By Rich Winter

605 Sports

ISABEL — No one knows the sting of not making the National High School Finals Rodeo quite like Rope Roghair.

Twice during a four-year high school career, Roghair had fifth-place finishes at the state finals in South Dakota, just missing the cut to make the big show. At the 2024 South Dakota High School Finals Rodeo, Roghair won the boys cutting and saddle bronc competitions, demonstratively punching two tickets to the national finals.

“It was awesome,” Roghair said. “It’s something I’ve been waiting for a long time for and this year I kinda just decided I was going to make it happen.”

Roghair, the son of Brice and Ann Roghair, lives on the family ranch about an hour north of Faith. With the nearest high school about 45 minutes away, Roghair was home-schooled. 

The burden of having never made the national finals was lessened slightly when Roghair won the boys cutting competition that concluded Wednesday. Roghair had scores of 146 and 138 in the first two go-rounds and then slammed the door shut on his competitors, winning the short go-round with a score of 143. Roghair accumulated 86.5 points to finish in front of Smithwick’s Gabe Glines (76), St. Lawrence’s Clay Stevens (74.5) and Huron’s August Steele (69.5). 

“I ride a family horse Bonnie for the cutting,” he said. “She’s about 12 years old and this is only the second year I’ve been cutting on her. She’s a really nice mare that knows her job and does it well.”

Roghair said winning the boys cutting only slightly lessened the pressure because he knew he had a job to do in the saddle bronc riding.

While cutting is nice, spend a few minutes with Roghair and it becomes quite clear that he is extra passionate about bronc riding. With no bucking horses on the Roghair ranch, Rope made the 1.5 hour drive to the town of Little Eagle to ride bucking horses on the Sutton Sandquist ranch. 

“I went to the Sandquist ranch a few times and we do have a few guys around Isabel that have horses I can ride,” he said. 

With no after-school sports and a burning desire to make the national finals, Roghair spent a lot of time on a bronc rider's best friend the past 12 months. 

“I think the biggest thing that helped was I spent a lot of time on the spur board,” he said. “It is made out of wood and it helps work on your form. I spent a lot of time on that board and rode as many horses as I could.”

Roghair was superb through the regionals, entering the state finals with 38.5 points. At the state finals, he won the first two go-rounds before scoring a 67 and finishing third in the short go-round. Roghair accumulated 88 points this season, well ahead of second-place finisher Garit Hockett (62).

Having made it to national finals, Roghair is well aware of the saddle bronc talent that comes from South Dakota.

“I’m a huge fan of South Dakota rodeo,” Roghair said. “There are so many great bronc riders here and I’m very proud to be representing South Dakota at the national finals.”

Roghair said when he crawls over the chute to get on a horse, he’s focused on the job at hand.

“Once I get on the horse I’m thinking about my markout and staying back on the horse,” he said. “From there your body and mind goes to what it knows and the rest just kind of happens.”

While neither of his parents rodeo, Roghair said he was always around the sport and had a cousin named Chuck Schmidt that made the national finals three times. 

Following the South Dakota High School Rodeo Association state finals Roghair was named Reserve All-Around Champion. 

“That was really awesome,” he said. “I wish I would have done better in my other events, especially team roping.”