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.”
Justin Rumford-Barrelman
“Someone told me that rodeo clowns are just cowboys that can’t make it competing. I love being a rodeo clown. It’s my dream job! I win every performance.”
Funnyman Justin Rumford returns to the Burwell arena this year!
Justin Rumford is a third generation rodeo cowboy. He’s tried many positions in rodeo and finds the one that he enjoys the most – Barrelman & Funnyman.
Justin grew up in Abbyville, Kansas, in a family that put on rodeos – Rumford Rodeo Company. His grandfather started it, and his father followed in it. Today the company is run by his sister, Haley, and her family, under the name Bridwell Pro Rodeo, out of Red Bluff, California.
Justin rode saddle broncs and steer wrestled in high school and college, but was inspired by Lance Brittain, a PRCA bullfighter, and went to Rex Dunn’s Bullfighting School. He fought bulls, starting in his senior year of high school, but a bullfighting accident in 2001 at Denver made him decide bullfighting was not for him. And that decision has paid off big time.
Justin has been picked as the PRCA Clown of the Year ten different years. He has been the Coors Man in the Can three years. He was the PRCA Comedy Act of the Year in 2018. In 2014 he was the barrelman for the PRCA National Finals.
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.
