WAKE UP! ON ETBLITZ.COM | Lammers, with ties to Kilgore, getting it done on the rodeo circuit — and so’s 5-year-old nephew Rhyter
EDITOR’S NOTE: Wake Up! slept in a little bit this morning, but we do have a little bit going on we can talk about. Wake Up! is a daily feature here on ETBlitz.com brought to you by Cozy Coffee Station. Go see ’em in Kilgore at 110 Midtown Plaza, or in Gilmer at 755 Highway 271 North. And if you want to, order like we USED to order back in the day, when you get there, looking at the menu. Or, if you want to have some reading material for a few minutes, and really gear up to get there, go visit them online at Home | Cozy Coffee Station.
The new three
We’re preparing a few things for Friday, when we’ll announce the three schools that are joining the ETBlitz.com coverage area. We’re fired up about this, if you couldn’t tell, and the current plan is to announce them here on the website Friday, but maybe spaced out a bit. Just kind of thinking out loud as I write this: maybe one of them at 10 a.m., one at noon, and one at 2? We’ll give it some thought. I think you guys will be surprised by at least one of them, maybe surprised by all three, and blown away by two of them. We’re really looking forward to adding these athletic programs to our coverage, and we think it’ll make ETBlitz.com an even-better site. And we try to get better every day.
Adding three will bring us to 15 high schools, as well as Kilgore College and the Southwest Junior Football Conference and the Region XIV Conference in other sports.
In case you missed it
We announced the athletes who made the Blue Bell / Texas Sports Writers Association’s All-State Softball Teams, divided by classification, last week, and did it here in Wake Up!, so for those who might have missed it, here you go: WAKE UP! ON ETBLITZ | The REAL all-state softball players from the ETBlitz.com area & the Henderson Blue Sox.
Same thing for our Camp Central, keeping you up-to-speed on youth sports camps that either began today or are upcoming. That’s brought to you by Energy Weldfab, and we’re grateful for all they’ve done over the years to help make ETBlitz better. In fact, we’re grateful for every single ad partner we have. We couldn’t do it without them, and we certainly couldn’t do it without a paywall without them.
The latest Camp Central update: CAMP CENTRAL, presented by ENERGY WELDFAB | Upcoming youth sports camps, updated July 6.
Congratulations to Bodee — and to Rhyter
If you weren’t aware, Kilgore has connections to one of the best bareback riders in the world.
Bodee Lammers is from Stephenville, and he’s now the son-in-law of Dereck and Beverly Borders of Kilgore. He married Kilgore High School and Kilgore College alum Sydnee Borders, and Bodee’s been on the comeback trail.
After suffering some injuries a little more than a year ago, the guy is ranked 46th in the PRCA World Rankings, and he’s ranked 19th in Canada. Here’s probably why: this year, he won the Daines Ranch Pro Rodeo in Innisfail, Alberta. He’s also got a win in the Okeechobee (Florida) Cowtown Rodeo to his credit in 2025, and was co-champion at the Santa Rosa Roundup in Vernon, Texas.
Here’s something you’ll be able to identify with: in 2023, he won the Gladewater Round-Up.
He’s won a ton more; here’s his bio: Bodee Lammers – Rodeo Contestant Biography | PRCA Sports News.
Here’s Bodee in action…
OK, to the present. Bodee just recently competed in the Livingston (Montana) Round-Up, the St. Paul (Oregon) Rodeo, the Crooked River (Oregon) Round-Up, the Reno Rodeo, (Reno, Nevada) and the Snake River Stampede in Nampa, Idaho. This guy NEVER stops.
And neither does his nephew.
That’s right. Bodee has a nephew, Rhyter Thornton, the son of Burr and Chelsea Thornton. And Rhyter, just five, has got the mutton-busting event down, brother.
Here’s Rhyter, a little bit shy in front of the camera, after winning the 2025 Benton Rodeo’s PRCA Mutton-Busting Championship.
Congratulations, Rhyter, and keep it up, Bodee.
