When Mandan's Dale Little Soldier was a young boy, his father, Nathan, told him to focus his rodeo energy on roping.

"Dad said I would last a lot longer," Little Soldier said.

He was right.

At age 70 Little Soldier is still roping and still doing it very well.

He and his partner, Bill Beard of Menoken, combined to win the recent United States Team Roping Championship national finals in Oklahoma City.

Beard and Little Soldier split $65,800 in winnings. Plus after breaking their tie as the event's top money winners, Beard took home a 2008 Dodge Truck and Little Soldier a tractor.

Beard, 36, said he had no qualms about pairing up with a roper nearly twice his age.

"He's pretty amazing to be doing it at that age," Beard said. "But he's really dedicated. … And with his experience, he knows how to go out and get it done."

Roping has been a part of each man's life since childhood. Both grew up in rodeo families. Little Soldier said his father, Nathan, was instrumental in starting up the rodeo program at what was then Dickinson State Teachers College.

Beard's sons, Jakeb, age 10, and Chase, 7, both rope, while Little Soldier has at times competed with his son, Coby.

Little Soldier and Beard began teaming up about 10 years ago, in part because of their shared dedication to the sport.

Beard works as a nuclear medicine technologist at MedCenter One, while Little Soldier is working on a casino project north of Beulah, but they find the time to practice roping four or five nights a week.

"He wants to practice, he's very aggressive and he will work at it," Little Soldier said. "He strives to be the best he can be. He know that being a champion takes a lot of practice."

Beard, the team's heeler, said that constant repetition has helped forged the duo's teamwork.

"The main thing is consistency," he said. "You have to catch as many steers as you can."

Beard and Little Soldier qualified for the USTRC National Finals through their performances in regional events. They were in third-place heading into the short go-round. The teams ahead of them were unable to catch all their cattle in the short go, and Little Soldier and Beard won the event with a time of 36.71 on four steers to win the average.

Beard and Little Soldier agreed that competing in the tiebreaker brought mixed feelings so soon after their big win. But with a hefty cash prize already guaranteed, the pressure was off.

"It was pretty exciting," Beard said. "One minute you're roping together, and then all of a sudden you're against each other. Either the way the worst you could do was win a tractor."

Little Soldier said he doesn't plan on giving up the sport any time soon, and both cowboys are hoping more titles are in their future.

"I'm not going to let age interfere with me," Little Soldier said. "I'm going to keep working as hard and so is Bill."