By Rich Winter

LETCHER — When Mason Moody crawls over the bucking chutes and onto the back of a bull his mind lets go. A proven routine, all the work put in and the confidence from riding high-level bulls at the professional level, the recently graduated Sanborn Central/Woonsocket bull rider trusts the process as the chute opens. 

“It really comes down to how bad I want this,” Moody said. 

The Letcher native is the back-to-back South Dakota High School Rodeo Finals bull riding champion. While he’s planning on sticking to the routine when the National High School Finals Rodeo goes down in Gillette, Wyoming, on July 17-23, the thought of representing his home state has this cowboy extra juiced as the calendar turns to July. 

“You know there is something bigger than yourself at nationals,” he said. “You can’t let that overrule your routine but we all think a little about ‘This isn’t just for me, I’m representing my whole state,’” he said. 

At the 2022 South Dakota High School Rodeo Finals, Moody edged Colome’s Riley Shippy for the bull riding state title with a total score of 78.5. Shippy scored a 74.50. 

“In the second go-round I had a good bull but he fell right away. I slapped him and rode him the rest of the way,” he said. “I got a re-ride on a flat spinner and didn’t score a lot of points.”

In 2019, Moody finished fifth in bull riding at the South Dakota High School Finals Rodeo, one spot short of making the national team. Moody ran into a life obstacle during his sophomore year when he tore an ACL during basketball season. 

While his first love is rodeo, that injury interrupted a promising basketball career as Moody started as a sophomore. 

“It kinda sucked to go watch them play,” he said. “I felt like I wasn’t the best player but knew how to lead the team and help other guys get better.” 

He missed basketball but he really missed rodeo following his sophomore year of high school. 

“It wasn’t as much fun going to rodeos and all I could do was team roping,” he said. “I couldn’t ride bulls, I couldn’t do tie-down roping.” 

After working his way back from that injury and with the family building a barn to buck bulls in, Moody has been steadily working on his craft. 

“I ride bulls once or twice a week,” he said. “I spend a lot of time riding on stationary barrels and working on my mechanics.” 

Last summer when Moody turned 18 he immediately applied for professional status and has been riding in the Professional Bull Riders organization since then. For the first half of 2022, Moody has been riding as an individual where he finished 92nd in the world. 

For the second half of the pro season Moody will be part of a team. 

“I got picked up by the National Stampede,” he said. “There are eight different teams that have a five-man, main roster and five alternates or practice guys. I’m one of their practice guys.” 

As one might imagine Moody has seen some top notch bulls riding on the professional circuit for the last year. That extra experience has Moody feeling confident with the National High School Finals Rodeo less than two weeks away. 

“I’ve ridden a lot of high powered bulls and I’ve been feeling good with my riding lately,” he said. “I went down to Texas to train with the National Stampede team and that gave me just the right amount of confidence.” 

When the chute opens at Gillette for Moody’s first ride, the young cowboy plans on trusting the training and taking his mindset to the next level.

“When you crawl on the back of that bull you turn into a whole different person,” he said. “You know you might not be the baddest but your mind is telling you that you are the baddest and there is nothing this bull can do to throw me off.”