bulldogging royalty in vegas

LAS VEGAS – Luke Branquinho made a name for himself at the National Finals Rodeo.

The steer wrestler was a 14-time qualifier (2001-04, 2006-15) to the NFR and won five world championships (2004, ’08, 2011-12 and ’14). Luke was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame last year.

Now Cade Branquinho, the oldest son of Luke and Linday, is looking to add another championship buckle to the family collection.

At the Junior World Finals on Tuesday, Cade had a 5.6-second run to finish second in the first round of the Ote Berry Junior Steer Wrestling World Championship 16-and-under division and eighth in the open division.

It was an impressive start for the 16-year-old making his debut in Vegas.

“I’ve just been around it for so long that when I decided to try it it was almost like I had been learning how to do it my whole life just by watching it,” Branquinho said. “So when I actually started doing it, it made it a lot easier for me to pick up and know what was going on. I’ve been excited to get going and get this done.”

When Cade decided to test his bulldogging talents in the rodeo arena, Luke of course was right there supporting him.

“My dad has helped me a lot,” Cade admitted. “He’s always giving me the best opportunity to be successful and he’s been there to puh me through the tough times and help me when I needed help. It’s amazing having someone like him in my corner.”

Having a five-time world champ in his corner has obviously benefited Cade when he backs into the chute and nods his head. Just as important, though, was leaning on his dad’s years on the pro circuit when Cade was traveling to qualifiers.

Father and son would load up from their ranch in Hico, Texas, which is a little more than 100 miles southwest of Dallas and hit the road.

“There weren’t many qualifiers that were close to home, so it took a lot of traveling,” Cade said. “My dad said it was just like he was rodeoing again. It definitely helped a lot that he kind of knew what he was doing.

“And most of the qualifiers were during football season or when I was playing summer baseball, so it was hard to find time to make it to them. But when I did, I made sure that I did the best I could so that I could get here because that was my biggest goal.”

This week in Vegas, Cade is a steer wrestler. He also makes time for bulldogging when he isn’t playing football (linebacker and tight end) or baseball (catcher) for the Hico High Tigers. While the skills he uses on the football field can easily translate to the rodeo arena, Cade also credits baseball for helping him with his bulldogging, and vice versa.

“Baseball is such a mentally tough sport that it has helped me so much with my steer wrestling because you have to be ready to go when you back into the box,” he said. “It’s the same thing when you’re stepping in the batter’s box or getting ready to catch, you have to be ready to go. And if something goes wrong you have to get over it and move on to the next one because there are so many other opportunities.”

He’ll have three more opportunities in the long go-rounds before hopefully qualifying for Saturday’s short go. That’s three, and possibly four, more times to hear the announcers remind everyone in the arena who his dad is.

“I just kind of block it out whenever someone says, ‘This is Luke Branquinho’s son,’ because that’s all you hear when you back into the box,” Cade laughed. “At the beginning it did feel like more pressure, but then I realized that I needed to be my own person to get it done and not just because of who he is. But I’m very grateful having him for a dad.”