Bureau Valley’s Quincy Hochstatter to compete in national rodeo competition in Wyoming from July 13-19

Quincy Hochstatter got her first exposure to rodeo at a young age watching her cousin Stephanie Gripp and has been hooked ever since.

“When I was younger, my cousin Stephanie rodeoed [in high school] and my dad helped haul her to one. ... I got to go with and just watching her was very awesome to me,” Hochstatter said. “And when I reached sixth grade, I had the choice if I wanted to, and I was like, ‘Heck ya. I want to rodeo, too, like Steph did.’ ”

Hochstatter, 16, won an Illinois High School Rodeo pole bender championship this year at Monticello. That earned the incoming Bureau Valley junior from Wyanet a position on the 2025 State/Provincial National High School rodeo team. She will travel with her teammates to Rock Springs, Wyoming, to compete at the 77th annual National High School Finals Rodeo in the pole bending and cutting events competitions from July 13-19.

It is the largest high school rodeo in the world, featuring more than 1,800 contestants from 44 states, five Canadian provinces, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand and Guatemala.

Hochstatter said she’s looking forward to “going out and see new people and seeing what it’s like to run in the actual rodeo over there.”

She placed 36th in cutting of more than 100 competitors a year ago at nationals. Cutting is the discipline of separating a cow from a big herd, and cutting it back and forth in a straight line. She will be riding a horse named Lyndsey for cutting.

She will be riding Winnie, an 8-year-old grey mare, for pole bending. That competition consists of six poles in a line, and “you weave through them twice as fast as you can,” Hochstatter said.

Hochstatter aims to be in top 30 of both events and “hopefully make it to the short drill in one.”

Hochstatter, who also is busy with the Bureau Valley FFA, said she gets different responses from her fellow students about her rodeo riding.

“The ones who take the time to let me explain it to them think it’s absolutely amazing, but other than that, [it’s] ‘Oh, you rodeo? That’s cool. Have fun,’ ” she said.

In addition to competing for more than $150,000 in prizes and over $200,000 in added money, NHSFR contestants also will compete for more than $375,000 in college scholarships and the chance to be named an NHSFR World Champion.

To earn this title, contestants must finish in the top 20 (based on their combined times/scores in the first two rounds) to advance to Saturday evening’s final round. World champions are determined based on their three-round combined times/scores.

The Saturday championship performance will be televised nationally as a part of the Cinch High School Rodeo Tour telecast series. Live broadcasts of each NHSFR performance will air online at www.thecowboychannel.com. Performance times begin at 7 p.m. July 13 and competition continues daily at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. through July 19.

Hochstatter’s daily rides can be followed at NHSRA.com.

NHSFR contestants also will have the opportunity to enjoy volleyball, contestant dances, family-oriented activities, church services sponsored by Golden Spur Ministries and shopping at the NHSFR trade show.