SARVER — Jacob Rassau is following in his brothers' footsteps — and he might step beyond them.

Rassau, 15, of Sarver, recently won his age division of bull riding at the 2007 Pennsylvania Farm Show's high school rodeo in Harrisburg.

Last year, he placed fourth in the junior high national finals in New Mexico.

"I've been doing it for a couple of years now,"Rassau said of rodeo competition. "My brother Matt (now 22) got me into bull riding. My other brother, Nathan, who's 18, still does high school rodeo, too."

Both of his brothers have won rodeo events, but Jacob is threatening to surpass their accomplishments.

"He does seem to have a knack for this stuff," said Bill Slater, who runs a steer wrestling clinic in Chicora. "Jacob has good size for a bull rider, but he's small for a steer wrestler. He's pretty good at both."

At the Pennsylvania High School Rodeo, the 5-foot-7, 140-pound Rassau failed to place in steer wrestling. He won the bull riding competition by scoring an 82 during the day's first competition.

The maximum score is 100. One judge can score the bull a maximum of 50 points while the other judge has the same maximum for the rider.

"A bull is judged by his ducking and how difficult the ride is,"Rassau said. "The rider is scored by how steady he stays on the bull, whether he's leaning or sliding off."

Rassau has competed in nearly 100 rodeos. He is competing in the Hard Way Pro Bull Riding event this weekend in Indiana, Pa., and will venture to Canada for a high school rodeo in April.

The Rassau brothers got started in bull riding through friends of Matt's in Slippery Rock who began competing at the Buckhorn Ranch in Cherry Township on Friday nights.

They continue to get their bull riding work in each week at the Buckhorn.

"Their friends talked my boys into checking it out and now they're really into it," said Patty Rassau, Jacob's mother. "They've put a lot of time into this."

The Rassau brothers have attended Slater's clinics and a bull riding school in Ohio. They wear helmets when they compete.

That's one of their mother's requirements.

"Whether it's the first ride or the 920th ride, I get nervous watching because you know what can happen,"she said. "This can be a dangerous sport.

"Jacob broke his collarbone last spring. Matthew has broken his nose."

In bull riding, the rider must stay on the bull for eight seconds to be scored. Jacob Rassau slid off the bull during his second ride at the Harrisburg competition, but his first score of 82 held up for the victory.

"When you're on that bull, it seems like a lot longer than eight seconds,"Rassau admitted. "Nobody out there successfully rode two bulls, and that was the biggest high school rodeo east of the Mississippi."

Steer wrestling is the quickest of rodeo events. The steer is loaded into the roping chute and once the competitor nods his head, the steer is released and the competitor charges after it on his horse.

He catches up to the steer, leans over, jumps off his horse and grabs the steer by its head. Once he tosses the steer on its side, the clock stops. Professional steer wrestlers complete this sequence in three to four seconds.

"I'm impressed that a kid Jacob's size even does that event,"Slater said. "Most of the guys are much bigger physically. Steer wrestling takes good balance, good instincts and technique.

"Jacob and Nathan come here twice a month during the winter and once a week in the summer to practice. They'll get 10 to 15 turns each during a session."

Rassau is home-schooled and is an active participant on the Western Pennsylvania Rodeo Association circuit.

"I compete all over the place in the spring, summer and fall," he said. "The only way to get better at this sport is to keep going out there."