Coy Rahlmann's goals for the National High School Finals Rodeo have gotten more and more lofty.
Rahlmann and team roping partner Blaine Maxwell recently won the Missouri state title by a comfortable margin, and will be competing at the national competition from July 15-21 in Rock Springs, Wyo.
On the first trip, Rahlmann placed in one of his three rounds. Last year, he won one of the rounds, this year, he wants to win the whole thing.
"We actually had a lot better year than we did the first year," Rahlmann said of he and Maxwell's season."I don't want to win just a round."
Coming off last year's 27th place finish at nationals, Rahlmann made the decision to start home schooling in order to allow him concentrate more on rodeo.
In the rating system for team roping headers, which Rahlmann is, the scale goes from 1-9. Rahlmann is currently a 7-elite, or a 7.5, which means he's competing and succeeding against the big boys.
"He started traveling a lot by himself last August and it was really scary for us. But he's, honestly, a very responsible boy," his mother, Susie Rahlmann said. "He's got a lot of responsibility to take care of the truck, the trailer, take care of his horses, feed them, be at places on time. It is a lot of responsibility but he has grown up doing that since he was small."
By being home schooled, Rahlmann can go to Texas during the winter for a couple weeks to compete, or Oklahoma, or Arizona, often staying with family friends in the rodeo community when he does. If closer to home, he can leave on a Friday, compete in a handful of rodeos over the weekend, then come back Monday and catch up on school after that.
"I get pretty behind sometimes. It is a lot easier to catch up than regular school because you can go at your own pace," he said.
His mom estimates that since August, he's been on the road at least half the time.
Rahlmann has put 40,000 miles on his truck since October and plans on putting another 40,000 on this summer.
"We can't keep enough tires," Susie Rahlmann said.
His parents get complements from the professional cowboys that Rahlmann is the most responsible kid they've ever met, "but it is scary when he leaves. I worry and I call him 20 times, have an app on his phone where I can track him. Not that we don't trust him, just to make sure he's safe," Susie Rahlmann said.
About the only time Rahlmann got a little worried is when the country boy had to get a cab in Las Vegas.
He was out there competing in a lower tier rodeo during the week of the National Finals Rodeo and was meeting some friends to go to a show. The cabs were lined up on the street, and as one does, he opened the door, got in and told the driver his destination.
"You're in Vegas. He's going to take me off the strip and hurt me," Rahlmann thought to himself.
Added Susie Rahlmann, "By the end of the week we were getting pictures of him in limos."
While competing in the pro rodeo circuit, Rahlmann and Maxwell also built a comfortable lead in the 20-event high school season.
When they entered the state finals in early June, all they had to do was not screw up.
"The closest people to us, the only way they could beat us is if we didn't do no good and they had a really good state finals," Rahlmann said.
Instead, they won all three rounds and the average. They were the only team to successfully rope their calf in every round.
"We were smooth but fast, I guess," Rahlmann said. "It was pretty good. It felt better than the first time (in 2016) ... our first one we really needed to win all three rounds, this one we just needed to place somehow."
The 17-year-old from Ellsinore has offers from several schools for rodeo and plans on going to school in the area just west of Dallas, which he says is the heart of the rodeo scene.
Rahlmann is sponsored in part by McGee Farm Equipment, Larry Hillis Dodge, Poplar Bluff Realty and LeGrand Feed.