UVU students and brothers Luke and Olin Pulham were born in American Fork, Utah. The brothers are different in every way from personality to stature, with Luke standing at 6-foot-5 and his younger brother at 6-foot-2.
“Oh, we’re completely opposite,” Luke said.
They can sometime argue and disagree like most brothers, but their sanctuary lies on the fresh dirt between the gates of a rodeo arena. Starting in Lehi, Utah, Luke and Olin have been doing rodeo since they were 6 years old.
Their whole family enjoys the sport, a tradition that started with their grandfather. Luke and Olin’s mother did rodeo in college and was very successful as she performed for both Utah State and Brigham Young University. Luke and Olin carried on the family tradition, getting more serious about it at Lehi High school. Their rodeo team was very successful, as Luke was able to take state in 2004 and his brother Olin carried the torch in 2006 & 2007.
These brothers brought their knowledge and skills of the sport to UVU’s rodeo team. They have helped UVU to the No. 1 ranking in the nation as of last week. The UVU rodeo team was also able to win region this year, which is no easy task. Luke is now a senior at UVU while his brother Olin is a sophomore looking forward to a couple more years helping the team. They enjoy doing something they love at school and appreciate their full-paid scholarships.
Out of the multiple rodeo events available, Olin is more of a team roper, while Luke enjoys steer wrestling. Team roping is also known as heading and heeling that features a steer and two mounted riders. Steer wrestling is when a horse-mounted rider chases a steer, drops the horse to the steer and wrestles the steer to the ground. Both are difficult events, but the brothers love being challenged and improving in any way they can. Luke and Olin enjoy each other’s company and say how nice it is to compete with someone close to you.
Luke and Olin’s coach enjoys them being around as well.
“I have a great group of kids that make my job very enjoyable,” said head coach Shane Draper.
They have also won four major events this year and the brothers say the future looks bright for UVU rodeo.
