GUYMON, Okla. – Matt Reeves has been a cowboy all his life, but he’s done it at a professional level for 24 years.

He’s played the game at an elite level most of his career. He’s done so in little arenas and big. An eight-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier who won its steer wrestling aggregate championship in 2019, Reeves has earned titles at some of the most prestigious events across the country. He’s bulldogged on football fields and in baseball stadiums.

His title these days is less cowboy and more Dad, and that’s the best job he’s ever had. Now 46, his days of battling for the elusive world championships are behind him, but he still likes the competition. He proved it during Friday’s first performance of the Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo, where he knocked down his steer in 4.7 seconds.

“Over the years, Guymon’s been pretty decent to me,” said Reeves, who owns the third-round and aggregate leads with three performances remaining. “I’ve never won it, so it’d be fun to win. I don’t think I’ll win it, but, hey, I’m going to win good money.”

That’s the name of the game for men who put their hats in the ring in order to compete in this gladiator sport. He’s won a pile over time – more than $2 million – but it pales in comparison to other professional athletes. Still, he’s had some key wins, like that NFR six season ago and The American in 2020, when he walked away with a $433,000 payday.

“I like making money when I go somewhere,” said Reeves, who lives in Cross Plains, Texas, with his wive, Savanah, and their two boys, Carson, 9, and Hudson, 7. “I don’t stay gone as much now, so when I go somewhere, I want to capitalize on it. If I’m going to miss baseball games like I did earlier today, I want to make sure it was worthwhile when I go.”

His trip to the Oklahoma Panhandle certainly is paying dividends. Riding Ice, a 7-year-old gray gelding owned by fellow bulldogger and reigning world champion J.D. Struxness, made a veteran run on a tougher steer to move into the rodeo’s lead.

“They hadn’t done much on that steer,” Reeves said. “I thought he could be better if I hit the start, which I did. I got a great head catch, which made it work. When his nose came to me, I was able to keep pulling even though he was wanting to resist. He had to fall over flat, so it was OK.

“That’s a great horse that J.D. started last year. We’ve done well on him. He’s been good. We’ve been taking him around this spring. He has his good mare, Izzy, but she doesn’t need all this that we have here this weekend, so we rode that gray horse, and it’s gone pretty well. We’re going to keep easing him back into it.”

He first qualified for the NFR in 2007, but he’s been part of some magical runs inside the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas because of his prowess as a hazer, where he helps guide steers for fellow bulldoggers while riding on the opposite side of the animal. In fact, he was a key factor in Struxness winning rodeo’s gold this past December.

“I’m going to ease around and will go with J.D. for a couple more weeks, then he’ll leave for rodeo over the summer,” Reeves said. “I’ll ease around and take a colt of mine out and get him finished and go from there. I’m a circuit cowboy. If it all works out and baseball’s not in the way, I might go up and haze at Calgary. We’ll see what happens.”

Life as a retired bulldogger is a bit different than most might envision, but it works for Reeves. He will always be a cowboy, even if being a dad takes precedence.

Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo
May 2-4
Bareback riding leaders: 1. Donny Proffit, 82 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Night Fist; 2. Andey Gingerich, 81.5; 3. Ty Hawkes, 81; 4. Jade Taton, 77; 5. Colton Crawford, 71; 6. Monty Downare III, 69; no other qualified rides.

Team roping: First round: 1. Chet Weitz/Bryce Graves, 7.2 seconds, $2,484; 2. Laramie Allen/Kelby Frizell, 7.5, $2,160; 3. Tanner Green/Josh Patton, 7.7, $R1,836; 4. Zane Thompson/Chad Mathes, 8.1, $1,512; 5. Bubba Buckaloo/Joseph Harrison, 8.7, $1,188; 6. (tie) Nick Sartain/Garrett Gorman and Carson Coffelt/Shane Jenkins, 9.0, $702 each; 8. Cameron Ritchey/Jesse Jolly, 9.1, $216. Second round: 1. Bubba Buckaloo/Joseph Harrison, 7.1 seconds, $2,484; 2. Coleman Proctor/Logan Medlin, 7.2, $2,160; 3. Corben Culley/Trent Vaught, 7.3, $1,836; 4. Laramie Allen/Kelby Frizell, 7.5, $1,512; 5. Britton Grinstead/Scott Daily and Wyatt Bray/Paden Bray, 7,7, $1,026 each; 8. Jake Clay/Tanner Braden, 8.2, $216 each. Third round leaders: 1. Dalton Turner/Clay Clayman, 6.1 seconds; 2. Korbin Rice/Cooper Freeman, 6.7; 3. Curry Kirchner/Tyler McKnight, 8.9; 4, Clay Smith/Nicky Northcott, 10.6; 5. Chad Masters/Cory Petska, 11.8; no other qualified runs. Average leaders: 1. Curry Kirchner/Tyler McKnight, 28.7 seconds on three runs; 2. Chad Masters/Cory Petska, 30.6; 3. Dalton Turner/Clay Clayman, 14.7 seconds on two runs; 4. Laramie Allen/Kelby Frizzell, 15.0; 5. Bubba Buckaloo/Joseph Harrison, 15.8; 6. Korbin Rice/Cooper Freeman, 17.1; 7. Carson Coffelt/Shane Jenkins, 17.7; 8. Jake Fischer/Cole Cooper, 18.1. 

