Lane began his freshman year
at Atoka High School, his sister Robin began her
senior year there
Remember
when Lane was in junior high school (7th
& 8th grade), in Vernal, Utah
he was very good in wrestling.
Although he never wrestled before entering junior high, as many of the other
boys did,
because of his interest in rodeo, the coaches still had great expectations
for him.
Lane wrestled at about 75 pounds. During these two years he had 51 matches
with 45 wins,
4 losses and 2 tied matches.
When the family decided to move away from the Utah winters and go down to
Oklahoma
the coaches still were excited for Lane because Oklahoma schools were
well known
for their wrestling programs. Unfortunately, the high school Lane attended,
Atoka High School,
did not have a wrestling program. So that was basically the end of Lane's
wrestling participation.
The family never forgot Lane's disappointment in not being able to continue
wrestling.
But by no longer being able
to compete in wrestling, Lane now focused all his energy into bull riding.
It didn't take him long, less than a year,
to make his mark on the Oklahoma bull riding circuits.
The bull riding teenagers in Utah were probably happy
when Lane moved away to Oklahoma,
and the young bull riders in Oklahoma probably wished Lane would move back to Utah.
In addition to help and schooling by his father, Lane now had the help of his father's friend
Freckles Brown, the 1962 Bull Riding Champion, who lived not far away in Souper,
OK.
Freckles became a life time
mentor to Lane, who followed Freckles's advice and spent hours
watching Freckle's rides on
home movies.
In 1978, at the age of 15,
Lane was the Bull Riding Champion
of the Small Fry Rodeo Association.
In 1980, when Lane was a sophomore,
he was the Bull Riding Champion of
the Oklahoma Youth Rodeo Association, and the runner-up Bull Riding Champion of the
National High School Rodeo Association.
Also in 1980, while competing
at the
National
High School Rodeo Association
Lane met two people that he would know the rest of his life, Kellie Kyle
and Tuff Hedeman.
One year later, in 1981, when
he was a junior, he won the Bull Riding Championship in the
National High Schools Final Rodeo Association, held in Douglas, Wyoming,
and kept the Bull Riding Championship of the Oklahoma Youth Rodeo Association.
Lane graduated from Atoka High School in 1982.
He retained the Bull Rider Championship for the third year in a row of the
Oklahoma Youth Rodeo Association.
He also was the Bull Riding Champion of the American Junior Rodeo Association,
AND the Bull Riding Champion of the 1st Annual Youth Nationals Finals.
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