GUYMON, Okla. – J.D. Struxness is on a two-fold mission this rodeo season.

He’s got a gold buckle on his mind, and there’s a tremendous amount of work involved with that. He added to his workload, though, with Izzy, an 11-year-old sorrel mare he’s finishing on the rodeo trail. After nearly two years of work as a steer wrestling horse, The red racer is being put through the paces the best way possible by just doing the work.

It seems to be paying off at Oklahoma’s richest rodeo, the Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo. He knocked down opening steer in 4.0 seconds Wednesday to share the first-round victory with North Dakotan Bridger Anderson, then was 4.7 to miss out on a second-round payday. During Friday’s first performance, he knocked his steer to the ground in 4.6 seconds to share the third-round lead and own the aggregate advantage with a three-run cumulative time of 13.3 seconds.

“It’s a good little boost,” said Struxness, 28, of Milan, Minnesota. “We just came back from California and didn’t have any luck there, so coming back here and doing good (helps you) get on a roll. We’ll take a little break, and you’ll have confidence coming back to the big rodeos.”

Competing in Henry C. Hitch Pioneer Arena is nothing new for Struxness, who attended nearby Northwestern Oklahoma State University on a rodeo scholarship. In 2016, he finished second in the Central Plains Region, then followed that with the intercollegiate championship, becoming the first Northwestern cowboy to claim a national title.

“We always came here for the college rodeo, then came back the next week for the ProRodeo when I was going to Alva, so it was nice to work it twice,” he said. “I got confidence in this arena by competing that many times a year. It’s nice to finally have some luck, so we’ll see how it holds up,”

He followed that magical college season with his first of four qualifications to the National Finals Rodeo, finishing fourth in the final world standings. He added trips to Las Vegas in 2017, ’19 and last season. This year, he’s 20^th in the world standings with a great chance to move up depending on how much money he earns in the Oklahoma Panhandle.

And he’s doing it all on a horse he has trained in bulldogging on his own. Leaning on hazer and NFR veteran Cameron Morman, Struxness is heading in the right direction.

“It takes a lot away from the stress on my end to have someone that solid over there on a solid horse,” Struxness said. “I’m cracking my own horse out this year, and she’s still pretty green. I’ve been bulldogging on her for a year and a half. I took her to the winter rodeos, and it went back and forth a little. She’s handling the pressure good, and hopefully we can have a good summer.

“I’ll go to some smaller circuit rodeos in May, then we’ll make our way up north in June and start getting after it.”

Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo
May 1-7
Bareback riding leaders: 1. Cooper Cook, 85 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Yellowstone; 2. Keenan Hayes, 83.5; 3. (tie) Mason Stuller and Shane O’Connell, 81; 5, Jess Pope, 78.5; 6. Colt Eck, 74; no other qualified rides.  

Team roping: First round: 1. Justin Pruitt/Gralyn Elkins, 6.4 seconds, $2,222 each; 2. Derrick Begay/Colter Todd, 6.6, $1,932; 3. (tie) Lightning Aguilera/Jared Fillmore, Clayton Eggers/Joshua Smitherman and Coy Rahlmann/Jonathan Torres, 6.9, $1,353 each; 6. Shay Dixon Carroll/Evan Arnold, 7.1, $773; 7. Bubba Buckaloo/JR Gonzalez, 7.2, $483; 8. Braden Pirrung/Lane Siggins, 7.3, $193. Second round: 1. Caleb Smidt/Paul Eaves, 5.5 seconds, $2,222 each; 2. Paul David Tierney/Tanner Braden, 6.0, $1,932; 3. (tie) Coleman Proctor/Logan Medlin and Clay Smith/Coleby Payne, 6.1, $1,497 each; 5. J.C. Yeahquo/L.J. Yeahquo, 6.2, $1,063; 6. Klay Yaussi/Kash Yaussi, 6.4, $773; 7. (tie) Kolby Krieger/Bo Yaussi and Wyatt Murray/Whitt Crozier, 6.5, $338 each. Third round leaders: 1. Coleman Proctor/Logan Medlin, 6.8 seconds; 2. Derrick Begay/Colter Todd, 8.5; no other qualified runs. Average leaders: 1. Derrick Begay/Colter Todd, 21.9 seconds on three runs; 2. Coleman Proctor/Logan Medlin, 28.9; 3. Clay Smith/Coleby Payne, 13.9; 4. Tyler Waters/Douglas Rich, 15.7; 5. Bubba Buckaloo/J.R. Gonzalez, 15.8; 6. Casey Hicks/Steve Orth, 15.9; 7. Justin Pruitt/Gralyn Elkins, 18.7; 8. Kellan Johnson/Carson Johnson, 19.0.

