Someday, Coy Burruel hopes to be a horse chiropractor.
For now, though, he's quite content with working his horses hard — and possibly causing them some back pain — in the pursuit of fame on the youth rodeo circuit.
Burruel, a recent graduate of Cienega High School, is one of the more accomplished calf ropers in Arizona High School Rodeo Association history, having won the state title in that event the past two years.
He is currently in Shawnee, Okla., participating in the International Finals Youth Rodeo through this weekend before heading to the National High School Finals Rodeo July 24-30 in Springfield, Ill.
It will be the third trip to the national finals in as many years for Burruel, 17, who in the fall is headed to Vernon College in northern Texas, thanks to the thousands of dollars in scholarship money he has earned over the years from competing.
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"If definitely helps you get to school," Burruel said of the rodeo, which he got involved in from an early age while watching his father, Shorty, compete. "I've been roping since I was little. All of the other kids were roping, and it made me want to rope."
Burruel's specialty is calf roping, which requires a rider to chase down a calf and attempt to lasso the running animal, then leap from the horse and tie the calf's four legs together.
Burruel won that event at the Arizona High School Finals Rodeo June 9-11 in Buckeye, and teamed with Marana resident Ryan Alexander, 18, to finish third in the team roping competition.
Alexander and Burruel are two of the five Southern Arizonans headed to the national finals. Also making the trip will be Marana junior Michael Allison, 16, Marana senior Kyndall Anderson, 17, and Sabino senior Corrie Park, 17.
Allison is the state bull-riding champ.
There was a time, Burruel said, when he was just as into basketball as he was roping, but when he had to keep missing Saturday practices for his middle school team because of rodeo commitments, he was forced to choose.
"(My coaches) wanted me to stay dedicated to one sport," Burruel said.
Dedication is not something Burruel has ever lacked, says Luke Kraut, who provides bulls to high school rodeo competitions and has known Burruel for two years.
"He's very committed," Kraut said. "He's professional both inside and outside the arena. He's real promising. He should do well (at the national finals). I think he should finish in the top five."
Burruel also figures he will fare well at the national finals, though he knows his overall performance is not entirely up to him. Because the luck of the draw determines which calf he will end up having to rope, he can only hope he will get one that is "more cooperative."
"It's kind of like a drawing contest," Burruel said. "Whichever calf you get allows you to do better. That's part of rodeo."
There is also the issue of how his calf-roping horse, Buck, will hold up under the pressure. He said Buck, whom he has used in competition for five years, often has trouble with large crowds.
"There's over 10,000 people in the crowd, and when they get yelling, (Buck) gets scared," Burruel said. "If you don't have one of the top 10 horses, you have to be pretty strong."
Life in the rodeo often means long — and strange — hours, as evidenced by Burruel's schedule at the International Finals Youth Rodeo. He competed overnight until 8 a.m. Monday. Then, after just a few hours resting in the living quarters portion of their horse trailer, he was back in the arena that night.
"I guess it's the competition that keeps him going," Shorty Burruel said of his son. "All of the friends he's met, they all like to compete."
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