BOWMAN - A wholesome bunch of North Dakota's best and toughest athletes rode into Bowman Friday, and the best of the best will be decided by the time they leave Sunday.

It's North Dakota High School Rodeo finals time, the 19th year Bowman has been host for a sport that really is like no other.

Most sports pair the athlete with his own ability. Rodeo pairs the athlete and the animal, and the spectacle is a look at some great horses and bulls along with some great competitors.

This year's rodeo drew 125 athletes from all over the state. They had to be in the top 24 in their event to get here; they have to be among the top four to advance to the national finals at Springfield, Ill., in July.

They have high hopes, and for these three days, they're just having a lot of fun.

Kayla Johnson, 15, of Bismarck, and Chelsey Johnson, 18, of Bismarck, both compete in goat tying, an event that only girls do.

Goat tying is about dropping a goat to its back and tying off the back legs with the front right leg in the fastest time.

Kayla Johnson said she loves the sport of rodeo and being part of it gives her a second group of friends apart from high school.

"Rodeo kids are very cool. There is a stereotype, but they are cool," she said.

Chelsey Johnson said rodeo is different from football, "but everyone's unique in their own way." She admitted to practicing on her little sister when she didn't have access to a goat.

The sport isn't part of the North Dakota High School Activities Association, and is governed by its own board of directors.

Friday night, the girls were going to the rodeo prom, a formal event that would have them shed their boot-cut jeans and snap-down shirts for the glamour of a formal dress.

There'd be all those cowboys to dance with.

Cash Johnson, 16, of Watford City, is new to the bronc-riding scene. He came into the rodeo timed second best and dropped into third after his ride.

He said the trick to riding a bucking horse is lifting and squeezing with his legs. His first rides were a "black out, until you get used to it." Then, hopefully, muscle memory kicks in, he said.

Taryl Smith, 17, of Litchville, won the North Dakota Rodeo Association bull riding last year.

He came to the high school finals and promptly got bucked off. How fast? Fast, he said.

"It's all so fast. It's all reaction," he said. The trick to bull riding is "staying out on top of the bull and reaching for the front with your free arm."

The rodeo crowds will build throughout the weekend, until by the short-go Sunday, when the best are cut from the best, some 2,000 people will be watching.

Bowman loves hosting the high school rodeo, said economic development director Cal Klewin, who helps organize the event. It means about $250,000 in revenue over the weekend, motels full to the brim and restaurants and shops going double time.

"We want to put up a good show for the state," Klewin said. "We've built up our facilities until they're the best in the region."

Events will continue today at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and the final short-go starts at 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

Gene Harris, Killdeer, is president of the North Dakota High School Rodeo Association. He said the number of kids in rodeo has remained fairly steady, with a new interest in eastern North Dakota balancing a decline of kids from low-populated counties in the west. He said rodeo teaches kids how to care for an animal and responsibility.

The kids have been in 13 rodeos this spring on their way to the finals, and all along the way, he said, it's clear that North Dakota supports its western culture and its youth.

Mark Hardy, of Williston, is on the National High School Rodeo Association board of directors. He said rodeo helps kids learn sportsmanship and encourages them to study in school, because they have to make the grade to compete.

One of the sport's big pluses is the family time it involves.

"You put mom, dad and the kid in a pickup truck and have them drive eight hours across the state and eventually, someone has to talk," he said. "These kids are with their families more than any other sport."

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or lauren@;westriv.com.)