Penn-Trafford, Freeport Area students compete in national rodeo

Penn Township rodeo athlete Sophia Bankosh meets with a chiropractor every four to six weeks to prepare for competition in the barrel racing and pole bending events.

But the chiropractor is not for Bankosh, a rising junior at Penn-Trafford High School. It’s for her 5-year-old appendix quarter horse, Dusty.

Bankosh learned about rodeo — a sport that typically involves riding and roping horses or other livestock — while attending an equestrian camp at age 6. A few years later, she gave the sport a try.

“I started to do fun shows and met people that rodeo,” said Bankosh, 16. “I just started looking into it and competing at rodeos.”

Bankosh mostly competes in Pennsylvania through the northeast branch of the National Little Britches Rodeo Association. But for the past week, Bankosh has taken Dusty on the road to compete against about 1,500 other athletes in her first national rodeo — held June 29 to July 5 in Logan County, Oklahoma.

Logan Blair, a 15-year-old bull riding athlete from Freeport, is also among the 13 Western Pennsylvania athletes competing in Oklahoma. Blair was tied with athletes nationwide for first place in the bull riding event heading into the rodeo.

Bankosh, Blair prepared for competition

Bankosh had to place in the top six for six rodeos this past season to qualify. Having earned her first championship buckle this season, she was pleasantly surprised that she made the cut.

“I’m definitely nervous for (the competition),” she said. “Since it’s so hot, I can’t really ride here, because it went from being really cool to super hot.”

Zarah DiFilippo, one of the founders of the northeast National Little Britches Rodeo Association branch, has full confidence in Bankosh to represent the region well in Oklahoma.

“She’s new to rodeo and she’s done phenomenal,” said DiFilippo, of Armstrong County’s Spring Church neighborhood. “She clicked wonderfully with her horse, and the growth we’ve seen from the fall to the spring, it’s been amazing.”

After two years of participating in rodeos with Dusty, Bankosh has the preparation down to a science. She takes Dusty out for trail rides outside of his stable in Washington Township, Westmoreland County — riding up and down hills and practicing sharp turns.

“It just keeps his muscles working,” she said.

Rest also plays a key role in the training process.

After a hard day of training, Bankosh wraps Dusty in a magnetic blanket to facilitate blood flow and muscle recovery. The final ride takes place a few days out from the competition.

“I let him have a lot of rest,” she said, “because the rodeos take out a lot of energy of everybody.”

On a good day, a rodeo lasts just shy of 10 seconds for Blair.

Bull riders are tasked with maintaining good form for 8 seconds — matching the bull’s movements and staying as centered on the animal as possible. Judges allocate points out of 25 to the rider and the bull, combining their figures to determine a final score.

“After you ride the bull for 8 seconds, it’s just the feeling,” Blair said. “It’s kind of hard to explain. It feels like you won the lottery.”

The Oklahoma rodeo will be Blair’s sixth national competition, but only the fourth he has participated in. Though it doesn’t happen often, a broken arm and leg have sidelined him on two occasions.

“There’s always a chance that you’ll get hurt,” he said. “The most common (injury) you’ll get is a couple bruises or a sprain.”

In the absence of a live bull, Blair trains on drop barrels — a machine that replicates the movements of a bucking bull. He is shooting for a championship buckle in Oklahoma.

“I’m trying to win the finals,” he said, “but time will tell I guess.”

National rodeo association expands to Pa.

DiFilippo knows first hand how hectic a rodeo weekend can be.

The northeast branch’s rodeo season runs from August to the end of May, hosting two to three opportunities for athletes to compete during each rodeo weekend. From barrel racing to goat tying to bull riding, rodeo weekend at the Crooked Creek Horse Park near Ford City is jam packed with activity.

That’s not just the case for the athletes, DiFilippo said.

Each rodeo is kicked off with a prayer and often concludes with a potluck. A church service is held on Sunday — complete with a Bible study and Sunday school for the youngsters.

About 50 to 70 rodeo athletes from ages 5 to 18 travel from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland and New York to compete in the northeast branch’s events.

“We actually even had kids at our last (rode0) from Michigan,” she said.

DiFilippo has never considered herself a “horse person.” But when her oldest son, Nicholas, expressed interest in the rodeo scene, the family dove in head first, competing in youth rodeos. They later got into the stock contracting business — providing animals for events like breakaway roping, team roping and bull riding.

It was always Nicholas’s dream to bring the National Little Britches Rodeo Association to the region.

DiFilippo, alongside several other families, made it a reality in September — seven months after her oldest son, affectionately referred to as “Bubba,” died in a car crash just a mile from home. He was 22 years old.

“It was always his thing,” DiFilippo said. “He wanted to bring the Little Britches opportunity to the northeast to give these kids a chance to compete on a larger scale, rather than just locally. After he passed away, we decided ‘You know what, we might as well just do it.’”

Nine months after its inception, the northeast branch serves as a space for rodeo athletes to connect with like-minded competitors, DiFilippo said.

Bankosh committed fully to competitive rodeo after three years on Penn-Trafford’s track and field team.

“You make a lot of new friends (in rode),” she said. “Everybody helps everybody. It’s just a good environment to be (in).”

Traditional high school sports have never appealed to Blair as much as rodeo.

“I don’t really like the team aspect (of other sports),” he said. “I like to do it all on my own, because you (don’t) have to rely on people.

“If you mess up in bull riding, it’s only on you. You have to try out for positions in other sports, and in bull riding, it’s just you.”