by Ruth Nicolaus
Mason Appleton is a member of the Oklahoma Junior High School Rodeo Association.
The thirteen year old cowboy competes in the tie-down roping, goat tying, ribbon roping (as a roper for Kate Kelley) and the team roping (as a header for Trevor Hale.)
A resident of Copan, Oklahoma, he rides a thirteen year old chestnut horse named Junior for the heading and goat tying, and for the tie-down roping, he rides an eleven year old bay named Scooby. He shares Scooby with his older brother Dawson, also a tie-down roper, and of his two horses, Scooby is his favorite, because “he’s a lot more fun to be on, and a lot more fun to ride.”
Mason is a seventh grade student at Copan Public School. Math is his favorite subject, but he also loves seventh hour athletics class. He likes to play basketball and loves to watch the Copan High School basketball team, as well as the Oklahoma State team.
For fun, he loves to rope the dummy, and he and his brother have been roping the dummy while perched on their hover boards. It’s good practice in the fact that it teaches a person not to lean forward. If you lean forward on a hover board, you’ll fall off.
When he grows up, he’d like to be a professional tie-down and team roper. He admires Wrangler National Finals qualifiers Luke Brown, Jake Long, and Joe Beaver. Last spring, he won the twelve and under tie-down at Beaver’s roping. His prize was a certificate for a saddle, so he got himself a new team roping saddle with a fancy seat that’s very comfortable.
Mason competed in the Roy Cooper Invitational Tie-down Roping contest, held during the 2016 Wrangler NFR, and finished sixth in the thirteen and under division.
Last year, he finished second in the state association in the breakaway roping, and went on to compete at the National Junior High Finals Rodeo.
He has many good traits, including his helpfulness, which his mother especially appreciates. “He’s really polite, and helpful with others. He helps take care of other people,” she said.
In addition to his older brother Dawson, Mason has a sister, Lacey. He is the son of Mendy and Dale Appleton.
