Winter Garden lineman reaches new heights at international rodeo

More than 200 lineman teams participated in the international rodeo. Among the competitors was Winter Garden resident Joshua Wilson.

WINTER GARDEN — Joshua Wilson was one of 15 Florida linemen who traveled to Bonner Springs, Kansas, last month to climb poles, change wires and splice cable for the 31st annual International Lineman’s Rodeo. 

The Winter Garden resident and his teammates, Clay Baxter, of Orlando, and Sean Cooke, of Chuluota, were ranked first in Florida going into the international competition.

A total of 208 linemen teams participated in the event held at the National Agricultural Hall of Fame, including 60 Duke Energy line technicians. Wilson has worked for the Charlotte, North Carolina-based energy company for almost 12 years.

This is his second time participating in the International Lineman’s Rodeo. Last year, he was ranked in the top 20.

The rodeo attracts the best linemen from around the world competing in events that test job-related skills. Competitors are judged on speed, agility, technique and safety procedures.

Two of the events, the speed climb and hurt-man rescue, are the same each year. There are also two mystery events, and participants find out the day before the competition what they will be doing.

Wilson said his team did well in the first two events.

“In the mystery events, we dropped a couple of things, and that’s no good,” he said.

The final scoring placed the team of Wilson, Baxter and Cooke in 68th place overall, with a total time of 25:47.29. The top team recorded a time of 20:43.37. The local trio’s best time was 1:45.07 and 36th place in the Journeyman Hurt-man Rescue event.

“Our line workers are at the core of our service mission,” said Duke Energy President and CEO Lynn Good. “Their craft is essential to delivering the power on which our customers depend.”

All Duke Energy participants in six states earned their place in the rodeo by competing in regional events.

In early October, the Florida linemen were honing their skills in preparation for events such as hurt-man rescues, equipment repair and pole climbs. The local rodeo is held in the spring each year at the Winter Garden yard off Crown Point Road. The community is invited to watch and enjoy food, drinks and children’s activities.

The first lineman’s rodeo was held in 1984, with 12 participating teams from Kansas and Missouri.

Wilson enjoys the entire rodeo experience and said he likes being a lineman for the work.

Contact Amy Quesinberry Rhode at [email protected].