Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, July 11, 2013

  Logan WIMER won reserve champion at the Scholarship Cutting held in Lincoln, NE July 5-7 and now qualifies to compete at the National High School Rodeo Finals beginning Friday, July 12.

Riding her horse Unus Holidoc (also known as Holly), WIMER won an $800 scholarship.

Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, July 25, 2013

Logan WIMER (at right) shows off two buckles commemorating her placement at Reserve National Champion in the girls cutting competition at the National High School Rodeo Finals held July 14-20 in Rock Springs, WY. (She also was awarded scholarships for her performance.)

After qualifying through three rounds in the week-long competition, WiMER finished just one-half point behind the National Champion from California.

Approximately 1,500 competitors from across the United States, Canada and Australia competed in the prestigious event. WIMER, a 2013 graduate of Mount Ayr Community, is the daughter of Brian and Wendy WIMER.

Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, August 01, 2013

It's been almost two weeks, but nothing's going to wipe the smile from that girl's face. . . Who's the girl and why is she smiling?

The girl is Logan WIMER, and she's smiling because she is the reigning reserve national cutting champion, a title she earned at the National High School Rodeo Championships held July 14-20 in Rock Springs, Wyoming.

"I was very surprised," said WIMER. "Nobody from Iowa does that!"

Apparently the judges at the championship didn't get that memo because WIMER not only won the opening round in the cutting competition, but she also sat in third place heading into Saturday night's final round against the top 20 competitors from across the nation in the event.

Four Iowa girls had advanced to the National High School Rodeo in the cutting event. Ironically, two came from Ringgold County: WIMER and Morgan QUICK of Redding. However, QUICK did not reach the top 20 to qualify for the national finals in the event.

In the cutting competition, competitors have just 2 1/2 minutes to sort three calves, one at a time, from a herd of calves running loose in the arena. Competitors are judged not only on their ability to sort the calves but also on their horsemanship and their ability to keep the herd relatively calm.

"You've got to look like you know what you're doing," said WIMER. "The rider and the horse need to be on the same page so you know what the horse is going to do next."

Surprisingly, WIMER rode a borrowed horse during the national cutting competition. The horse belongs to Greg Beutenmiller from Columbia, Missouri, WIMER'S cutting trainer for the past four years. WIMER said although she has worked with Beutenmiller since her freshman year in high school, it has only been in the last year that they had grown close enough for him to trust her withhis personal horse, Starlight Gleaming.

"He let me use him on the last day at Lincoln," she said, referring to a rodeo in Lincoln, Nebraska just prior to the national finals.

"When Greg heard I had made the nationals, he made plans to bring Starlight Gleaming with him to Rock Springs."

After winning the first round with 147 points, WIMER said her second round didn't go so well. "Those calves were so evil, they were just evil," she laughed. Still, WIMER scored 142 points in the round for a two-round total of 289, good for third place overall in the competition and an appearance in the Saturday night finals.

Heading into the final round, defending national champion Sadee Smith sat in first place with 295 points, six points ahead of WIMER, and Cheyanne Carpenter was in second with 290 points, only one point ahead.

The top 20 qualifiers draw for their performance position in Saturday night's competition. "No one wants to be in the first position," said WIEMR. "I really like the sixth position best, but I just didn't want to go first." As luck would have it, WIMER did draw the first position while Smith drew the number six position. "I thought it was all over," said WIMER. "I'm gong first, she's going sixth. She's six points ahead. I thought there's no way."

Point totals from the first two rounds are added to the points earned in the final round to determinate the final standings. WIMER opened the final round by scoring a 144 1/2 for a three-round total of 433 1/2, but she said she was too nervous to watch the rest of the competition. She said she kept hearing scores like 135 and 137 and 138, but it didn't dawn on her she was in championship contention throughout much of the evening. Carpenter eventually scored a 144 for a total of 434 to claim the national championship by only one-half point over second-place WIMER. Defending champion Smith had bad luck in her final round and scored only 138 to finish third with 433 points, only one half-point behind WIMER.

As the competition came to a close, WIMER still didn't realize what she had accomplished. "As they announced the scores, I heard them countdown the names, and they hadn't said mine yet," she said. "Finally my mom came up and gave me a big hug. Then it started to sink in."

And WIMER, the daughter of Brian and Wendy WIMER of rural Diagonal, was quick to point out how much she appreciates her family's support throughout her rodeo career. "It's a huge family sport," she said. "You spend a lot of time together traveling to rodeos and during the rodeos, so you really develop a special bond. This was a good way to end it."

Along with the title of reserve national champion, WIMER was also rewarded with over $1,400 in scholarships, three commemorative belt buckles and a custom-made horse blanket.

Looking back over her rodeo career, WIMER recalled all the time she has spent on her sport. She began in rodeo six years ago while still in junior high. After she took up cutting four years ago, she spent many Christmas breaks, spring breaks and several extended weekends training in Columbia with Beutenmiller. Beyond all the practice, WIMER competed in 10 high school rodeos plus an additional six National Cutting Horse Association events per year. "I know I missed out on some friend time, especially during my senior year," she said, "but in the long run it was worth it."

A 2013 graduate of Mount Ayr high school, WIMER plans to attend the University of Missouri in Columbia and major in animal science. "Greg [Beutenmiller] told me if I visited the campus I would fall in love with it," she said, "and he was right." While she has no plans to participate in collegiate rodeo events, WIMER said she will continue to be active in the sport via events sponsored by the NCHA. And since Beutenmiller lives so close, she will be able to train whenever she wants.

In the meantime, however, WIMER is spending the rest of her summer working as a lifeguard at the Mount Ayr pool. She's easy to spot . . . she's the one with that brillant reserve-national-championship smile.

Photographs courtesy of Mount Ayr Record-News

Transcriptions by Sharon R. Becker, September of 2013