As the lights went down and the crowd roared to life at Las Vegas’ Thomas and Mack Center in early December, Poplar Bluff native Coy Rahlmann could feel the excitement in the air. He was nervous, but prepared for his big moment.
Rahlmann, 20, along with team-roping partner Douglas Rich, was competing in the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo for the first time.
“I was pretty nervous, but I was pretty pumped too,” said Rahlmann of the experience.
“There’s such a small percentage of the whole sport that gets to compete on that stage,” he added.
Making the National Finals Rodeo, Rahlmann explained, is “something every little cowboy dreams of. It’s something you dream of from the time you decide you want to be a cowboy, whether you’re a team roper or bull rider or whatever you might pick in the sport of rodeo.”
During the Dec. 2-11 event, Rahlmann and Rich were scored over the course of multiple runs.
“They combined all your times from 10 steers,” explained Rahlmann.
In the end, the pair proved its mettle and stamped its names on the list of the world’s best.
“We finished 11th in the world standings,” Rahlmann said. “We won eighth in the average on 10 steers and we won one round. We also placed in three other rounds.”
For its efforts, Rahlmann said, the pair earned “around $74,000” at the prestigious competition.
“I expected us to do good. It would’ve been a let-down if we didn’t do quite as good just because we’ve prepared so long for that,” Rahlmann said. “We went to the same amount of rodeos as everybody else and got inside the top 15 in world standings to even make it there, so I knew we were there for a reason. I had to tell myself that we were there for a purpose.”
Getting back to the National Finals Rodeo, Rahlmann said, is his goal, and he knows what to do to improve.
“When I go back, I know what to do different, and I know what to work on to better my roping,” he said. “As a whole season, after the NFR, I look at what I did to get there, and I feel like I know the things I need to do to get there again.”
Now living in Weatherford, Texas, Rahlmann is the son of Chris and Susie Rahlmann of Poplar Bluff.