Dylan Bradshaw's first year on the high school bull-riding circuit proved a successful one.
The incoming senior at Bloomfield High School earned a spot in the National High School Finals Rodeo after placing fourth in the Kentucky state tournament June 1-3 in Greenville, Ky.
Bradshaw, who will compete at nationals July 15-21 at Rock Springs, Wyo., has been riding bulls for 3 1/2 years.
"I've always wanted to do it since I was little," Bradshaw, 16, said. "I always watched the movie '8 Seconds.' My buddy's dad, Kelly Bollinger, really got me started."
Dylan's mother, Jackie, was hesitant about her son's choice of sport at first.
"We tried to deter him when he was little. We couldn't keep deterring him too much," she said.
Bollinger, of Bloomfield, became Dylan's coach and saw something in him from the start.
"He was kind of a natural," Bollinger said. "He didn't get rattled. He was calm, cool and collected for the first time on a steer."
Dylan practices at former Professional Bull Riders cowboy Randy Albright's practice pen in Poplar Bluff and competes regularly at Chalk Bluff Rodeo south of Dexter.
"Some people it comes natural to," Dylan said. "Some people, they've really got to work at it. They just have to have the try and determination."
Dylan, who competes in Kentucky because most of the rodeos are closer to home than the events in Missouri, participated in only two high school rodeos this season, and he had to overcome injuries in both. He was cleared to compete in the state finals only a week before the event started after dislocating his collarbone from his sternum.
"That's not even the worst one," his mother said of the injury.
Dylan competed with a broken wrist in September.
"I switched to my left hand just so I could compete in the first high school rodeo (at Lanesville, Ind.)," Dylan said. "Then I got jerked down and head-butted the bull and shattered both sides of my jaw."
The injuries don't seem to faze Dylan.
"That's just part of it," Dylan said. "It's not if you get hurt, it's when and how bad."
So why does Dylan like to ride bulls?
"Really, I honestly don't know," Dylan said. "I guess the adrenaline. I don't really know how to explain it."
While nationals will be the biggest rodeo in which he's ever competed, Dylan said he isn't nervous about the enormity of the event.
"It's just another bull," Dylan said. "You can't go thinking this is the nationals. It's just where everybody competes. ... You've just got to go there thinking it's just another bull."
Bollinger believes Dylan is capable of a top-10 finish.
"I think he'll do great," Bollinger said. "He's kind of matured. He's a little stronger. He's worked on his balance. He works hard at it. He takes things seriously. He was kind of a young kid when he started on steers."
While Dylan has focused his attention on bull riding, he wants to start saddle-bronc riding next season.
Dylan isn't sure what he plans to do after high school.
"I'll probably do it in college, too, but I plan on doing it for a while," Dylan said. "If I get good enough, I can go to the PBR, or the PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) or the CBR (Championship Bull Riding) and make a lot of money."