Tough Enough to Wear Pink Boots. (Boot Kickoff)

Photo credit goes to Alison Wigglesworth and Claire Korpela.

On Tuesday July 7, 2015 at approximately 5:38pm MST, local Sheridanites Claire Korpela and Matthew Wigglesworth made WYO Rodeo Boot Kickoff history with one pink boot.

Claire Korpela won the women’s 18 and up division of the boot kick-off with a kick of 82 feet. As for the men’s side, Matthew Wigglesworth bested his competition by launching his pink square-toed boot 123 feet. But here’s the kicker (pun intended), Matthew and Claire are cousins and they used the same pink boot.

We wanted to know what the deal is with the lucky pink boot so we caught up with Matthew to get the inside story in our Sheridan WYO Rodeo week edition of 5 questions.

SB: Why the pink boot?

M: I’ve gotten that question a lot since my win yesterday evening. It’s in support of the Tough Enough to Wear Pink (TETWP) campaign that the Sheridan WYO Rodeo Board has integrated in rodeo week. It’s an awareness campaign that raises money to help those affected by breast cancer. My mother Linda St. Clair, who’s a member of the Rodeo Board, wanted to find a cheap pair of boots for me to practice with before the kick-off. When she saw the pink boots, she thought it was a perfect opportunity to support the TETWP campaign. I was more than happy to use the pink boot in the competition.

SB: What kind of preparation did you do for the boot kick-off?

M: I’m going to be honest. I train quite intensively. I literally train 365 days of the year. Rain or shine, it doesn’t matter. I do my best to be the best. When I go to the gym, I exclusively train my right leg. It’s created quite the extreme imbalance between my right leg and my left, but that is a small price to pay to become the WYO Rodeo boot kick-off champ. My cousin Claire wasn’t sure if she was going to do it or not, but after I told her how nice the winning prize was, she decided to sign up. I let her use my pink boot and she ended up kicking it quite a bit farther than anyone else in her division. I think karma was on our side with that pink boot.

SB: What’s next for Matthew Wigglesworth?

M: I start training for next year’s kick-off. That, and I will be preparing for this year’s Beds along the Big Horns bed races. Sheridan Physical Therapy and The NX Bar were good enough to supply my team with pink jerseys in support of the TETWP campaign as well. They are sponsoring my team.

SB: Do you have any other plans to support the Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign?

M: Besides wearing a pink boot in the boot-kick off and a pink shirt in the bed races, I’ll probably just do my best to go all out Thursday for TETWP night at the rodeo. I might even squeeze into the boots I used for the kick-off. Maybe I’ll get a pink King’s hat as well.

SB: What’s your favorite part about the Sheridan WYO Rodeo

M: Obviously the Indian Relay Races are extremely exciting, but I’m a pretty huge fan of the Wild Pony Races too.
The first performance of the Sheridan WYO Rodeo begins tonight at 7:00 pm with pre-rodeo entertainment starting at 6:30 pm.

Thursday night’s theme for the rodeo is Tough Enough to Wear Pink so make sure to bust out your favorite pink shirt in support of breast cancer awareness. Happy rodeo week everyone!

BONUS: The rodeo royalty helps every year with the children’s stick pony barrel races as well as the boot kick-off. Here they are, from left to right: Alanna Starkovich- Sheridan Wyo Sr. Princess, Laurel Austin- Miss Rodeo Wyoming, Bailie Van Leuven- Miss Wyo Rodeo