RELEASE DATE: Mar. 20, 2026

Wentz tells the stories of rodeo

GUYMON, Okla. – Behind the scenes of Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo, Wyatt Wentz stalked like a hunter closing on his prey.

He was seizing something vivid and imaginative, not with a trap or a shotgun but with a camera poised on the happenings inside Henry C. Hitch Pioneer Arena. He was capturing the action in a way that accentuates storytelling through video.

“It’s been incredible,” said Wentz, who operates his cinematography/editing business out of Prosser Washington, but travels the world creating powerful messages that profile rodeo. “I never thought I could make a living with a camera, but I have so much passion for rodeo that it’s helped me use my camera to be able to be around my friends, be at some of the best rodeos and to show off these rodeos and tell the stories of the athletes.

“It’s to put our sport on a bigger platform.”

He will return for the third straight year to Oklahoma’s Panhandle for the biggest rodeo in the state, set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 1; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2; and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 3. His work not only is displayed on the video boards at Hitch Arena but is also showcased on the rodeo’s social media throughout the year.

“I don’t consider myself an artist, because I actually feel like I don’t have much creativity,” Wentz said. “At the same time, I try to make my videos look as beautiful as I can. I spend the hours to make them that way, so I think, in a way, there is some artistry that comes with that.”

Wentz’s understanding of the sport is mixed with an eye for the action and an attention to detail. When he combines all aspect of his work, the results are spectacular.

“We brought Wyatt in two years ago, and we could see immediately that his videos made an impact on production and social media,” said Brooke Kitting, the rodeo’s marketing director. “Wyatt helped us step up our game.”

His style of storytelling came about when he was a youngster. His father began raising rodeo animals about 25 years ago, developing Wentz Bucking Bulls. Wyatt helped his dad some, but his passion for video came around in 2012, when one of the family’s bulls, Buckey, was up being considered as one of the top buckers in the PBR.

“Even when I was in middle school and that bull was going for bucking bull of the year, I knew we needed to get his videos out there,” Wentz said. “I knew we needed to get him seen, so on our little home video camera, my mom would video Buckey on any out that he had, and then I would chop it up and put it on Facebook.

“I started a Facebook page for him. I was just trying to promote him and promote our business, and that’s how this whole deal got started.”

This “whole deal” has become elaborate. Wentz is a well-recognized cinemaphotographer. He has been part of the production of big rodeos like the National Finals Rodeo and The American. Last year, he was one of the primary shooters for The Cowboy Channel’s “Hell on Wheels,” a documentary about bareback riding world champion Rocker Steiner.

The series also featured Steiner’s traveling partners, Waylon Bourgeois, a Louisiana cowboy who made his first NFR qualification in 2025, and Cole Franks, a Guymon-born bronc buster. It was behind-the-scenes storytelling that helped explain a little more about Steiner’s approach to rodeo. It showed the good and the bad, the wins and the losses, the happy times and the struggles that come with being a competitive bareback rider.

“The best part of my job is truly the friendships I have,” Wentz said. “I never thought Rocker Steiner would make a great friend, but he truly has. When I first met him, I had no idea how great he and his whole family are. They’re just outstanding people. Having those relationships is what I love about what I do.”

It shows in his work.

“One of my favorite memories came from this past summer when I was interviewing Rocker’s parents about him and truly being able to tell his story,” Wentz said. “Sid being emotional talking about him stands out, truly telling you about how he feels about his son and how they went about raising him.

“A lot of people don’t see the inside of that family dynamic; they just see the outside. They make assumptions, but to be able to sit down with his dad for a couple hours and his mom for a couple hours and just talking about Rocker is probably my favorite memory, because they love him and want the best for him. I don’t know if people from the outside have been able to understand that, but hopefully they do now.”  

It all goes back to storytelling. It’s not a book. It’s not a piece of poetry. It’s not an article in a newspaper or magazine. Wentz’s stories are visual, and he connects the stars of the game with fans who follow it. His job during a performance is to capture the footage while trying to stay out of the way and not be the center of attention. After the show, the real work begins. He will take his hours of work behind the camera and craft it.

It’s the most time-consuming aspect of the job, but there’s a joy in producing high-quality video.

“My job has become a lot more demanding,” he said. “When I started, I was shooting a $2,000- or $1,500-added ProRodeo for free. When I started, I could create anything I wanted, and the committee would appreciate anything I could do.

“Now, for example, when I create stuff for The American, that goes to a board and gets approved. There are a lot of eyes looking at it, so the process is much slower for me than it was back then.”

The procedure has helped Wentz expand his horizons and develop plans to make his product better along the way. Video has become a major component for any business and any event to develop a following and build on its successes.

“I think video is the closest thing we have to people actually experiencing rodeo,” Wentz said. “We’ll always have photos, but with video, you can truly make people feel like they were part of that event or they’re part of that experience.

“That’s what we need to do in rodeo to draw these outside people that maybe haven’t been to a rodeo. So much action is featured in rodeo. People are having so much fun in the stands, so we want to show off everything that we have to offer, how American the sport is, how tough these guys are. We can do that through video in a way that we could never do through anything else.”

Where Champions Come to Play the First Weekend in May

For information contact Ted Harbin, imteditor@gmail.com, (660) 254-1900