First performance of Red Bluff Round-Up takes place
Red Bluff, Calif. (April 19, 2019) – Hockey just didn’t cut it for cowboy Connor Hamilton.
The Calgary, Alberta man played the sport till he was eighteen years old.
Then he switched to bareback riding, and now, nearly five years later, he’s leading the bareback riding at the Red Bluff Round-Up.
Hamilton, who is twenty-three years old, rode the Bridwell Pro Rodeo horse Caddy Wagon for 85.5 points to sit atop the scoreboard.
He’d grown up riding horses, but not frequently, and five years ago, got on his first ever bucking horse.
“I always loved rodeo,” he said. “I grew up playing hockey and fell into rodeo.”
He visited a local college and met some bareback riders who gave him tips and got him started.
Then he spent a year at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Okla., competing on the college rodeo team and soaking up more knowledge. “It worked out good,” he said, of his year in college. “I met a lot of good guys, started pro rodeoing, and fell into it.”
Last year, he finished second in the Resistol Rookie standings, second to Zach Hibler, Wheeler, Texas.
In college, he became friends with another Southwestern Oklahoma State student, Sage Kimzey. Kimzey, a five-time world champion bull rider (and reigning champ), helped Hamilton out. “He taught me a lot of mental and physical things, and that was a good thing for me,” Hamilton said. “He told me to keep pushing it, keep pushing it, even when you’re not where you want to be. And there’s only one way to get there.”
Hamilton quit college and now rodeos full time. It was his second trip aboard the horse Caddy Wagon. He rode him in Redding, Calif. last year, but didn’t mark out the horse, which disqualified him. “I’d seen him since then, and there’s been a lot of good scores on that horse. I knew he was going to be good. I was excited to be here, and to get a good score.”
Hamilton is currently ranked twenty-seventh in the PRCA world standings.
Other leaders after tonight’s performance are steer wrestlers Hank Filippini, Battle Mountain, Nev. and Dakota Eldridge, Elko, Nev. (5.4 seconds each); saddle bronc rider Jacobs Crawley, Boerne, Texas (86); tie-down roper Haven Meged, Miles City, Mont. (9.0 seconds); team ropers Hayes Smith, Central Point, Ore. and Evan Arnold, Stephenville, Texas (6.4 seconds); and barrel racer Jessie Telford, Caldwell, Ida. (17.27 seconds). Bull rider Trey Benton, III, Rock Island, Texas, leads his event with a score of 88 points. If his score would hold through Sunday’s performance, this will be the third time for him to win the Round-Up.
The second of three performances of the Red Bluff Round-Up takes place Saturday, April 20. The Kiwanis Pancake breakfast runs from 7-10 am, and the rodeo parade kicks off at 10 am. The rodeo begins at 2:30 pm. Aaron Watson is in concert on Saturday night, with Chad Bushnell opening. For more information, visit the rodeo’s website at RedBluffRoundup.com. Tickets range in price from $14 to $30 and are available at the gate and online.
Results after first performance, Red Bluff Round-Up, April 19, 2018
Trey Benton, III, Rock Island, Texas 88 points on Bridwell Pro Rodeo’s Vegas Outlaw; 2. Parker Breding, Edgar, Mont. 86; 3. Foster McCraw, Navasota, Texas 85; 4. Paul Coppini, 83.
** All results are unofficial. For more information, visit RedBluffRoundup.com.
Nebraska high school rodeo athlete wins Gates Scholarship
Niobrara, Neb. (April 29, 2019) –A Nebraska High School Rodeo athlete has been awarded the Gates Scholarship.
Abbi Holz, Niobrara, Neb., has received the scholarship, which covers the full cost of attendance not already covered by other scholarships, to a public or private college.
Holz, whose ACT score was 33, is on track to be the salutatorian of the class of 2019 at Niobrara High School.
In school, she was on the drama crew for three years and this year served as the assistant director for the play. She was on the speech team for two years, and has been on the A-Plus Superior honor roll since seventh grade.
She has competed in high school rodeo for three years in the barrel racing and pole bending. Holz also competes in local jackpots and loves the friends she’s made through rodeo. “The people you meet and get to know become your second family and that’s what I really enjoy about it,” she said. “Sometimes I feel closer to the people I rodeo with than the people at school.”
