Mingling with other bareback riders behind the bucking chutes in Big Timber last year, Wyatt Warneke wasn’t nervous.

He was uncertain.

Warneke knew most of them. The Great Falls teenager just wasn’t sure he belonged with them.

“To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure I was ready to step up,” Warneke said of joining the Northern Rodeo Association’s Mountain Health Co-op Tour in 2024. “I figured I would go enter a couple and go back home broke.

“I was going to see what it was all about.”

His Mountain Health Co-op Tour debut was less than dazzling.

“An eliminator drilled me into the ground,” said the teen with a soft chuckle.

A week later, Warneke proved he belonged with his bareback riding peers.

And then some.

Warneke won both Harlowton and Choteau during the Fourth of July run.

The two victories were the springboard to a gold buckle year.

Warneke would add Tour wins at Townsend, Livingston and Bozeman III. He was also second at Superior and Twin Bridges and third at Bozeman II and Deer Lodge among his 11 top-five finishes.

“The season went better than average,” Warneke said. “Well, it was outstanding … better than I could imagine. And the end of the year was really surprising.”

Warneke entered the NRA Finals presented by nuWest Builders third in the standings, $860 behind leader Dalton May of Coram.

He progressively got better at Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell, posting rides of 70, 76.5 and 83.5 points through the three rounds.

“My mindset was just to be consistent, at least place in every round,” said Warneke. “After the first two rounds, I didn’t even think about a title. That third round, it was go out and be a gunslinger.”

His final ride earned him second in the round and put him fourth in the average. Warneke’s Finals money of $1,435 was enough for him to hold off Ty Owens of Helena by $68 for the year-end championship.

It just took a while for him to believe it.

The first to offer congratulations was Leighton LaFromboise of Helena, one of Warneke’s friends.

“I told him I didn’t win it,” said Warneke.

The new champion made his way to the grandstand to visit with parents Justin and Cristal. Justin Warneke sat his son down and showed him the numbers.

“I’m not really good at math,” the younger Warneke offered with another chuckle. “It was disbelief. Oh, I was so excited.

“It sure makes you feel good about yourself. It gives you confidence that maybe I can do something here.”

The home-schooled Warneke – he graduated from Abeka Academy this spring – began riding bareback horses in sixth grade.

“It’s just wild,” he said of his chosen event. “You never hold back. You give it everything you can … go do it.”

His father rode broncs and bulls and is now a horse trainer. Warneke’s mother is a physical therapy assistant. Older sister Rayna is barrel racing in the Mountain Health Co-op Tour this summer while younger sister Ashlyn has other interests.

Warneke, who turned 18 in April, plans to divide his time the Mountain Health Co-op Tour and the Montana Pro Circuit this summer.

“I feel like I have a stronger riding style,” he said. “Last year, I got too wild, I got myself in some jams. I’m a little smarter this year about my riding.”

With a third-place finish in the Montana High School standings – he won the championship round at the state finals and was second in the average -- Warneke has qualified for his second straight National High School Finals Rodeo. He placed 29th last year.

In the fall, he will attend Clarendon College in Texas. Clarendon College has developed a pipeline with Montana bareback riders.

Former national high school all-around champion Sam Petersen of Helena, who was runner-up in the NRA bareback standings by a few dollars in 2021, competed for Clarendon. He is currently among the top 10 in the world bareback standings.

Others include two-time collegiate champion Weston Timberman of Columbus, who competed at his first National Finals Rodeo in 2024 and Wacey Schalla of Oklahoma who fined-tuned his bull riding skills on the Mountain Health Co-op Tour in 2023. Schalla qualified for the NFR in 2024 and currently leads the world standings.

“The NRA has been huge for me,” said Warneke. “It’s given me so much confidence. And the money they add is so nice.”

Along with a championship buckle and saddle earned last October, Warneke earned something equally as important in the NRA: respect.

“Dalton May is so nice. All they guys have welcomed me,” said the defending champion.

Last week

Taten Erickson left Conrad with more than a good chunk of change in his pockets.

The Hobson cowboy was awarded an original oil painting, given to the all-around champion of the Whoop-Up Trail Days Rodeo. The rodeo is annually the start of the Mountain Health Co-op Tour.

Erickson won the tie-down roping and placed second in steer wrestling.

The rodeo featured a pair of hometown winners. Becky Fuson won the barrel racing while Cole Wagner was the bull riding winner.

Other Conrad winners: Trevar McAllister, Ronan, bareback; Andrew Evjene, Two Dot, saddle bronc; Mitch Detton, Great Falls, steer wrestling; Jade Schmidt and Casey Bird, Cut Bank, team roping; Charley Yeager, Choteau, breakaway roping; Sophia Neill, Cascade, junior barrel racing; Stockton Bird, Cut Bank, junior breakaway roping.

Up next

Cowboys and cowgirls will have plenty of choices this coming weekend.

The competitors can go east to Culbertson and Poplar or point their rigs southwest to Gardiner and Wilsall.

Culbertson will host Frontier Days on June 13-14 while the Gardiner Rodeo are the same dates.

Poplar’s Wild West Days rodeo is scheduled for June 14 while the Wilsall Rodeo is June 14-15.