Picchietti, Guenzler take tops in state rodeo

By Ethan Smith

Leader Staff

Once again, they are the best of the best.

It was a fitting end to their high school rodeo careers, as Levi Guenzler and Jessica Picchietti capped off their weekend at the state rodeo finals in Missoula by clinching the all-around titles, proving once again the Mission Valley is home to some of the best high school rodeo students around.

Guenzler and Picchietti were tops for the boys and girls all-around titles, earning spots in several categories at the National Rodeo in Springfield, IL next month, but Nichele Marmon also made a name for herself, earning a trip to the Silver States rodeo in Nevada with a great Top 10 finish for breakaway roping.

Those three were just a few of the Mission Valley riders who did well at the high school state rodeo finals in Missoula last weekend. Angela Schuman, Krista O'Reilly, Reece and Riley Bailey, Rochelle Toussaint, Naomi Knight, and Becky Jo Dumont all did the Mission Valley proud last weekend.

For both Guenzler and Picchietti, it was their second all-around title, after Picchietti won it last year, while Guenzler won it his sophomore year, along with his sister, Sarah. Guenzler will join her at MSU next fall, where they'll once again compete together for the Bobcat rodeo team, and to the team-roping event as a pair.

Picchietti ran away with the title, leading all other girls across the state by about 300 points going into last weekend, while Guenzler had a more heated race, but pulled away handily by coming up big at state.

Guenzler won the boys all-around title by more than 70 points, and will compete in team roping and steer wrestling at nationals, while Picchietti will compete in cutting, breakaway and pole bending.

"My goal this year was to win the breakaway and goat tying. I really wanted to win the breakaway event, but I just missed qualifying for nationals in goats," Picchietti said. "This year, my job was really on mind control - getting focused on what I had to do to win."

While Picchietti had the all-around title wrapped up halfway through the season, Guenzler was battling it out with several other riders who were all within shouting distance of him in the points going into the weekend. But by Sunday's short go, he knew he had it pretty much in the bag.

"Probably the beginning of the short round, I figured I'd be alright," he said of his title.

"I just really started coming on strong the last few weeks before state, and I just felt really good," Picchietti said.

Guenzler came in second last year, but made headlines his sophomore year as he and Sarah became the second brother/sister pair in recent memory to take the top titles. Amazingly, they were the second brother/sister pair from Ronan to do it in about 20 years.

"My sophomore year was a little more exciting cause I was young, but this year, I felt like I redeemed myself from finishing second last year," he said.

Things started off well for the entire team, with Picchietti taking first or second in every cutting event she entered Wednesday, taking third overall in the state.

Guenzler finished in the top 10, including fourth in the short go, to take 8th overall for the year.

On Thursday, Knight dominated the poles competition for the first go, taking first place, while Toussaint finished third - less than a half a second behind Knight.

Marmon took fourth in breakaway in the first round, while Guenzler took third in steer wrestling and second in team roping, with Shane McCaffree from Columbia Falls, who will be his partner at Nationals.

On Friday, Marmon and Toussaint again did well in poles, with Marmon taking a time of 23.36.

Guenzler had the steer wrestling ride of the night, though, beating the 30 second buzzer by a fraction of a second, getting his steer down at 29.14.

"In steer wrestling, my good horse is lame, but we took her to the vet before state, and she should be ready for Nationals," he said.

He then took a time of 13.72 in calf roping later in the day, while Knight and teammate Colt Nagy had a good effort in the team roping.

On Saturday, the team really came alive, with Picchietti getting second in goats for the second go, and third in breakaway with a fantastic time of 3.56.

Picchietti took 10th in poles, while Reece and Riley Bailey scored a time of 13.70 to take 10th in team roping.

Schuman did a great job on her goat tying Saturday morning, getting a 10.35, before she, Dumont and Picchietti competed in poles later that morning.

Krista O'Reilly also competed well in the breakaway event Saturday, before Marmon scored a 18.78 in barrels, and Knight had a 18.23.

For Picchietti, her goat tying event was her biggest concern, after breaking her ankle on a dismount in a goat tying event earlier in the season.

"I was extremely worried because I'd had just one rodeo of got tying before state. I'd had a special boot on my ankle for about a month, and just before state I'd gotten it taken off, so I didn't know how I'd do," she said.

She drew a tough goat, though, in Sunday's short go, which made it tough, she said.

"I did really good in goat tying, but just had a bad goat in the final draw. It was pretty small, and I just didn't flank it as well," she said.

She finished eighth in goats Sunday, after tying for first in the cutting event, while Guenzler took fourth in cutting. He took seventh in calf roping, while PIcchietti took third in breakaway and sixth in poles in the short go events.

Guenzler finished up strong with third place finishes in team roping and steer wrestling to seal his overall victory Sunday. He ended up winning a saddle for the year-end award, and a buckle for steer wrestling, after taking second in the event overall.

New this year was a different point system at state, in which state points counted as much - or as little - as placing in rodeos during the regular season, instead of double points as in year's past. This meant that those who worked hard during the regular season wouldn't necessarily be unseated by someone who just had a good run at state, in what everyone agreed was a fairer system.

"It kept it pretty exciting. In steer wrestling, there were four of us tied for first going into the short round," Guenzler said.

Picchietti will compete for Central Wyoming, a two-year school, where she will major in pre-pharmacy before applying to a pharmacy program at a larger school. She went to Nationals in poles and goats her freshman year, and then goats her sophomore year, before competing in the Silver State last year.

"It's a really awesome program there, with a great rodeo coach," she said. "I'm really looking forward to it."

Guenzler is looking forward to competing with his sister again next fall, and attributed his success in high school rodeo to his parents, Paul and Sharon, and having good horses and a place to practice at the family ranch.

Guenzler and Picchietti will most likely caravan the 1,600 miles to Springfield next month for Nationals, which starts the week of July 22.