Pete Joyce and Ryan Opie earn state championships

By Debbie Raney
Burns Times-Herald

The High School National Finals Rodeo in Gillette, Wyo., will have eight Harney County cowboys and cowgirls competing for national titles.

The National Finals Rodeo will be held July 18-24. Qualifying for the rodeo were Ryan Opie, Pete Joyce, Nic Nyman, Jesse Northrop, Max Miller, Brooke Nyman Kenny Haworth and Riley Joyce. To qualify for nationals, competitors must have placed in the top four at the state level.

Opie came away from the Oregon High School Finals rodeo with a season championship in team roping. He and his partner, Cully Stafford, finished the year with 236 points, only five points ahead of the second place team of Harney County’s Northrop and Gus King. The third place slot in the team roping was claimed by Nic and Brooke Nyman who compiled 202 points during the year.

Nic Nyman will also compete at the national level in the tie down roping. For his rookie year in high school rodeo, Nyman compiled enough points to claim the Boy’s Rookie of the Year title as well.

Pete Joyce wrapped up the year as the Oregon High School Rodeo champion in the steer wrestling. During the state finals he took first in the opening round of competition, sixth in the second round and then won the final round to seal his championship.

In the rough stock events, Harney County will be represented by Haworth and Miller. Haworth took third in the state in the bareback, finishing the season with 93.5 points. Miller placed fourth in the saddle bronc, earning 58 points during the year.

Rounding out the local athletes qualifying for the National Finals was Riley Joyce. Joyce will represent Harney County in the Shooting Competition after capturing a third place in the rifle trap shoot at the state level.

In addition to the qualifiers for the nationals, five rodeo team members from the area will compete in the Silver State International Rodeo (SSIR) in Fallon, Nev., beginning on July 5 and running through July 9. To qualify for the SSIR, competitors had to finish in fifth through 10th place in the state finals.

Paige Landon qualified for the SSIR in two events, the goat tying and the barrel racing. Landon finished the year in sixth place in the barrels and ninth in goat tying. At year end, she had also compiled the most points in the Girls’ Rookie race and earned the state title for that.

Raime O’Sullivan qualified for the SSIR in team roping. She and her partner, Daniel Ibarra finished the year in eighth place.

Opie qualified for the SSIR in tie down roping, finishing the year in 10th, as well as the boys cutting, finishing in ninth. Brooke Nyman qualified to compete in the breakaway roping at the SSIR with a 10th place finish.

Rounding out the local competitors, Nic Nyman qualified in the steer wrestling, with a seventh/eighth place tie at the state level for the year.