by Ruth Nicolaus / photo by Foto Cowboy
Jake Drews has some pretty good incentive to make the eight second buzzer on his bulls.
He doesn’t want to have to go home and pour concrete.
The 18 year old cowboy, a member of the Kansas High School Rodeo Association, pours concrete with his dad when he’s not riding bulls, and he’s not fond of the job. “It’s terrible,” he said. “I have to start making more money so I’ll be done pouring concrete.”
Jake is the first generation of his family to rodeo. He had a friend who rode junior bulls, and since Jake was burned out on other sports, he decided to try it. He got on his first bull at the age of fifteen.
The Paola, Kan. cowboy graduated from Paola High School in December and bought his PRCA permit. In addition to high school and PRCA rodeos, he was a member of the Kansas Junior Bull Riding Association, where he is the back-to-back year-end champions, in 2014 and 2015. He has qualified for the Youth Bull Riding Finals twice and loves competing at the Finals in Abilene, Texas. The Finals attracts hundreds of contestants from all over the United States and Mexico. “It’s a pretty cool deal.”
The only injury Jake has had was a concussion in his first year of riding bulls. He took an ambulance trip when his head hit the back of the bull’s head. Other than that, he’s had no other injuries.
He finished the 2013-2014 rodeo year in third place at state finals, and as of press time, he and the number one bull rider, Trey Holston, are neck and neck for first place; Jake is behind him by only twenty points. “It’s been back and forth,” he said.
This fall, he plans on attending Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas or the Oklahoma Horseshoeing School. For fun, he likes to work horses, hunt and fish.
He has an older sister, Jessica, who is 21. He is the son of Clark and Kim Drews.