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About T.C. Holloway
Like a child that wants to grow up to be a movie star or a doctor, TC Holloway was no different. From the time he could walk he dreamed of being a cowboy, not just an ordinary ranch cowboy, but a champion cowboy. He lived, walked, and talked the ranching and rodeo way of life. Travis Calvin Holloway was born on April 4, 1977. He grew up on the family ranch east of Eagle Butte, SD, with his parents, Johnny and Sharyn Holloway, sisters, Randee, Roxee, and Johnilynn and brother, Chuck. Growing up in a family that put on rodeos for a living made TC a natural to enter the path of a champion cowboy. Being the youngest of five children, TC was doted on and adored by all who knew him. At rodeos he was often noticed sitting atop a big horse in the arena area. TC began his riding career in the Holloway living room. It was there that he would sit on top of his brother, Chuck, while Chuck bucked and kicked as well as any horse. TC began riding calves and breaking horses at the tender age of five. From the calves, TC advanced to steers, then finally graduated to broncs. After convincing Johnny to build him a bucking barrel, he practice for countless hours, day in and day out. He saved every dollar he could so he could pay his sisters and brother to buck him on the barrel. He paid $1.00 for one hour of bucking. What started out for fun soon became work, as he could no longer be bucked off. TC became quite well known even as a little guy sitting on top of a horse in the middle of the arena at the Holloway rodeos. When he was around seven years old, he started playing around with a steer that was used for team roping. He named the steer "Old Blue" and soon he was teaching him tricks and riding him into the arena to carry the US Flag and sing the National Anthem. TC was quite a site to behold, especially when that steer would bow down to the audience at the end of his rendition. "Old Blue" had become TC's pet and was no longer used in the rodeo lineup. At the end of his eighth grade year, TC got on his first saddle bronc, although he had been begging his dad to let him start riding broncs since the 6th grade. At that point, TC had finally reached the 100-pound mark that was the deal set between him and his dad for him to start riding broncs. From then on, it was history. TC practiced every chance he got, perfecting his style each time he nodded his head. Throughout his rodeo years, TC not only competed in Saddle Bronc riding, but also in bareback riding, calf roping, team roping, and cattle cutting. He qualified for the National High School Rodeo finals all four years of high school. During his high school years, he won around a dozen saddles, hundreds of belt buckles, trophies, jackets, etc. After high school, TC attended college at Fort Scott Community College in Fort Scott, KS, where he qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo both years he was there. It was at the CNFR in Bozeman, MT, that TC took 3rd his freshman year in the Saddle Bronc riding. His team earned the title of National Champion runner-up that same year. TC joined the PRCA in 1997. That year not only did he snag the Saddle Bronc Championship at the Badlands Circuit Finals, but he also won the coveted Resistol Rookie of the Year title that he was awarded in Las Vegas, NV, during the National Finals. His wins also included the 2000 Caldwell (Idaho) Night Rodeo and the 1998 & 2000 National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver. Of all the prestigious titles that TC earned, one that he was most proud of was the Rookie Bronc riding title at Cheyenne, Wyoming's Frontier Days rodeo. This event held significance for TC, because his dad, Johnny had also earned the Rookie Bronc riding title the generation before. Johnny and TC Holloway are the only father and son to ever earn the Rookie Bronc Riding title in Cheyenne throughout its long history. In the years to follow, TC went on to win many Saddle Bronc titles all over the country including being the Casey Tibbs Match of Champions winner in both 1998 and 2001. At the 2001 Match of Champions, TC made a record breaking ride with the highest score ever recorded of 90 points. IN 2000, he qualified for the prestigious Nation Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, NV, winning in excess of $90,000 for that year. TC placed in six of the ten rounds at the NFR finishing seventh in the average at the Finals. At the end of 2000, TC was sitting 12th in the standings with a career earning of $189,708. When it came to a generosity of spirit and a gentle disposition, TC was true to that type of character. Quiet and soft-spoken, he always had a positive attitude and saw things at their best. He never had an unkind word to say about anyone. TC loved being home with his family helping on the ranch, and training horses, especially team roping horses. He was engaged to Terressa Clark of Pittsburgh, Kansas. TC and Terressa had purchased a house in Kansas and were planning on making it their winter home. |