Steer wrestling: First round: 1. Holden Myers, 3.6 seconds, $2,516; 2. Matt Reeves, 3.9, $2,188; 3. Royce Johnson, 4.0, $1,860; 4. Sam Goings, 4.1, $1,532; 5. Hazen Sparks, 4.4, $1,203; 6. Trace Harris, 4.5, $875; 7. Cody Devers, 4.6, $547; 8. Nick Guy, 4.7, $219. Second round: 1. Quint Bell, 3.6 seconds, $2,498; 2. Justin Shaffer, 4.0, $2,172; 3. (tie) Tyler Mann and Riley Westhaver, 4.1, $1,684 each; 5. (tie) Jason Thomas, Riley Duvall and Holden Myers, 4.2, $869; 8. Garrett Oates 4.3, $217; Third round leaders: 1. Matt Reeves, 4.7 seconds; 2. J.D. Struxness, 5.2; 3. Tyler Mann, 5.9; 4. Hadley Sanders, 6.1; 5. Kreece Dearing, 7.3; 6. Brady Buum, 7.2; 7. Tait Kvistad, 13.8; 8. Garrett Curry, 15.6. Average leaders: 1. Matt Reeves, 13.2 seconds on three runs. 2. Tyler Mann, 15.2; 3. Hadley Sanders, 25.9; 4. Kreece Dearing, 28.3; 5. Brady Buum, 29.5; 6. J.D. Struxness, 30.5; 7. Tait Kvistad, 31.5; 8. Garrett Curry, 38.4.

Saddle bronc riding leaders: 1. Rusty Wright, 86.5 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Top Pick; 2. Zac Dallas, 85.5; 3. Thayne Elshere, 82; 4. Brady Irvine, 75; 5. Kody Cavender, 69; 6. (tie) Brandon Lansford and Bryan Huey, 64; no other qualified rides. 

Breakaway roping: First round: 1. Aspen Miller, 2.2 seconds, $2,127; 2. Lari Dee Guy, 2.6, $1,850; 3. Haiden Thompson, 2.7, $1,572; 4. Bradi Good, 2.8, $2,195; 5. (tie) Brooke Ladner, Hailey Hall and Abby Cos, 3.3, $1,295 each; 8. Shalee King and Alyssa Bigon, 3.0, $92 each. Second round: 1. (tie) Mataya Eklund and TiAda Gray, 2.9 seconds, $1,988 each; 3. Taylor Munsell, 3.2, $1,572; 4. Bailey Coates, 3.3, $1,295; 5. Timber Allenbrand, 3.4, $1,017; 6. (tie) Kashly Van Petten and Aspen Miller, 3.5, $601 each; 8. (tie) Shelby Boisjoli-Meged and Kendal Pierson, 3.8, $92 each. Third round leaders: 1. Aspen Miller, 2.4 seconds; 2. Shalee King, 3.8; 3. Shai Schaefer, 4.6; 4. Jenna Adams, 13.4; no other qualified runs. Average leaders: 1. Aspen Miller, 8.1 seconds on three runs; 2. Shalee King, 11.0; 3. Shai Schaefer, 14.4; 4. 23.1; 5. Kashly Van Petten, 6.6 seconds on two runs; 6. (tie) Hali Williams, Bailey Bates and Taylor Raupe, 7.2.

Tie-down roping: First round: 1. Cole Clemons, 7.4 seconds, $3,892; 2. Zane Kilgus, 7.8, $3,384; 3. Seth Hall, 7.9, $2,876; 4. (tie) Haven Meged and Bryce Derrer, $2,115 each; 6. Paden Bray, 8.2, $1,354; 7. Cash Fuesz, 8.3, $846; 8. (tie) Jarvis Demery and Tyler Boxleitner,8.4, $169 each. Second round: 1. Ryan Jarrett, 7.3 seconds, $3,892; 2. J.T. Adamson, 7.5, $3,384. 3. Sam Ward, 8.1, $2,876; 4. Dalton Porch, 8.3, $2,369; 5. Joel Harris, 8.4, $1,861; 6. (tie) Tom Simpson, Dylan Hancock and Nick Achile, 8.5, $846. Third round leaders: 1. Landyn Duncan, 8.2 seconds; 2. Austin Lawrence, 8.5; 3. Kyle Lucas, 9.2; 4. Lane Webb, 9.7; 5. Denton Oestman, 9.8; 6. Garrett Elmore, 14.3; 7. Trent McDonald, 18.7; no other qualified runs. Average leaders: 1. (tie) Austin Lawrence and Kyle Lucas, 28.2 seconds on three runs; 3. Landyn Duncan, 30.5; 4. Denton Oestman, 30.7; 5. Lane Webb, 31.5; 6. Garrett Elmore, 36.1; 7. Trent McDonald, 40.0; 8. Cole Clemons, 16.4 seconds on two runs.

Barrel racing: 1. Wenda Johnson, 17.31 seconds; 2. Summer Kosel, 17.46; 3. Julie Plourde, 17.53; 4. McKinlee Paschal, 17.76; 5. Keyla Costa, 17.77; 6. (tie) Katelyn Scott and Kim Squires, 17.78; 8. Jymmy Cos, 17.84; 9. (tie) Paige Jones and Kallie Gates, 17.89.

Bull riding leaders: 1. Thayne Elshere, 84.5 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Let’s Dance; 2. Lane Vaughan, 78.5; 3. Jesse Petri, 67; no other qualified rides.