story by Lindsay Humphrey
If there was one word to describe Wylee Mitchell it would be homegrown. From the shirts on her back to the tack on her horses, most of Wylee’s needs are met by her mom, Rita, and stepdad, Shane Cheeney. “I couldn’t do anything without my parents. My stepdad works full time and then comes home and he’s our farrier, puts up hay, builds our tack; he has so many side jobs to allow my mom and I to live this dream,” said the 17-year-old from Pioche, Nevada. “I’m so thankful for him and my mom and all the support they’ve always given me in all this.” Wylee’s dad and stepmom, Chaz and Erin Mitchell, own and operate a custom hat shop, which means even her hats are homegrown.
In August, Wylee qualified for her fifth junior world finals on Smoky Gold Jack at the Southwest Desert Classic in the senior barrels. Sticking with the theme of homegrown, it’s not surprising that Jack was purchased as a yearling and trained by Wylee and her mom on the cloverleaf pattern. “It was a really fun weekend. We were consistent on all three runs. Jack was super smooth, which is when he runs his best.” Even though last year was the first time Wylee didn’t make it to the short round at the finals, she did pull out the round one win. She’s headed to Vegas in December determined to win the short round. “Qualifying is one thing, but if you’re going to compete, then you might as well aim high.”
As a third-generation rodeo competitor, Wylee was on her first horse as early as two. She got started in the lead line classes and moved up the ranks. “When my stepsister graduated, I got her old barrel and pole horse. That helped me step up and that’s when I learned to be competitive.” Wylee started tying goats, breakaway and team roping through another junior rodeo association before getting started in Little Britches. “That’s where I really grew my confidence. We went up to Utah for those and they’re a really competitive state. If I wanted to be at the top, I had to be fast and aggressive. My favorite part about rodeo is how competitive it is and knowing that I have to do my best if I want to place.”
Now a senior competitor in the Nevada High School Rodeo Association, Wylee serves on the board as the public relations officer. It’s a great transition into next fall when Wylee plans to be studying agricultural communications at Kansas State University. “Most of my job has to do with running our social media and transporting the banners. We have all of our sponsor banners that I take to each rodeo and put up in the arena. And then on social media I’m trying to be more interactive than we’ve been in the past.” Wylee took up cutting last February and managed to place third at state, which sent her to nationals. She competes in every event the NHSRA offers except for reined cow horse. Wylee’s now in her third year of online school with Nevada Connections Academy which she will graduate from next spring. “I don’t miss public school at all. I like the flexibility of online school and they have a good curriculum, so I feel like I’m getting a lot out of it.”
The family motto has always loosely been: “why go buy something if we can do it ourselves?” Wylee fully embraced this idea when she started her own t-shirt printing business in 2018. “My mom and I think we’re pretty witty, and always thought it would be fun to make our own shirts. We had a vinyl cutter and heat press that we were using to make shirts, but after I won a chunk of change at the Extreme Million Barrel Race in 2020, we were able to upgrade our equipment and start doing more custom orders.” Wylee has started a suicide awareness movement and is using the t-shirt business to propel it forward. Check out Wylee’s business, Y Brand USA, at ybrandusa.com.
