Lauderman competes in National Rodeo Finals

Reed Lauderman, of Brighton, had a busy week in Wyoming earlier this month. The Pekin sophomore was representing Team Iowa in the 76th annual National High School Rodeo Finals, which took place in Rock Springs, Wyoming from July 14-20.

Lauderman, who competes in high school sanctioned sports such as varsity wrestling for Pekin High School, qualified for nationals in Team Roping, alongside teammate Colton Young of Ogden.

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Lauderman and Young just needed four points in their final run during regionals, and the two got the job done, finishing fourth to grab the final spot coming out of Iowa.

Lauderman is no stranger to the national spotlight. This summer marked his fifth state qualifying year in a row. He has competed in national tournaments in Iowa, Georgia and Wyoming.

“Ever since I could walk, I was interested,” Lauderman sid. “Once I was old enough dad let us decide. Stuck with it and it's worked out.”

Featuring more than 1,700 contestants from 44 states, five Canadian Provinces, Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand, the NHSFR is the worlds largest rodeo. In addition to competing for more than $150,000 in prizes and over $200,000 in added money, NHSFR contestants also will be competing for more than $375,000 in college scholarships and a chance to be named an NHSFR World Champion.

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“It was packed every night,” said Lauderman about the national finals. “It's exciting when you get in the arena.”

Luderman and Young roped their steer in 8.87 seconds in the first round, putting them in 30th out of 180 teams. In the second round, they finished in 9.04 seconds, but picked up a five-second penalty for roping one leg, and a broken barrier penalty of 10 seconds, which stuck them at 24.04 seconds, and sent them back to 49th place overall.

“We knew the steer ws fast, and had been missed both times it was run previous,” Lauderman said. “I had to be quick, but was just a little too quick.”

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The duo finished the Top-20 cut by 9.3 seconds to miss out on the final round.

Lauderman still has two more years to compete in high school competition, and says he wants to keep it going out of high school.

“My dream would be to go pro,” Lauderman said. “But you've got to have a lot of things fall into place for that to happen.”

Overall, Lauderman says the best part of the experience is the relationships he has built and maintained throughout his young roping career.

“We go there to rodeo and do our best,” Lauderman said. “But at the end of the day, it's about the friendships.”