The first time I saw Allan Dessel fight bulls he was still in high school and very active in Iowa High School Rodeo. I had been told about this remarkable young man from Cherokee, Iowa, by several members of our program and was excited to meet him. As we stood talking behind the chutes he expressed his goal to be a professional bullfighter. Not all that unusual a goal for a young man whose father had spent a decade as a bullfighter himself. Allan had grown up just miles from the famous Barnes Ranch spending many hours there listening to the legendary Bob Barnes, who will be honored this year for providing bucking stock for all of the 50 years of the NFR. By 13 he was helping at the Barnes Ranch at their roughstock schools. After being trained by his father he fought his first bull on the Barnes Ranch and was hired by the Barnes family to fight his first high school rodeo at 15. In his goal to be the best he could be he studied with Ryan Brown, PRCA bullfighter and at 16 enrolled in the Rex Dunn Bullfighting School. It was just a few short years later that I had my second meeting with Allan, this time at the PRCA Dayton Labor Day Rodeo where he was working as a PRCA card holder professional bullfighter for Barnes Rodeo. He had reached his goal to become a professional bullfighter and a very good one! With PRCA card in hand he has been named three times Great Lakes Circuit Finals Bullfighter so I am obviously not the only one who thinks he is an outstanding cowboy protector!
Allan wasn't ready to stop there. He has learned a lot from the rodeo clowns and specialty acts he has worked with, especiallyJohn Harrison and the "Coppertown Clown" Bert Davis, and started supplementing his bullfighting with his own style of rodeo clown adding his own specialty acts to go with it. The first time he performed at the Extreme Bullriding Tour presented by Rodeo Attitude not as a bullfighter but as a barrelman and specialty act members of our staff were there and they couldn't stop talking about how much they loved his performance
In 2007 Allan graduated from Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa with a Physics major and a minor in math, chemistry and education and is currently employed as a high school teacher in Soper, Oklahoma. He teaches physics, chemistry and math including trigonometry and geometry. He has worked out an arrangement with the school that allows him to continue his rodeo career along wth his teaching duties.
On December 1st Allan was approved by the PRCA as a clown, barrelman and specialty act along with his previous endorsement as a bullfighter. I believe this makes Allan the only PRCA member under the age of 40 with all four endorsements on his PRCA card. The future of rodeo is bright and Allan is one of the new superstars lighting the way.
Visit www.allandessel.com for more information and please take a moment to watch his videos - they are awesome!
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