By KATIE LACKEY
Sports Editor
He won the college finals and the daddy of ‘em all, now he’s vying for a chance to compete at the biggest of them all.
Northwestern Oklahoma State University is known for producing well- known rodeo athletes. James Struxness is an example of one of those athletes. He is a senior who majors in agriculture business.
Struxness kicked off the busy season of rodeo in June at the College National Finals Rodeo where he took home the College National Champion steer wrestling title. Right behind him, with the reserve title, was Jacob Edler, who is also a senior agriculture business major at Northwestern.
Struxness hopes for a repeat year of success in the college steer wrestling for his final year of college rodeo eligibility. The college finals win was just the start to his summer of success though.
The biggest of Struxness’s wins came in July at the Cheyenne Frontier Days aka “The Daddy of ‘Em All” in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The big win there along with others such as, Lawton Rangers Rodeo and the Lea County Fair and PRCA Rodeo in Lovington, New Mexico has him sitting 8th in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association standings as of Aug. 29 with only a month left in the professional season.
The top 15 cowboys and cowgirls in their event go on to compete at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada. “I hope it happens,” Struxness said, “but I still need to win a little more.” The National Finals Rodeo is Dec. 1-10 with a rodeo performance every evening where the contestants will be vying for the coveted world title.
“Not very many teams in college rodeo have guys making the National Finals Rodeo, and that is the super bowl of rodeo,” Graves said. He said Struxness is physically and mentally more mature than most guys his age.
The maturity that Struxness has shines through when it comes to school. He is diligent about staying on top of his class work, even though there are only a few months out of the year he can actually attend class. The college does a good job of working with him, he said, but he mainly takes online classes.
Struxness handles his schooling with diligence, which is the same way he handles rodeo. “It’s all about having the confidence to go out there and do it,” he said. The rodeos that he has won have propelled him towards more wins.
Graves is who Struxness credits his success. “He got my confidence up and made my steer wrestling better,” he said.
Struxness spent 2015 learning the ropes from Graves. They hauled together to many rodeos, which ultimately contributed to Struxness’s successes he has had this year.
Struxness’s steer wrestling was already there, but his ability to make business decisions at the professional ranks had to come, Graves said, “Don’t relax, set your goals and try to accomplish them.”
Another rodeo athlete Graves has mentored is Edler, who now hauls along with Struxness to the professional rodeos.
“We push each other to make ourselves better,” Edler said, “and we have set goals that we have conquered.”
They planned to go first and second at the college finals, make circuit finals and all-American finals, which they have been successful at doing.
“[Struxness] is focused, devoted and hard working,” Edler said. “He is going to be one of the all time greats in this sport.”