Defending rodeo champ puts faith in her ride

Published 6:33 pm Sunday, July 16, 2017

She is the defending national champion pole bender and has one the best horses in the nation, yet Sulphur High School junior Brooklyn Gunter is a bit nervous heading into the National High School Finals Rodeo in Gillette, Wyoming.

“I have had this feeling that I had to repeat,” Gunter said. “This year has been a little more nerve-racking. I feel like a lot of people have been watching and I need to make an impression like last year.”

The NHSFR starts today and runs through Saturday.

Gunter has handled the pressure well by winning 10 of 11 rodeos on the Louisiana high school circuit, including the state title at the Louisiana High School Finals Rodeo in June.

She should be able to breathe a little easier after a come-from-behind win Friday at the National Youth Finals Rodeo in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

Gunter was in third place heading into the short-go round and trailed leader Mikayla Joh Almond of North Carolina by 0.352 seconds. But she posted the best time of the competition, 19.965 seconds, to beat Indiana’s Anna Dietrich by 0.002 seconds for the championship.

Gunter will have to battle Almond and Dietrich again this week as she attempts to become the first cowgirl or cowboy from Louisiana to win back-to-back national titles since Mia Manzanares won goat tying titles in 2013 and ’14.

There is no shortage of motivation for Gunter who is constantly pushed by older sister Lexie, a recent Sulphur High graduate, and younger sister Gabby, an incoming freshman. Lexie is competing in breakaway roping this week while Gabby won the NJHFR pole bending championship riding Brooklyn’s horse Blaze in June.

“We like to compete against each other to see who gets the fastest time,” Gunter said. “It is mainly for motivation.”

Gunter said she is not really worried about the crowd of more than 8,000 that is expected and says she wants to stay focused and trust her horse.

“The crowd doesn’t bother me much, but I just get that nervous feeling every time I ride,” Gunter said. “I just have to trust (Blaze) and trust that she can do it all again and stay focused. It is more me focusing. We have to focus on keeping her close to the poles, but it is mainly on her.”

Recent Iota High grad Judd Hebert is also back in Gillette to defend a national championship.

Hebert was the top bull rider last year and won his third consecutive state title in June.

Like Gunter, Hebert recently competed in Shawnee but came up a short in defense of his IYFR championship.

He was in the lead after two rounds but failed to reach the 8-second buzzer in the short-go Friday night and lost to Utah’s Stetson Wright by half a point. But Hebert will get another crack at Wright at the NHSFR.

Welsh’s Cameron Gotreaux, the reigning state champ, is looking extend Louisiana’s national championship streak in steer wrestling. His cousin Ryan Gotreaux of Lacassine won in 2016, while Bunkie’s Gabe Soileau and Sulphur’s Tristan Martin won in 2015 and ’14, respectively.

Two from Southwest Louisiana will be competing in two events in Sulphur’s Rhett Goodner (cutting, reined cow horse) and Bell City’s Kati Murphy (barrel racing, pole bending).

Others competing at nationals from Southwest Louisiana:

Cyle Denison (Iowa) and Britt Buller (Kinder), team roping; Sulphur’s Garrett Ellender, saddle bronc; calf roper Tayt Little (Hackberry); Taylor Pierce (Vinton) and Dre Swain (Iowa), bull riding; Kaylee Cormier (Iowa) and Cameron Johnson (DeRidder), goat tying; Drew O’Quinn (Sulphur), Charli Little (Hackberry), Bailey Labove (Hackberry), reined cow horse; and Lance Labove (Bell City) and Katy Fogleman (Moss Bluff), cutting.