story by Lindsay King
“What you do in high school does not really determine what you are going to do later in life,” said Garrett Koester from Wellston, Oklahoma. “Trevor Brazile was not the best in high school, but he progressed through college and pro rodeo and just kept getting better. High school does not define who you will be in the future. If you want to work hard at it and get better, then you determine your own future.” The Wellston High School graduate has everything going for him as he heads into his freshman year at Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Oklahoma, this fall. “I will major in occupational safety and health, so I can become a safety inspector in the oil and gas industry.” Once Garrett reaches a level of seniority in his career, he aspires to rodeo in the PRCA. “Everyone’s dream is to make a living at rodeo, but that is not always realistic. I like the security of having a good paying job so I can have my own ranch with a decent cattle herd, a good roping arena and a nice house for my family.”
Professional rodeo is a family tradition for the Koester family. Both his parents Rex and Dawn rodeoed professionally and his sister Hollee, 21, was a star breakaway roper in high school. “I have been roping calves since I was seven, that was the event my dad did too. He did not want me to start heading steers until I had my calf loop down really well.” Garrett started team roping just four years ago after mastering his calf score and horsemanship. “My dad wanted me to focus on one event and he didn’t want me to cut my thumb off, so I didn’t team rope until I started to get pretty handy with a loop.” His dad helps him practice every night after work and school are over. “We rope more calves than steers, but I’ll saddle all the horses before dad gets home. Everything is loaded so we can practice until dark.” Garrett puts all the animals up, does his homework only to wake up and do it all again.
“I am blessed that my dad is a talented welder, he built us an indoor calf roping lane when I was in junior high. There is not really a day when I don’t practice. Usually we give the horses a break the day after a rodeo weekend, but even then I am roping a dummy.” There is a tie for Garrett’s favorite rodeo between the IFYR and anything held at the Lazy E Arena. “Shawnee is such a big venue and the IFYR pulls such a great crowd. And then to compete against the best in high school from around the world is something else.” Coming out from under the same awning as so many greats before him, is the draw for the Lazy E.
Garrett will spend his summer and fall competing at as many IPRA and ACRA events as he can. “Competing at IPRA events is neat because a lot of top competitors, who have made the IFR, are there. And it feels good to make a solid run and beat some of those guys.” His proudest moment in rodeo so far was when he first tied a calf in eight seconds at a small jackpot. “A good friend of my grandpa always tells me to string the toe before you go. If you don’t string the toe, then you speed jam and you waste more time than if you slowed down and were smooth.” The hardest part of rodeo for Garrett in the team roping is not having any control over how his heeler ropes. But in the calf roping he simply competes against his calf instead of the other contestants. Garrett took his passion for rodeo and applied it to FFA, winning the state star in agribusiness award in his district. “I did mine about the companies I represent, my rodeo sponsors. After state, I did an interview with Ron Hayes. I was able to mention my sponsors and thought it was a cool avenue for my sponsors to be represented. More than just the patch on my arena shirts.”
