LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Nov. 10-12 was the 2011 North American Championship Rodeo (NACR). This, the 33rd rodeo in the series, is staged annually at the state fairgrounds in Louisville, during the run of the two-week-long North American International Livestock Expo every November.

Around 8:30 p.m. on opening day of this year’s rodeo, professional saddle bronc rider J.T. Hitch was the third cowboy to bust out of the steel gates. Hitch’s thrilling ride earned a score of 77 total points, which held out until almost the end when another man scored 78, for top standing.

Hitch is from Stilesville, Ind. He is one of only four men from Indiana who earned an invitational slot at the three-day championship that serves each year as the Great Lakes Circuit (GLC) finals for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Assoc. (PRCA). The three other contestants live south of Indianapolis: Justin Morehouse of New Ross, Ty Brown of Palmyra and Shayde Etherton of Borden. All three chose PRCA-sanctioned steer wrestling as their sport.

At 36, Hitch, a 1998 Dodge National rodeo champion, is older than many professional rodeo cowboys, and was the oldest of the men to qualify for the circuit final this year. Morehouse, 27, also has a previous PRCA championship win. In 2005, he brought home a Dodge National Finals championship steer wrestling belt buckle when it was held in Pocatello, Idaho.

The Dodge National, now called Ram National, moved this year to Oklahoma City, Okla. It is the next step up from the NACR, where top winners of the 12 different PRCA regional circuits compete for top cash and standing.

Brown, 22, and Etherton, 20, are new to professional rodeo competition. They both earned enough rodeo circuit points during the year to attend the GLC invitational finals tournament – the NACR. Brown was even a 2004-05 Rookie of the Year for the Indiana High School Rodeo Assoc.

Both men had fathers in rodeo and were around the sport most of their lives. Brown’s father put on rodeo clinics for the locals. So, when he was only eight years old, he was able to hang around with many older rodeo enthusiasts.

“My dad taught me everything I know, and there were a lot of other teachers around, too,” he said.

Etherton’s father made part of his living at shows. “My dad clown-rodeo-ed,” he said, “and I went with him when I was little.”

All of the cowboys from Indiana performed three times during the NACR, once each night of the rodeo. Hitch and Morehouse had two top-three finishes in their specialty to win cash earnings and points. Neither Brown nor Etherton earned money this year in Louisville.

There are a total of seven sanctioned cowboy events at each PRCA circuit home rodeo. Besides saddle bronc and steer wrestling, there are bareback riding, team roping, tie-down roping, women’s barrel racing and bull riding. In all Indiana categories, only these men qualified.

From the state of Kentucky, there were two PRCA contestants who made the invitational. Both were in the bareback riding competition.

These men must practice all year and attend venues within their circuit area. Sometimes the financial rewards are not that great for beginners and the cost of travel to the different rodeos can be high; however, for these special athletes, rodeo is what they want to do most of all.

A rodeo performer must qualify in his or her regional circuit in order to move on to the Dodge National Circuit Finals in Oklahoma City. Only, the top two contestants in each of the different rodeo events from the different PRCA regional circuits compete in the Dodge National.

The Great Lakes Circuit is only one region and it includes the states of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri and Kentucky.

Next up for some is the top PRCA championship, the National Finals Rodeo, or NFR. The top 15 PRCA money winners in each sanctioned event meet in Las Vegas, Nev., and the winner in each event is crowned the year’s Champion.