Rodeo Announcer – Travis Schauda
Travis has announced events in 14 states. Some events include, Oregon Trail PRCA Rodeo in Hastings NE, Days of 56 Rodeo in Ponca NE, Casey Tibbs Memorial Extreme Broncs in Ft. Pierre SD, Beef Empire Days in Garden City KS, Wahoo Saddle Club PRCA Rodeo, Sioux Empire Days in Sioux Falls SD. Other events in Glenwood City WI, Marshall MN, Cherokee IA, Aberdeen SD, Steamboat Springs CO, Extreme Broncs in Herried SD, PCB finals in Chicago IL. His mentor in the early years was Hadley Barrett; Hadley was the announcer at NBR for several years.
Travis and his wife Amy have three children, Lindsay, Jace and Ashlyn. They live in Broken Bow NE.
Fun fact: Travis’s grandpa, Tommy Loughran, won the Jr Steer Riding in 1929 at Nebraska’s Big Rodeo when he was 12 years old.
“Being from Nebraska and raised in the shadows of this great rodeo it has always been a dream of mine to announce this legendary rodeo. Burwell is special and different from all the 600 plus rodeos in the PRCA. It has been neat to watch this past century of growth for this great rodeo and I look forward to helping it grow to an even more legendary status! I can’t wait to see you all in Burwell.”
Brian Patton “The Misfit Cowboy”
Barrelman
Brian Patton, The Misfit Cowboy, is a specialty performance act rooted in Western flare. Patton has a saddle broke, trick trained, American Red Brahman Bull as the centerpiece of his act. Patton’s is a variety act that consists of whips, ropes, gun spinning, and a whole lot of fire. With the largest prop in professional rodeo, he’ll raise an 1800 pound bull through the roof of a moving 40 foot trailer. His is a family friendly show and is western exhibition at it’s finest. We are proud to welcome The Misfit Cowboy to Burwell for the first time and hope you will join us for this great entertainment.
Bullfighter – Weston Rutkowski
Weston Rutkowski is a 3rd generation Rodeo Cowboy hailing from Haskell, TX where he grew up watching his uncles compete as Professional Saddle Bronc Riders. They were his heroes and from that point on he wanted to grow up to be just like them. Weston’s fascination with bulls led him to try bull riding in college, but he never felt up to par. When Weston’s friend Clint Hopping asked him to protect him in practice, Weston went for it. What happened next he said, “just felt natural”.
Weston’s hard work and dedication led him to win the title of 2013 World Champion Freestyle Bullfighter, but it’s just the beginning for him. Weston credits his commitment to working out every day and stay physically fit that allows him to get around bulls the way he does. Weston says bullfighting is a mental challenge. “You’ve gotta be strong enough mentally to overcome your fear of what could happen and get out there and just do your job.”
Bullfighter – Noah Krepps
Noah Krepps, an Arkansas native, is a Champion Freestyle Bullfighter. Krepps was discovered in October 2016 and was immediately signed to 3-time World Champion, Evan Allard’s professional bullfighting team, TEAM HOOKIN A RANCH.
A year later, December 2017, Noah Krepps won the American Bullfighting Championships in Vegas and was the 2017 Overall World Champion!
American Freestyle Bullfighting is the U.S.’s spin on the ancient sport of Spanish Matador Bullfighting, evolving the sport to showcase bullfighters and bulls as athletes. Stepping around a Mexican fighting bull, it is an art, a dance of man & bull.
Photographer-Alaina Stangle
The lovely and talented Alaina Stangle is our Official Photographer for Nebraska’s Big Rodeo.
South Dakota cowgirl Alaina Stangle grew up on her family’s ranch and competed in multiple rodeo events before shifting her sights to photography. “When I was about 14 years old, my mom encouraged my dad and me to go to local roughstock practices. My mom let me try out her camera to capture the action. I seemed to have a knack for it and I was hooked from then on.”
She finds a great reward in helping keep the Western way of life alive. “Capturing rodeo action and memories is what I love to do,” she says. “Supporting the rodeo committees, contestants, stock contractors, and the stock by capturing their best moments is my passion.”
Alaina began photographing NBR while the late Jim Svoboda was still with us and learned many things from him and his wife Marilyn about shooting our rodeo. We are very happy to have her on our crew. 99.99999% of the photos you see on our website and Facebook page came from Alaina.
