Dalton Kingery (photo courtesy Kenn Krpan)

The Iowa High School Rodeo Association State Finals were held last weekend in Waterloo, and the Marion County area was well-represented in a diverse blend of competitions – one of which yielded a State Champion.  Recent PCM graduate Dalton Kingery successfully defended his 2011 title by repeating as Saddle Bronc Riding champion for 2012.

Competitors are scored, not just by their performance in the State Finals, but by a cumulative point total throughout the entire season.    

“After last year, I definitely knew I needed to get better. There’s still a lot of things that I can do right, so it was a big learning experience,” said Kingery. “I got enough points early in the season to where I didn’t really have to worry about riding all of my horses and I could really focus on doing things right, instead of just holding on. I’ve been fortunate to learn a lot in the past few weeks.”

Kingery complimented his State Title in Saddle Bronc Riding with a third-place finish in Bareback Riding.

Other local notables included Darby Renfrow of Pleasantville – who finished fifth in Breakaway Roping and took seventh place in Goat Tying – and PCM student Riley Proffitt, who claimed sixth place in Barrell Racing.  Dalton Kingery’s finishes in the Iowa High School Rodeo Association have earned him spots in both Saddle Bronc and Bareback Riding at the National High School Finals Rodeo, which is the world’s largest rodeo, featuring roughly 1,500 contestants from nearly every state in the United States, as well as Canada and Australia.  

The National High School Finals Rodeo will be held July 15-21 in Rock Springs, Wyoming.

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