Jhett Johnson

Events: Team Roping (Heeling)
Born: 4/7/1971 Casper, Wyo.
Joined PRCA: 1992
PRCA Career Earnings: $911,716.00
World Titles Won: 1
WNFR Qualifications: 5 (2005-07, 2009, 2011)
Current Residence: Casper, Wyo.

2011 World Standings place: 1st
2011 Wrangler NFR place: 1st
2011 Wrangler NFR earnings: $125,625
2011 earnings: $197,112
Wrangler NFR average titles: 1 (2011)
Tour Finale qualifications: 8
Winter: 2005
Summer: 2004-06
Championship: 2005-07, 2009
DNCFR qualifications: 4 (1996, 2004, 2007, 2011)
Education: Oklahoma Panhandle State University (Goodwell), degree in psychology

Professional
2011 Highlights with Turtle Powell
• Won the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo average title with a time of 57.5 seconds on nine head; won Round 5 (3.8 seconds), shared the win in Round 4 with Kaleb Driggers and Brad Culpepper (4.1) and placed in six other rounds. Jumped from 12th place at the start of the NFR to the gold buckle
• Won the Reno (Nev.) Rodeo
• Won the Walla Walla (Wash.) Frontier Days
• Won the Beef Empire Days PRCA Rodeo (Garden City, Kan.)
Career Highlights
• 2010: Won the SandHills Stock Show & Rodeo (Odessa, Texas), with Steve Purcella; won the Mandan (N.D.) Rodeo Days, with Turtle Powell; won the Yuma (Colo.) County Fair & Rodeo, with Turtle Powell. Finished 20th in the world standings with $49,595
• 2009: (Partner Steve Purcella) Placed in three rounds of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, including a second-place result in Round 1; finished 13th in the world standings with earnings of $93,484. Won the Justin Boots Playoffs (Puyallup, Wash.); the Black Hills Round-Up (Belle Fourche, S.D.); the Wyoming State Fair & Rodeo (Douglas) and the Steamboat Springs (Colo.) Pro Rodeo Series-June 27; co-champion at A Tribute to Chris LeDoux Rodeo (Casper, Wyo.), with C.J. Scheller
• 2008: Finished 25th in the world standings with earnings of $37,595
• 2007: (Partner Keven Daniel) Placed in four rounds of the Wrangler NFR, including a second-place result in Round 9. Won the River City Roundup (Omaha, Neb.); the Greeley (Colo.) Independence Day Stampede and the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo (Colorado Springs, Colo.); co-champion at the Pioneer Days Rodeo (Clovis, N.M.) and the Fremont County Fair & Rodeo (Riverton, Wyo.). Won the Dodge Mountain States Circuit Finals Rodeo (Denver), with Garrett Tonozzi. Finished the year 10th in the world standings
• 2006: Placed in three of 10 rounds at the Wrangler NFR with partner Travis Tryan. They won the first round in 4.3 seconds and were second in the average with a total time of 109.6 seconds on 10 head. (Partner Shane Schwenke) Won the Tour Round titles at the Ellensburg (Wash.) Rodeo and the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo (Colorado Springs, Colo.). Won the Medicine Hat (Alberta) Stampede and the Molalla (Ore.) Buckeroo; co-champion at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo (Denver)
• 2005: (Partner Shane Schwenke) Qualified for his first Wrangler NFR and finished second in the average after placing in four of 10 rounds. Won the Energy Town Pro Rodeo (Gillette, Wyo.); the Strathmore (Alberta) Stampede and the Rooftop Rodeo (Estes Park, Colo.); co-champion at the St. Paul (Ore.) Rodeo and in the Tour Round at the Black Hills Stock Show Rodeo (Rapid City, S.D). Finished the year ranked sixth in the world standings with $121,670
• 2004: Finished 25th in the world standings with $27,712; won the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo (Vernal, Utah), with Shane Schwenke
• 2003: Claimed the year-end Mountain States Circuit team roping heeling title, paired with David Motes
• 2002: Finished 27th in the final world standings
• 1997: Finished 20th in the world with brother, Justin
• 1996: Finished second in the two-head average with Bret Boatright at the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo

Amateur
College National Finals Rodeo team roping reserve champion, 1993

Personal
6-4, 240 … Wife, Jenny (married 1996), is a third-grade teacher); sons, Kellan, Carson and Kress … Parents are Jamis and Judy Johnson. He has one older brother, Justin, who still competes in the PRCA as a team roper. Parents are ranchers, and Jhett and Justin are sixth-generation family members to ranch on the 7,000-acre property. His great-great-grandfather homesteaded the ranch in 1884 and later built a house in 1892 that remains the oldest two-story log home in Wyoming…Family legend has it that he was named after Jett Rink, the character played by James Dean in the classic movie, Giant, that also starred Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor. He’s not sure how the H became part of the name. In the movie, Rink is a lonely rancher who eventually becomes an oil tycoon…Jhett is a testicular cancer survivor; he underwent surgeries in 1995 and 1996 and was declared cancer-free in 2006 … His horse is Smokey … Occupation other than rodeo is being a horse trainer…Got a degree in psychology because people fascinate him…Favorite sports team is the NFL Minnesota Vikings…Favorite meal is steak or Chinese food, favorite movie is The Shawshank Redemption and his favorite music is rock ‘n’ roll…Enjoys playing pool and going to movies while on the road…Rodeo idol is Clay O’Brien Cooper