Blanchester’s Matthew and Morgan East have qualified this month for the 17th annual National Jr. High Finals Rodeo tournament in Perry, Ga.
The national event will be held June 19-25.
Matt is a seventh grader at Blanchester. Morgan is a sixth grader.
Matt qualified in the tie-down roping, chute dogging, ribbon roping (with Morgan) and in team roping (with Clay Wines of Washington Court House).
Morgan qualified in ribbon roping (with Matt) and in girls goat tying.
In the Ohio Junior High State Finals in Canal Winchester last month, Morgan earned girls rookie of the year honors.
She was sixth in barrel racing, sixth in breakaway, sixth in pole bending, sixth in goat tying.
Matt was first in tie-down roping, first in chute dogging, second in goat tying. Matt and Wines were first in the team roping competition.
Matt and Morgan were third as a team in ribbon roping.
Featuring approximately 1,200 contestants from 43 states, five Canadian provinces and three other countries, the NJHFR is the world’s largest junior high rodeo.
In addition to competing for more than $80,000 in prizes, NJHFR contestants will also be competing for more than $200,000 in college scholarships and the chance to be named a National Junior High Finals Rodeo World Champion. To earn this title, contestants must finish in the top 20 – based on their combined times/scores in the first two go-rounds to advance to Saturday evening’s final round.
World champions will then be determined based on their three go-round combined times/scores. Added money for the optional jackpot has increased to $100,000 and is available to everyone at finals who enters the jackpot in their event.
Again, this year, the Saturday championship performance will be televised nationally as a part of the Cinch High School Rodeo Tour telecast series on RFD-TV. Live broadcasts of all NJHFR performances will air on: https://www.cowboychannelplus.com/. Performance times are 7 p.m.
