Hodges, Green, Stevens to compete in Vegas

Three local riders qualified to compete in the Vegas Tuffest Jr. World Championship, Dec. 1-6.

Wylie Jo Hodges, Howard Green and Copper Stevens are just three of nearly 950 competitors from

27 different states including Hawaii and four provinces in Canada who will compete at the Mike and Sherrylynn Johnson, Vegas Tuffest Jr. World Championship which is held the first weekend of the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

Wylie Jo Hodges, who is in seventh grade, will compete in the 12U barrels, 19U barrels and 12U breakaway, Dec. 2-6. She will also compete in the 11U barrels in the KK Run for Vegas, Dec. 7-10.

Wylie Jo will be taking two of her mares, Cici and Lucille, to compete on. Both mares were raised by her grandparents, Damon and Donna Hodges of Hodges Farms. Lucille is four years old and was trained by Wylie Jo.

Howard Green, who is in 11th grade, will compete in the 19U tie down at the Vegas Tuffest. He will take his horse Buck to compete on.

Copper Stevens, who is in seventh grade, will compete in the 12U tie down and the 12U breakaway at the Vegas Tuffest. He’s only been roping and riding for almost two years, so this is a very big accomplishment for him. He will be taking his horse, iPad, to Vegas to compete on.

All three riders are home schooled and live in the home of Caleb and Megan Hodges.

“Caleb and I are very proud of all three kids and their accomplishments. They work very hard at what they do and practice for hours every day,” Megan Hodges said. “A typical day for us is doing school until lunch and then riding and roping until dark. They know all good things come from above and would like to thank God for the opportunities that they have been blessed with.”

To get an opportunity to compete in Vegas, 37 qualifiers across the United States and Canada were held to give rodeo youth an equal chance to make it to Vegas and have a chance to win their share of one million in cash and prizes.

The event itself offers barrel racing, double mugging, goat tying, breakaway roping and tie down roping.

The age groups range from 10U to 19U and the champions of each event have an opportunity to take home $10,000 to $30,000 in cash.

The Vegas Tuffest Jr. World Championships are the highest stakes payout in four events for youth in rodeo history.

The total payout, which will exceed one million in cash and awards this year, includes two Dodge Ram dually trucks, two horse trailers and 12 Alamo saddles.

Winners will take home saddles, rope cans, buckles, WorId Champion rings, and plenty of swag from A-list group of sponsors: 5-Star. Alamo Elite, Cowgirl Tuft, Total Feed, Spalding Fly Predators, Wrangler, BeneFab, Absorbine, Quicksilver, MVP. American Hat Co., Hebert’s Town and Country Dodge, Frontier Trailers and Roping Supply and Mikayla Lane.

Sherrylynn Johnson, the event’s organizer, is a 4-time qualifier for the National Finals Rodeo, and her husband Mike is an ironman of rodeo who has qualified for the National Finals Rodeo a whopping 23 times.

It is free to attend, starting each morning at 8:15 a.m. at The Expo @ WorId Market Center Las Vegas located at 435 S. Grand Central Parl‹way in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will also be live webcasted at www.Johnsonrportline.com.