Ryan Straley, 29 - Olathe, Kan.

Straley is fairly new to outdoor competitions, but he definitely knows how to execute when a challenge is presented to him. He fished his first bass tournament with his brother last year and won it in a 16-foot aluminum boat. As a firefighter and paramedic, Straley is routinely tossed into timed scenarios, often training to save lives. Needless to say, outdoor challenges can be less stressful for him. But that doesn’t mean it’s not exciting.

“I’ve noticed competing in the outdoors gives me more of an adrenaline rush,” Straley says. “I get excited like a kid before Christmas.”

When he was just an infant, Ryan’s father died in a car crash, leaving his mother, Rebecca, with the job of raising him. Her father and brothers helped out, and Uncle Claude was the one who took Ryan rabbit hunting for the first time. He grew to love hunting for varmints, prairie dogs, coyotes and predators. Instead of buying a class ring at the end of high school, he bought his second varmint rifle and a scope.

“When I was young,” he says, “everything I explored was something different.”

Now on the cusp of 30, Straley is coming out of the Harrisburg Regional as the first-place finisher. His family and friends call him the “jack of all trades,” and think he’s made for the TOC. Working 10 days a month—in 24-hour shifts—certainly gives him enough time to train for a competition like this one.

— Lance Madden