedy part of what I do has progressed as much as the timing of how I do it,” Dudley said. “One thing I pride myself on – and something a lot of announcers and producers have come to me about – is my timing. It’s knowing the right joke for the right situation, and I pay attention to what else is going on in the arena. “I’m able to divide my arena situational awareness. I know what’s going on at all times. I know who’s about to compete. I know when to say a joke and when not to say a joke. If Shad Mayfield is next up, it’s pretty important for me to know that a world champion is up and to stay out of the way. I don’t think I’m funnier than I was 10 years ago, but the timing and placement is where I’m excelling.” For that, peers in the PRCA have honored him. Dudley has been nominated for Clown of the Year and Act of the Year, and in 2019, he was named the Coors Man in the Can for his work as a barrelman. That award and other accolades are nice, but they don’t define the husband and father of two. “For people that don’t know me personally, I’m not an outgoing guy,” he said. “I’m not one of those little jitterbugs that’s just trying to entertain all the time. I’m just kind of a laid-back guy, but whenever I put that clown makeup on, I transform, like a superhero. “The thing that stands out to me is booking a rodeo back. If I work a rodeo, and that rodeo hires me back, that’s the biggest honor I can get.” That’s an achievement that pays dividends, and Dudley is ready to show the folks in the Oklahoma Panhandle what he’s got in Year 1 at Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo.

Riley O’Rourke has found a honey hole with the Will Rogers Stampede in Claremore, Oklahoma. He leads the charge for the Clem McSpadden Tub Handle Classic, the richest steer roping rodeo in Oklahoma, after winning that championship each of the past two years. He is also the 2025 Steer Roping Rookie of the Year and the reserve world titlist. (PHOTO BY ROBBY FREEMAN)   CLAREMORE, Okla. – Most professional cowboys have a place that fits them better than most of the others. In fishing terms, they’re honey holes. RCB Bank in Stampede Park at Claremore is such a place for steer roping phenom Riley O’Rourke, the 2025 Rookie of the Year who finished the campaign second in the world standings. He has won a Will Rogers Stampede championship each of the past three seasons, collecting $11,500 along the way. “That’s about as close to a hometown rodeo as I get,” said O’Rourke, 21, of Skiatook, Oklahoma, a 40-minute drive west of the arena. “I won the all-around the first year (2023), and then I won the steer roping the last two years.” The rodeo – with paid performances set for 8 p.m. Friday, May 22-Sunday, May 24 – actually kicks off Thursday, May 21, with the Clem McSpadden Tub Handle Classic, the richest steer roping rodeo in Oklahoma with the seventh-largest payout in the country. This year’s event, set for 1 p.m., will feature the event’s top hands all chasing money that will feature $10,500 in local dollars, which are added to the contestants’ entry fees to make up the overall purse. “In our part of the world, Clem was a legend as an announcer and an ambassador to rodeo who announced our rodeo for many years,” said David Petty, a longtime director of the rodeo. “Clem announced the Will Rogers Stampede for 62 years and loved steer roping, so about eight years ago, we decided to name our steer roping competition after him and feature it.” Steer roping is older than the sport of rodeo. Ranchers were using the techniques of the event while caring for cattle long before the first documented competition took place nearly a century and a half ago. When a cowboy was alone on the range and had to treat a sick cow, he had to utilize his rope to lay the animal down and secure it so he could administer medicine. The “World’s First Rodeo,” the West of the Pecos Rodeo in west Texas, is cited to have begun in 1883 when drovers from differing ranch operations began discussing who was the better roper. On July 4, the contest happened near the town courthouse. Steer roping remains an important part of the Pecos rodeo, as well as others in places like Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Pendleton, Oregon. “Until I was 12, I lived in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, which they call the ‘Steer Roping Capital of the World,’ ” O’Rourke told the PRCA. “There wasn’t anybody who roped calves or anybody who team roped; everybody tripped steers. Since I started roping when I was 12 or 13, all I wanted to do was trip steers.” Things have changed in time. He competed two years on his PRCA permit, a training ground for up-and-coming ProRodeo cowboys. He won Claremore’s all-around the first year, then won the Tub Handle Classic the second year. Adding a third title in Rogers County was just a nice dose of extra cheese on the supreme pizza that is O’Rourke’s early tenure as a steer roper. Going into last season’s final round of his first qualification to the Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping in Mulvane, Kansas, O’Rourke was in position to claim a world championship. He laid down a run of 9.1 seconds in the 10th round and put the pressure on the top dog in the fight, Cole Patterson. “I had a lot of confidence until Cole tied one in 8.5,” O’Rourke said. “I knew it was close going into the last round, and I thought if I could win or split the round, I’d have a pretty good chance. For about 37 seconds, I really thought I had a chance, and then he nodded. “The whole year was pretty good from beginning to end. I felt like I won pretty much everywhere I went, and it was a lot of fun.” The Tub Handle Classic is not only a big-time stop for the world’s best steer ropers, but it also serves as a qualifier to the Ben Johnson Memorial Steer Roping, which takes place June 18-21 in Pawhuska. The limited-entry event will also feature the top two ropers in each of the three Claremore go-rounds as well as the top four in the aggregate that weren’t among the top 30 to qualify. O’Rourke once untied calves during the Johnson roping, but he’s been part of the competition the last two and placed both times. He hopes to be among the elite by the time June rolls around, but he knows the Will Rogers Stampede is another avenue should the need arise. “Everybody’s got a favorite rodeo like Cheyenne and what not,” he said. “Claremore is one of my favorites, just because I seem to win pretty good there.”

Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Tyra Tsosie won the goat-tying championship at the Kansas State University rodeo this past weekend in Manhattan, Kansas. The sophomore transferred to the Rangers rodeo team in the fall semester to join her twin brother, Tydon, who was already at Northwestern. (PHOTO BY DALE HIRSCHMAN)   ALVA, Okla. – Tyra and Tydon Tsosie grew up together around the Navajo Nation. Always competitors, they never backed down from a challenge. Rodeo has always been a way of life for the twins from Crownpoint, New Mexico. For a year, though, they separated. Tyra made her way to Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, along the state’s border with the Texas Panhandle. Tydon ventured to Northwestern Oklahoma State University, and the “Bulldogging Capital of College Rodeo” was perfect for the steer wrestling hopeful. The twins were reunited last fall when Tyra Tsosie transferred to be part of the Rangers rodeo team. Her avenue to Alva paid off this past weekend, when she won the goat-tying title at the Kansas State University rodeo, the first of the next six events in the Central Plains Region that took place in Manhattan, Kansas. She stopped the clock in 7.3 seconds to finish in a tie for third in the opening round, then sped to a 6.7-second run to win the championship round and the aggregate title. “It’s a pretty cool start to the spring semester,” said Tsosie, a sophomore who also competes in breakaway roping for the Rangers. “My horse worked great. She did her job, but she always does her job.” That’s Bit-O-Honey, a 13-year-old sorrel mare Tsosie has had since the animal was a filly. “My mom named her after my grandpa’s favorite candy,” Tsosie said. “I grew up with her. She’s an all-around horse. I have taken her to junior rodeos. She wasn’t my first goat horse, but I’ve always had her. She ended up learning goats, and now she’s my main horse; she’s my breakaway horse, too.” Familiarity is important. It’s why she rides a mare she’s ridden most of her life and why she opted to transfer to the Alva institution and sit out the first three rodeos of the season because of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association’s transfer rules. The first Central Plains event in which she competed was the Northwestern rodeo in early November. “I came here because my brother goes to school here,” she said. “I visited during my spring break last year, and I really like he practice facility, the coach, the team … just how they do things. I thought it’d be more fun with my brother here, too.” Tydon Tsosie has already accumulated points for the Northwestern men, winning the first round in Stillwater last fall. His sister one-upped him in Manhattan. “I just tried to be smooth and do my part,” Tyra Tsosie said. “I did it on my first run, and then the second run went really good.” She led the way for the Rangers women. She was joined in the short round by fellow goat-tier Payton Dingman of Pryor, Oklahoma, and a quartet of breakaway ropers: River Hamaker of Leon, Iowa; Brylee Zook of Garnett, Kansas; Trista Regner of Apple Valley, California; and Maggie King of Granville, New York. King, Regner and Zook all gathered points in Manhattan. King and Zook were each 2.5 seconds to finish the opening round in a four-way tie for fifth place. Both placed in the final performance and the aggregate – Zook was sixth in the short round and sixth overall, while King posted a 2.6-second run to finish second in both. Regner won the first round with a 2.2-second run. A couple of cowboys from the Northwestern men’s team took top honors. Heeler Colter Snook of Ford, Kansas, won the rodeo while roping with header Dexton Hoelting of Western Oklahoma State College. They were third in the first round with a 7.3-second run and won the final round with a 7.5. Meanwhile, Nathan Duvall of Henryetta, Oklahoma, dominated bulldogging, sharing the first-round win and taking the second round to claim the overall prize. Assistant coach Emmett Edler also garnered some steer wrestling points. He posted a 5.3-second run to finish fifth in the opener, then was 4.3 to place third in the short round and the aggregate. Payden Nusser of Alva was 5.2 to finish fourth in the first round, while Hazen Sparks of Talihina, Oklahoma, was 5.3 to finish fifth on Championship Sunday. Tie-down ropers Carter Anderson of Merriman, Nebraska, and Kerry Duvall of Oakdale, California, were solid. Duvall placed in a tie for fifth in the long round, and Anderson took advantage of sneaking into the finals by placing fifth in the round and sixth in the average. Freshman Riley Smith of Poteau, Oklahoma, made the short round in saddle bronc riding and finished with two solid rides. In all, 14 Rangers were part of the final performance. Northwestern finished second in the men’s team standings. It was proof to Tyra Tsosie that she made a good decision to transfer. “Eastern was a lot smaller of a team,” she said. “I think there were about 15 or 20 girls on the team, but at Alva, there’s a lot more girls. We have good athletes in every event.” That’s a testament to the tradition established years ago, one that continues under coach Cali Griffin, who was not in Manhattan while tending to other responsibilities. “I didn’t really know Cali until I met her during my visit at spring break last year,” Tsosie said. “She’s a good coach, and you can see that from watching her during practice, during the rodeo and being there for the team. Since she wasn’t there, the team was there for each other, and we had Emmett (Edler) there with us, too. Everybody stepped up and helped.” That’s what teams do. “I’m really proud of them for stepping up and helping each other while I was gone,” Griffin said. “I’m lucky to have this group of  Continue Reading »

The Surge Energy Rodeo Bowl has been around for 76 years, so organizers of the Big Spring Cowboy Reunion and Rodeo have been making upgrades to the arena with bigger plans also being part of the picture. The new dates for the rodeo will be June 4-6, and it’s all part of the intended growth of the rodeo. (PHOTO BY TED HARBIN)   BIG SPRING, Texas – It’s been 36 years since Wacey Cathey last competed at the National Finals Rodeo, but he’s still very much a cowboy. He’s an icon in these parts, a fixture at the Big Spring Cowboy Reunion and Rodeo. He was a featured athlete during his competitive days, and he’s seen countless performances inside the Surge Energy Rodeo Bowl. “I just got interested in rodeo when I was little,” said Cathey, who, as he put it, has a small role in the rodeo’s volunteer committee. “I’m not one of the main guys on the committee; I just show up and help a little bit. When I was a kid, I was around it all the time, and I still watch a lot of rodeo on TV and try to keep up with it a little bit.” His experience as one of the elite bull riders in rodeo has been part of the draw to the game, and he’s seen a lot of changes in his more than 70 years. With that, he’s also witnessed the growth of his hometown rodeo, which has adjusted its dates starting this year. The festivities will take place Thursday, June 4-Saturday, June 6. “I think it’s growing and going to continue to grow,” Cathey said. “I’d like to get more contestants, the top-end of the contestants. A lot of them are going to the bigger-money rodeos, so you’re going to have to get more money to draw them big-name contestants to town.” That’s part of the intended growth volunteers on the committee have in mind for the Big Spring Cowboy Reunion and Rodeo. The first phases have begun, with the date-change being placed at the forefront. There was a time not long ago that the “summer run” began in late June, with cowboys and cowgirls from Texas heading north and west to begin their three-month trek away from home in order to make a living in the sport they love. Whether it was North Platte, Nebraska, or Reno, Nevada, contestants knew their schedules were going to ramp up around the first day of summer. The calendar for big-time events has shifted closer to Memorial Day weekend. “The change of date for our rodeo is a win-win for everybody,” said Scot Herrin, a longtime member of the committee. “The calendar should be a lot more friendly for the contestants as far as being able to make our rodeo, and then they can go on from there. The rodeo in Weatherford (Texas) is the next week, and that puts us to where we’re not on top of Reno. “I’m glad it finally got done, and, of course, we have a big thank you to our stock contractor, Pete Carr. He made it work, too, so it’s big for us and big for rodeo.” That was just the first step with many others to follow. Organizers have already begun upgrading the Rodeo Bowl, which was built in 1950. There was some deterioration over the 76 years it’s existed, plus there are enhancements that will make the overall viewing experience better for ticket-buyers. “The seating has been redone,” Herrin said. “It’s a 70-plus-year-old facility, so it was time to give it a facelift. Some of the structure was starting to crumble, and we had to get that fixed for safety and aesthetics. It needed to be redone, and in order to expand on other improvements we want to do, that’s where we need to start and get that done first. “Our plans are to make everything better. It’s going to be really, really nice, and then we can expand with better VIP boxes and other things that go with it. It’s a complete package.” The Rodeo Bowl was 3 years old when Cathey was born to a ranching family. He watched world champion Toots Mansfield volunteer for the Big Spring rodeo long after the tie-down roper hung up his competitive rope. “For our community, the rodeo is one of the bigger events,” Cathey said. “This is a farming and ranching community, and you get a lot of people that know rodeo. “I’d like to see the Big Spring rodeo get more added money and get the top-end contestants coming in. The stock is a lot better, so I’d love to see more bull riders, bronc riders and bareback riders. I think that would really help.” Rodeo has certainly changed since Cathey last made the NFR in 1991. He finished the season 10th in the world standings with $64,954, equivalent to $150,000 today. Australian Qynn Anderson finished 10th in 2025 with $269,000 in earnings, and world champion Stetson Wright finished the year with nearly $550,000 – Wright also won the all-around gold buckle with combined earnings of $941,000. “I’m glad to see these guys are finally getting some money,” Cathey said. “We were pretty much broke all the time when we was rodeoing full time.” That’s why the Big Spring volunteers are working diligently to improve all aspects of the community’s biggest event. “We want to make the experience at our rodeo better for everybody: the contestants, the fans, the vendors, the sponsors,” Herrin said. “We want our sponsors to know that we’re increasing the value for their sponsorship. We’ve been cram-packed with big crowds the last two years, and that’s just amazing. We’re making property expansions, and we’re going to have more parking, which is going to be huge for the fans and for the contestants. “Everything we’re doing is for everybody. We’ve been fortunate in the grants we have received and the local philanthropy we get to help with those improvements. That’s  Continue Reading »