High school students in North Platte, Hershey, Sutherland and Stapleton have qualified to compete at what is widely regarded as the world’s largest rodeo, the 76th National High School Rodeo Finals.

The National High School Rodeo Finals will be held at Rock Spring, Wyo. on July 14-20.

Qualifiers:

• Boys cutting – Quinten Jones, freshman at Hershey High School

• Trap shooting – Bladen Arensdorf, sophomore at North Platte High.

• Pole bending – Clancy Jo Brown, senior at North Platte High. And, Bailey Bell, senior at Hershey High.

• Tie-down roping – Taylor Drueke, defending state champion, sophomore at Sutherland High.

• Steer wrestling – Dawson Doggett, senior at Stapleton High. Also, Cayson Johnson, junior at Stapleton.

• Bull riding – Cooper Kerner, junior at Sutherland High.

The National High School finals will host more than 1,700 contestants from 44 state, five Canadian provinces, and competitors from Australia, Mexico and New Zealand.

More than $150,000 will be awarded in prizes at the rodeo, plus $200,000 in added money and $375,000 in college scholarships.

To become a world champ, contestants must first finish in the top 20 after two rounds. They will advance to the final round on Saturday night. The champions will be determined by their three-round scores.

The entire competition will be broadcast online at thecowboychannel.com. The final round will be televised on RFD-TV.

Courtesy photos

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