The National High School Finals Rodeo will be held July 17-23 in Gillette, Wyoming, and Iowa will be represented by two Pleasantville students, Kennedy Pelzer and Joelle Johnson. The Iowa High School Rodeo season is in the Fall and Spring and participants earn points for their placing in each competition. The top four in total points qualify for the National Finals. Kennedy and Joelle spoke with KNIA/KRLS News about the final competition of the season where they qualified for Nationals.

“Going into the State Finals, the top five in points were all really close, so we knew we had to finish high for both of us to have a chance at qualifying. Only the top ten received points, so it was very intense as everyone is trying their best to qualify. The finals were very stressful as everyone was close in points and some of the events were timed and those were close as well.”

Kennedy and Joelle will join the top four qualifiers from the other 49 states in the National Finals competition.