Fallon hosts high school weekend rodeo

Senior Caleb Hendrix knows this season is his last chance to perform in front of the Fallon crowd this weekend.

So far this season, Hendrix sits in first in team roping with his partner and second in tie-down. He is leading boys’ cutting. As with many older students, the goal is to qualify for the national high school rodeos in Wyoming in mid-July.

As the Fallon club’s president and the state’s vice president, Hendrix knows the importance of competing at home.

“It does not give me an adrenalin rush, but it means more to win at home,” he said. As a senior, it means a lot more.”

Fallon junior Matt Goings knows the work and determination that go into making a champion.

He finished second at the 3A state wresting meet after putting in a successful year. The Fallon athlete also uses the same approach when competing in the Nevada High School Rodeo Association.

The Fallon High school Rodeo Club hosts its annual spring rodeo at the fairgrounds this weekend. Today is cutting and reining cow horse competition beginning at 9 a.m.at the Churchill County Fairgrounds.

On Saturday, the rodeo begins at 9 a.m. and on Sunday at 8 a.m.

Junior- and senior-high school students from all over Nevada will be competing in timed and rough stock events.

There will be a Team Roping Jackpot at Heritage Arena today and Saturday.

In looking at this season, Goings said Fallon, along with Elko and Las Vegas, are the top teams to beat before the state rodeo begins over the Memorial Day weekend. He said the toughness of the other teams helps him compete.

“The good competition pushes us, and without good competition you don’t get any better,” he said.

Goings has been competing for five year beginning with the junior-high rodeo team. As both a team and tie-down roper, Goings qualified for the Silver State International Rodeo in Winnemucca during his freshman and sophomore years. His eyes are on state in less than two months.

“I’m not sitting at qualifying yet, but we have a lot of rodeos left,” he said. “State is huge. If you have a good state, then you move up.

Goings also knows he feels the home crowd and their cheering.

“We’re competing for the home town,” he said. “We want our family to come see us and also those who can’t make it to Las Vegas, Elko or Ely to see us compete.”

Coy Glover, a sophomore competing in steer wrestling said his season began well but has leveled off. He is currently fifth in state. Like Goings, he’s excited to compete in Fallon this weekend.

“It’s lots of fun to show off your hometown rodeo,” he said.

Another sophomore, Leta Ikonen, competes in three events: goat tying, breakaway roping and team roping. She competed at the SSIR last year, but she doesn’t figure she’ll qualify for state this year. At last week’s Fernley High School Rodeo, she placed in goat tying and team roping.

Ikonen said the Fallon rodeo makes her work harder.

“I always do my best here,” she said. “This is where we practice and where we have friends and family here.”

Likewise, sophomore Jamie Waggoner strives to improve her times and points. This is her first full year of competition. Last year she competed in the SSIR in rifle shoot and pole bending.

Freshman Chloe Lambert has been around rodeo for her entire life and feels the past two years helped her at the junior-high level.

“Junior-high rodeo prepared me for the faster, quicker competition,” she said.

For months, she has looked forward to the second weekend of April and the Fallon rodeo.

“This is one of the biggest rodeos for locals,” she said. “I like Fallon, and it’s my home town. Everyone gets to see us.”