Steer wrestling: First round: 1. (tie) Bridger Anderson and J.D. Struxness, 4.0 seconds, $2,363 each; 3. (tie) Brandon Harrison and Holden Myers, 4.1, $1,704 each; 5. (tie) Termaine Debose and Trell Etbauer, 4.2, $1,044 each; 7. Denell Henderson, 4.3, $550; 8. (tie) Trevin Fox, Marc Joiner, Reed Kraeger and Joe Nelson, 4.4, $55 each. Second round: 1. Cash Robb, 3.8 seconds, $2,528; 2. (tie) Billy Boldon, Trell Etbauer, Stetson Jorgensen, Cameron Morman and Colton Swearingen, 4.5, $1,539 each; 7. (tie) Mason Couch, Cody Devers and Tyler Willis Ravenscroft, 4.6, $256 each. Third round leaders: 1. (tie) Cash Robb, Brandon Harrison, Ty Bauerle and J.D. Struxness, 4.6; 5. Joshua Hefner, 5.3; 6. Laramie Warren, 5.4; 7. Sam Goings, 6.6; 8. Quentin Wheeler, 19.0. Average leaders: 1. J.D. Struxness, 13.3 seconds on three runs; 2. Cash Robb, 14.6; 3. Brandon Harrison, 15.0; 4. Joshua Hefner, 16.1; 5. Ty Bauerle, 23.0; 6. Sam Goings, 25.7; 8. Quentin Wheeler, 34.7.

Saddle bronc riding leaders: 1. Tanner Butner, 90 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Lonesome Eyes; 2. Wyatt Casper, 88.5; 3. Chase Brooks, 85.5; 4. Sam Martin, 84; 5. Tegan Smith, 79.5; 6. Blaise Freeman, 78.5; 7. Brady Hill, 78; 8. Trey Elshere, 76.

Breakaway roping: First round: 1. (tie) Sierra Heinert and Madison Outhier, 2.3 seconds, $2,139 each; 3. (tie) Jackie Crawford and Ashley Goforth, 2.4, $1,542 each; 5. (tie) Amanda Coleman, Rylea Fabrizio and Kenzie Hay, 2.5, $796 each; 8. (tie) Deborah Fabrizio and Alli Masters, 2.6, $99 each. Second round leaders 1. Lari Dee Guy, 2.8 seconds; 2. (tie) Hannah Macy and Jackie Crawford, 3.1; no other qualified runs.

Tie-down roping: First round: 1. (tie) Connor Atkinson and Cole Clemons, 7.9 seconds, $3,458 each; 3. (tie) Quade Hiatt and Michael Otero, 8.1, $2,493 each; 5. Cory Solomon, 8.4, $1,769; 6. (tie) John Douch, Shane Hanchey and Kallen Johnson, 8.5, $804 each. Second round: 1. Riley Mason Webb, 7.4 seconds, $3,699; 2. Riley Pruitt, 7.5, $3,217; 3. Cash Hooper, 7.8, $2,734; 4. Ty Harris, 7.9, $2,252; 5. Dakota Felton, 8.4, $1,769; 6. (tie) John Douch and Riley Wakefield, 8.6, $1,045 each; 8. Stetson Vest, 8.7, $322. Third round leaders: 1. Marley Berger, 7.4 seconds; 2. Kincade Henry, 8.1; 3. Marcos Costa, 8.6, 4. Zaine Mikita, 9.7; 5. Tom Crouse, 10.8; no other qualified runs. Average leaders: 1. Kincade Henry, 27.4 seconds on three runs; 2. Zaine Mikita, 30.2; 3. Marley Berger, 31.7; 4. Marcos Costa, 32.8; 5. Tom Crouse, 35.1; 6. (tie) Conner Blaise Atkinson and Ty Harris, 16.7 seconds on two runs; 8. John Douch, 17.1.  

Barrel racing: First round: 1. Summer Kosel, 17.01 seconds, $2,305; 2. Tracy Nowlin, 17.19, $1,976; 3. (tie) Shaylee Hindman and Sara Winkelman, 17.26, $1,537 each; 5. (tie) Lawcyn Bledsoe and Bryana Lehrmann, 17.27, $988 each; 7. Jimmie Smith-Tew, 17.29, $659; 8. (tie) Natalie Bland and Paige Jones, 17.30, $384 each; 10. (tie) Ashley Castleberry, Acey Pinkston and Cayla Small, 17.35, $73 each. Second round leaders: 1. Taycie Matthews, 16.95 seconds; 2. Wenda Johnson, 17.09; 3. Leslie Smalygo, 17.44; 4. Kathryn Hawkins, 17.16; 5. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, 17.17; 6. Paige Jones, 17.19; 7. (tie) Ivy Saebens and Suzanne Brooks, 17.25; 9. Austyn Tobey, 17.27; 10. Cindy Smith, 17.38. Average leaders: 1. Paige Jones, 34.49 seconds on two runs; 2. (tie) Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi and Acey Pinkston, 34.74; 4. Austyn Tobey, 34.76; 5. Ivy Saebens 34.77; 6. Suzanne Brooks, 34.90; 7. Laura Mote, 35.11; 8. Andrea Busby, 35.13; 9. Jimmie Smith-Tew, 35.14; 10. Halyn Lide, 35.18.

Bull riding leaders: 1. Colton Kelly, 86.5 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Glory Days; 2. Dustin Boquet, 86; 3. Deklan Garland, 84.5; no other qualified rides.