ECTOR COUNTY, Texas — One of the most integral events in Ector County is coming back for another ride.
The Odessa College Wrangler Rodeo will be celebrating their 40th anniversary starting Thursday at the Ector County Colosseum. The rodeo runs until Saturday.
Over 40 years of cowboys and cowgirls have made their marks during this very same rodeo.
“There is a history here of champions, there are some of the biggest names in rodeo that have come through," Rodeo Announcer West Huggins said. "The king of the cowboys Ty Murray and Jim Sharp and those type of guys that really put their foot on the ground here in Odessa put Odessa College on the map.”
Odessa College is one of the 18 teams taking part in the rodeo.
Their athletes don't just come from Odessa. Athletes from Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota and even Australia flocked to Odessa College to join the rodeo team.
“We have workouts at six in the morning every morning. so we're gonna work out for about an hour, hour and a half and then we got schoolwork all day so we got to do that type of stuff," Odessa College Bull Rider Hudson Johnson said. "Then at 1:30 practice comes around and we normally all get on the bucks and the stationary barrels and drill for probably 15 minutes and then we go get ready, go back behind the chutes just like back here and rosin off our bowl ropes, get dressed and just kind of get ready.”
Each member of the team has been roped in by one voice: Head Rodeo Coach Tom Kelly.
“Tom is really good at talking you through mentally, because he always said rodeos are 90% mental and the rest is in your head and I think that means a lot," Odessa College Bareback Rider Spencer DeNaeyer said. "Beyond that too, he's almost a father figure to all of us.”
For this father figure, the spotlight should be on his team.
“This team of kids that we have this year is truly amazing," Kelly said. "Seeing their progress from when they got here in the fall to where they're at right now second in the standings pretty decently. Just seeing the grit and the try that that they put forth every single one of them is what makes me proud.”
Representing not only their college, but the city of Odessa itself, is something that brings honor to each athlete, no matter if they are bull riding or barrel racing.
"This whole town knows about this rodeo, it's just not some rinky-dink thing, this is the real deal," Odessa College Bull Rider Treven Coonradt said. "I feel like we are going to prove it here and we spent multiple days building the team. We already got tears and dirt in it as well already."
So, what do they hope to do at the competition? Leave it all on the dirt and come home with a victory.