EVENTS
Barrel Racer and Barrel Racing Promoter
The sixth of 15 children, Tom Tescher was born in 1926 and raised on a ranch at Sentinel Butte, North Dakota. As a youth he gained his riding skills as a horse breaker for his father. With his brother, Alvin, he entered his first rodeo at Medora in 1943 with dreams of becoming a bronc rider.
Tescher competed in every event except calf roping, but he gradually focused on saddle bronc riding and steer wrestling, where he made competitive money. He won the first North Dakota state saddle-bronc-riding championship in 1948 and repeated in 1950. During the 1950s Tescher won or placed at many great rodeos, including Denver, Cheyenne, Pendleton, Calgary and Madison Square Garden. From 1955 through 1958, he ranked among the top 10 saddle-bronc riders, and he qualified for the first National Finals Rodeo in 1959.
Tescher qualified for the NFR in 1960 as well, but he stayed home for Christmas with his family instead of competing. Champion competitor Casey Tibbs said of him, “There’s no telling how far he would have gone if he wasn’t plagued by common sense.” The North Dakota cowboy later founded the Bronc Riding Match of Champions to raise funds for the Home on the Range Boys Ranch.
