MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U GAME OF THE WEEK: National High School Finals Rodeo

River Ridge's Braden Skaife finishes seventh at NHSFR

In his final run, River Ridge’s Braden Skaife recorded a time of 4.66 seconds, which vaulted him into seventh place in the steer wrestling competition at the recent National High School Finals Rodeo in Lincoln, Neb.

MCDONALD'S SWNEWS4U.COM GAME OF THE WEEK (July 21–28)
BASKETBALL: National High School Finals Rodeo
By A.J. Gates, Herald Independent

River Ridge's Braden Skaife places 7th in steer wrestling at National High School Finals Rodeo
LINCOLN, Neb. — For most of us, the thought of jumping off a horse galloping at full speed to grab the horns of a running steer and wrestling it to the ground is not anything we would dare to attempt.

For River Ridge senior Braden Skaife though steer wrestling has become as natural as riding a bike, and he has certainly become very good at it over the years.

Skaife, along with a handful of area cowboys and cowgirls, recently competed at the National High School Finals Rodeo held July 19–25 in Lincoln, Nebraska, where the top high school rodeo athletes compete from 44 states and five Canadian provinces, as well as Mexico, New Zealand and Australia.

For Skaife, this year marked his third time competing at the National Finals, where he knew matching last year’s success was not going to be easy.

Despite being Wisconsin’s final qualifier for the National Finals, and then being the final qualifier for last Saturday’s short go, Skaife made the most of his final run last Saturday night to finish seventh of 84 competitors in this year’s steer wrestling competition.

Skaife’s top-10 finish is his first at the National Finals, though last year he had put himself in great position to be amongst the top in his event.

At his first National Finals in 2024, Skaife finished 72nd of 106 steer wrestling competitors, but the following year he found himself in a very enviable position.

With impressive runs of 4.82 and 5.38 seconds, Skaife entered last year’s short go as the top steer wrestler with just one run remaining.

As the final competitor in the short go, Skaife needed a run of seven seconds or faster to become a World Champion, but unfortunately did not record a time, as he was unable to position himself for a successful takedown of the steer. Skaife finished 13th last year, fueling a fire that he carried into this year’s competition.

With the top four competitors from each event advancing to the National Finals, Skaife finished fourth in steer wrestling at this year’s State Finals and was fourth in the regular-season standings, to become the final qualifier from Wisconsin.

In his first run at the National Finals last Monday night, Skaife recorded a time of :07.15 seconds, which put him 41st of 84 competitors.

His second run of :05.77 on Friday morning was considerably faster, and vaulted him into 20th place, giving him the final spot in Saturday night’s short go.

With one final run remaining, Skaife held nothing back, knowing he had to make a good time if he was to move up the standings.

“I didn’t think I was going to be able to place at all sitting 20th,” said Skaife. “I made it back to the short go and thought to myself I might as well go all out.”

Not one to overthink things once in the chute, Skaife readies his horse grips the reigns tight and gives a nod to the chute operator.

“I honestly try not to think much or at all,” Skaife explained. “When I get to thinking and I’m in my head, it doesn’t go good. The longer it takes in the chute the longer you’re thinking about it.”

With a final run time of :04.66, neither Skaife nor the steer itself had much time to really think about anything, as he recorded the third-best time in the short go, vaulting him into seventh place with an aggregate time of :17.58.

“Sometimes you get off to a slow start with some of these steers, but that steer left and ran pretty good. I went with the steer and it was a real nice run,” said Skaife. “It wasn’t my best time ever, but it was a really nice run.”

Skaife’s final run earned him a buckle and a check for $565.93, which also led to another buckle for finishing among the top-10 at the National Finals, and another check worth $679.12. In all, Skaife walked away from the National Finals with a pair of buckles to add to his collection, and $1,245.05 to add to his bank account.

Skaife, who will be entering his senior year at River Ridge High School this fall, plays football and wrestles for the Timberwolves, but would like to continue competing in rodeo at the college level. He has already had contact with college coaches from McCook, Nebraska and Amarillo, Texas.

Skaife wasn’t the only area athlete competing at the National High School Finals Rodeo, as Johnny Harms of Platteville, Evelyn Taylor and Kenlinn Byle of Lancaster both made the trip, as did and Clint Mitchell, Wesley Rounds and Owen Rounds of Boscobel.

Harms, who practices during the season with Skaife, finished 27th in steer wrestling with an aggregate time of :14.65. He recorded the tenth fastest time of :05.33 in his first run, earning him a buckle and check for $282.73, and finished his second run with a time of :09.32.

Harms also competed at the National Finals in team roping, where he and partner Carley Gukenberger of Marshfield finished 32nd with an aggregate time of :29.22. The duo recorded a time of :14.39 in their first run and a time of :14.83 in their second.

Taylor finished 45th of 191 competitors in the pole bending event with an aggregate time of :43.231. She had a time of: 22.088 in her first run and a time of :21.143 in her second, which wasn’t enough to earn her a spot in the short go.

Byle finished 66th in the pole bending competition and 54th in goat tying, as well as sixth in the running for All-Around Rookie Cowgirl at the National Finals.

In pole bending, Byle had an aggregate time of :44.527 with a time of :22.265 in her first run and :22.262 in her second. In goat tying she had an aggregate time of :17.84 with a time of :10.38 in her first run and :07.46 in her second.

Clint Mitchell and his partner Jace Loch of Bellevue, Iowa, finished 77th of 104 competitors in team roping, accumulating an aggregate time of :12.47, which they recorded in their first run, and failed to record a time in their second.

Wesley Rounds and Owen Rounds, who both competed in trap shooting, finished 47th and 64th respectively, with Wesley having hit 92 of 100 targets and Owen 90.

Overall, the competitors from Wisconsin combined to finish 23rd amongst the 40 states competing, as well as athletes from Alberta, Australia, Saskatchewan and Mexico. The Wisconsin boys were 19th and the girls 24th.

The 2026–27 Wisconsin high school rodeo season begins with a regional rodeo at Decorah, Iowa July 31 through Aug. 2, and will be at Lancaster on Aug. 28-30.Boscobel.

Competing in pole bending, Evelyn Taylor finished 45th of 191 competitors with an aggregate time of :43.231. She had a time of :22.088 in her first run and a time of :21.143 in her second, which wasn’t enough to earn her a spot in the short go.

Kenlinn Byle finished 66th in the pole bending competition and 54th in goat tying, as well as sixth in the running for All-Around Rookie Cowgirl at the National Finals.

Johnny Harms, who practices during the season with Skaife, finished 27th in steer wrestling with an aggregate time of :14.65. He recorded the tenth fastest time of :05.33 in his first run, earning him a buckle and check for $282.73, and finished his second run with a time of :09.32.

Wesley Rounds and Owen Rounds, who both competed in trap shooting, finished 47th and 64th respectively, with Wesley having hit 92 of 100 targets and Owen 90.

The 2026-27 Wisconsin high school rodeo season begins with a regional rodeo at Decorah, Iowa July 31 through Aug. 2, and will be at Lancaster on Aug. 28-30.

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