By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Tom Crouse of Gallatin is headed to the National Rodeo Finals for the first time in his career.
Crouse, just 24 years old, sat number eight in the world in season winnings this year, clinching his spot in Las Vegas this December.
Crouse has been calf roping his entire life, growing up on a farm involved with cattle and going to rodeos with his family, but says he’s worked towards this the last several years
“I’ve had my pro PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) card for this is my fourth year, so I’ve been working towards this for four years,” Crouse tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “But, getting ready to go, I’ve probably been seriously thinking about it since I was 14 or 15 years old, so about 10 years of trying to reach this goal.”
Crouse says the moment he found out he qualified was unbelievable
“Where we’re from in the calf roping world, people don’t get here from northwest Missouri. That’s kind of more Texas and southern areas where rodeo is more popular than it is around here,” Crouse explains. “And it was just unbelievable for me to qualify and win as much money as I did, and just totally blessed.”
The National Rodeo Finals take place December 4th through the 13th in Las Vegas. Crouse says he’s not going to take a single moment for granted
“But when its time to rope I’m going to be ready to rope and I’m going to try to win as much as possible, so I’m going to be going at them and if it works it works and if it don’t it don’t,” Crouse says. “But I’m going to take some chances and try it on, so a little bit of both.”
The Gallatin Livestock Auction will have a kickoff party for Crouse this Sunday at 3pm to celebrate.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.