There is a humble cowboy from the central Nebraska town of Callaway in Lincoln this week for the National High School Finals Rodeo.
The weeklong rodeo has reached the first milestone in the competition, and one of the home state competitors has won an award. Matthew Miller, who goes to high school at Broken Bow, won the first round of the tie-down roping.
Miller’s winning time was 8.83 seconds. Finishing second was Clay Yadon from Otterbein, Indiana, in :08.97.
Miller was answering questions from a reporter about his event when an adult cowboy standing nearby who didn't know Miller chimed in with the magnitude of the moment.
“Son, you need to tell him — he just won first out of 150 tie-down ropers in the whole rodeo,†the cowboy said.
And that coming after Miller just barely got in this competition by finishing fourth at the state rodeo for the final qualifying spot.
In tie-down roping, riders must rope the calf, dismount the horse, throw the calf on its side and tie any three feet. The tie must hold for 6 seconds for the time to hold up. The quickest time wins.
Miller’s day to compete in the first round was on Monday evening, and his time held up as the best over the six first-round performances at the Lancaster Events Center.
“I knew it had to be a pretty good run, but it ended up being the round win, so it’s pretty exciting,†Miller said.
Now Miller will have to wait until Friday morning’s performance for his second run in the same event. If he has another good run and his combined two-run total stays ranked in the top 10 of his event, he’ll advance to Saturday, when he could try to win a world championship.
Miller doesn’t do any other sports, so rodeo is one way he represents his high school. He was the only one from his school to make nationals. He competes in more than 20 rodeos a year during both the fall and spring all across the state.
Tie-down roping is the only event he qualified in for nationals.
“I’ve always liked to rope calves,†Miller said. “And when I got into high school I just took it to the next level.â€
When Miller was growing up, his dad competed in local rodeos, and Miller wanted to do that, too. He says there’s a great group of people in the sport.
“We usually all become buddies,†Miller said. “If your horse gets hurt, your buddies will offer to let you ride theirs.â€
In junior high, Miller made it to nationals twice. Then the first time he made nationals in high school the national rodeo was just three hours from his home.
“Having everybody here is just awesome for the state,†Miller said.
Miller was one of three Nebraska competitors to place in the top five of their event in the first go-round. In goat tying, Jessica Stevens from Creighton placed fourth. And in reined cow horse — that’s an event where you earn points for horsemanship skills — Tatum Olson from Bloomfield finished third.
Photos: National High School Finals Rodeo continues to swing in Lincoln
Matthew Miller from Broken Bow high school competes in tie-down roping on Monday at the National High School Finals Rodeo at the Lancaster Events Center. He ended up winning the event during the first round of the competition with a time of 8.83 seconds.