Pulling for the win: Jakobi wins national pedal pull

Grit, determination and perseverance — these are all lessons Kelcy Jakobi has learned through competing in many youth pedal pulls over the last seven years. Kelcy, who lives between Loyal and Granton and attends the Loyal School District, recently earned the title of National Pedal Pull champion in the 11-yearold girls division. The national pull took place Sept. 23 at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D., where Kelcy took first place in her division, made up of 27 girls representing 16 states. She pedaled the tractor 29.1 feet, about 6 feet ahead of second place.

Kelcy also won state, held Sept. 9 at the Fanetti Community Center at the Dunn County Fairgrounds in Menomonie. She muscled out a full pull of the 600-pound rig there. She also had a full pull at the four other local/regional events she attended this year.

“It’s fun,” said Kelcy, who has accumulated 33 trophies plus several medals over her time pulling.

Pulling runs in the Jakobi family. Around 18 years ago, Kelcy’s father Dennis helped his friend Vaughn Loos with a tractor he used for pulls. Then about 12 years ago, Dennis started competing in tractor pulls himself. He now participates in about 15-20 events per year.

Not wanting to be left out of the fun, Kelcy’s brothers Brandon and Isaac got involved in pulling at an early age. Although they weren’t old enough to drive machines like their dad’s, they could pedal their way to success. They participated in the Granton Fall Festival pedal pull for several years and then went to the Clark County Fair pedal pull, which they found out was a state-qualifying pull. In 2012, Isaac qualified for state and placed second there. In 2013, then-8-year-old Isaac and 10-year-old Brandon both went to nationals. Their younger sister Mallory also made it to nationals.

As soon as Kelcy was old enough, she was ready to jump into the competition. She began in 2016 when she was 4 years old, taking first place at state that year and second at nationals. She competed every year since then, with the exception of 2020 when the pulls were cancelled. She placed first at every state pull she attended, except for when she was 6 and took third. At nationals she finished in the top three all but two years, with her results as follows: 2016 second, 2017 third, 2018 10th, 2019 sixth, 2021 first, 2022 third, and 2023 first. “(We) couldn’t be prouder of how hard she worked over the years to do so well,” said Kelcy’s mother, Tracy. And she definitely has had to work at it. To keep up her leg strength, Kelcy rides her bike up and down the big hill on her gravel road to do farm chores every day. “With other types of pulling, sometimes you can spend a lot of money to make it competitive; where with pedal pulling, it’s all on the kid. Every kid in the class uses the same tractor… It’s all about the kid. If they want it bad enough, it’s up to them,” said Dennis. One year, Kelcy didn’t get a trophy at nationals and was “grumbling” about it on the car ride home, but her dad told her it was because she had stopped riding her bike back and forth to the farm.

“So, she started riding her bicycle again,” said Dennis.

“And then the next year, I won,” Kelcy said, smiling.

That lesson of putting in the hard work to succeed will no doubt serve her well in other areas of life, even as her pedal pulling chapter comes to a close.

Next year, the state pull is the same day as Kelcy’s aunt’s wedding that she is a part of and nationals will be two days after her birthday, so she will be too old to compete there. However, she plans to compete in a few local pulls next summer before she is completely done.

Fornow,shewillenjoythememories made and remember — when things get hard, just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Above, Kelcy Jakobi poses with 33 trophies and various medals and ribbons she has won over the course of her pedal pulling career. She recently took first place at the National Pedal Pull Championship held in Mitchell, S.D. (shown with that trophy below left). She competed against 27 other girls in her age category from across the nation for the top spot. Below, Jakobi gives it her all in a recent pull. She plans to take part in a few more next summer.

VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTO (ABOVE) AND CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS