Rodeo returns to Ronan for a thrill-packed 3 days
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For most a little R&R means rest and relaxation, but for Ronan’s Rick Luchau it meant getting on a wild buffalo.
Luchau, who was on 12-day leave from his Army post in the nation’s capital, was one of the six stupidest people in the world to end the three-day rodeo by trying to ride the wild beast, according to Ronan Pioneer Days Rodeo announcer Joe Warner.
“Peer pressure,” Luchau said was the reason he got on the buffalo.
His friends Trent Metzger and Travis Jeppesen had won the event the past couple of years and wagered that Luchau couldn’t do the same. He proved them wrong with an 85-point ride.
Luchau was the only one to get his ride scored. Brave souls Taylor Lipscomb, Nate Dumont, Daniel O’Rourke, Jacques Graham and Brent Mays couldn’t hold on for the eight seconds.
Luchau looked like a natural on the buffalo, but it wasn’t until he joined the U.S. Army and moved away from Ronan that Luchau really started riding. Now, stationed in Washington, D.C., he rides almost every day. But the riding he does in D.C. is afar cry from Sunday's lively and thrilling ride.
As a member of the 3rd U.S. Army Infantry Regiment, also know as the Old Guard, Luchau rides a horse that pulls a caisson in a funeral procession for fallen soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.
“It’s a huge honor. There’s really nothing like it. I feel honored to be able to do it,” Luchau said.
The three-day rodeo, which started with Friday night’s Bulls and Broncs, featured many local cowboys and cowgirls, but few earned the top spot in their event.
Nirada bulldogger Hugh Houle won the steer wrestling with a 4.8-second ride. Houle’s been a staple in the local rodeo scene since competing at Ronan High School in the early ‘90s. Houle now spends a lot his time mentoring and helping the valley’s younger talent. True to form, as soon as Houle was finished with his ride, he got on a horse to haze a steer for Polson’s Shawn George.
Houle finished ahead of Dixon’s Zanen Pitts (5.6) and Ronan’s Levi Guenzler (7.9).
Ronan native Donnie Benson won the calf roping with a 8.7-second ride. Locals Pat Nagy and Josh Harris’ 6.1-second ride put them on top in the team roping event.
In the closest event of the rodeo, the ladies’ breakaway, where two-tenths of a second separated the top three riders, Ronan’s Stacey Jackson finished one-tenth of a second behind Kirsti Stewart to take silver.
Arlee’s Nichelle Marmon took third with a 2.9-second catch.
Summary
Bull riding
1. Justin Whiteman, 88
2. Bradford Heath, 84
3. Smiley Whiteman, 80
4. Tuck Johnson, 74
Saddle bronc
1. Doug Fitzgerald, 77
2. Rick Whiteman, 68