Holz will attend Kansas State University this fall, majoring in animal science with a pre-veterinary emphasis and hopes to attend K-State’s veterinary program. She loves animals, and gives credit to the local veterinarian for her interest in veterinary science. “I can probably blame my interest in animal science on him, for making me help castrate a horse when I was ten. I’ve always been the one ready to jump in.”
In her spare time, Holz likes to read and do leatherwork. In the eighth grade, she taught herself to tool leather, making belts, headstalls and breast collars.
She has trained the horse she currently rides, a six-year-old stallion named Feather. Her younger brother Clay, a high school sophomore, also rides him, and when Cooper, the youngest of the Holz siblings, wants to ride, he chooses Feather.
The Gates Scholarship, funded by Bill and Melinda Gates, is awarded to 300 students annually and is given to students who have an outstanding high school academic record, have demonstrated leadership ability, and have exceptional personal success skills.
She is the daughter of Orvil and Kelli Holz.
The Nebraska High School Finals Rodeo will be held in Hastings at the Adams Co. Fairgrounds June 13-15. The rodeo is held at 10 am and 6 pm on Thurs., June 13 and Fri., June 14, with the finals at 1 pm on June 15. Tickets are $7 for everyone ages five and up and are available through the office and at the gate. For more information, visit AdamsCountyFairgrounds.com or hsrodeo-nebraska.com, or call 402.462.3247.
South Dakota roper learns lessons, leads tie-down roping at Red Bluff Round-Up
Red Bluff, Calif. (April 20, 2019) – Dane Kissack has learned from the school of hard knocks, and because of it, he’s leading the tie-down roping coming into the finals on Sunday at the Red Bluff (Calif). Round-Up.
The tie-down roper has a time of 28.7 seconds on three head to be the leader of the twelve cowboys who will rope on Sunday for the title of 2019 Round-Up tie-down champion.
Kissack took advantage of a good calf on Saturday, something that he didn’t do four years ago at the Round-Up.
Four years ago, in Red Bluff, with a good calf, Kissack broke the barrier on his fourth run, adding a ten second penalty to his time and losing the chance to win the title. “Trust me, I’ve learned the hard way,” he said. “I broke the barrier at this rodeo. I ran right through it.
Because the Round-Up is potentially four runs for the cowboy who rope well, Kissack knows his best chances for winning are to make solid runs and not break the barrier, adding the penalty.
As he’s matured throughout his ten year pro rodeo career, he’s learned that he doesn’t always have to “push the barrier” – rope as aggressively – and risk the cost of breaking the barrier and adding the penalty.
“With this calf, I was probably off the barrier just a little bit,” he said. “I could have been faster, had this been a one-head rodeo.”
His wife Kelli reminded him of the lessons he’s learned. “That’s what my wife said,” Kissack said. “She said, Dane, you’ve got to remember you’ve learned the hard way on these things, so use that. I can still feel the pain of riding out of here. I missed out on winning a lot.”
Kissack, from Spearfish, S.D., gave a shout out to the Justin Sports Medicine staff who offer their services to Round-Up contestants, free of charge, at the rodeo. He herniated a disk and bulged two others eighteen months ago, and even though it’s healed, it still requires some stretching and therapy.
The Justin Sports Medicine staff provided that. “It seems like I always have to maintain it,” Kissack said, “and thank the Lord they’re here and ready to help. It really makes a difference. I wouldn’t be able to move around today” without them.
Kissack will come into Sunday’s finals in first place, but he won’t handle the pressure any differently. “I treat every run the same,” he said. He practices three or four times a week, and “whether it’s a practice calf or the short round at Red Bluff, they’re the same. I expect myself to rope good every time.”
In other events, the top bareback rider for the Saturday afternoon performance was Logan Patterson, Kim, Colo. (87 points), and the high saddle bronc rider was Rusty Wright, Milford, Utah (84.5 points). Steer wrestlers Hank Filippini, Battle Mountain, Nev. and Dakota Eldridge, Elko, Nev. tied to win the second round with a time of 5.4 seconds each, and team ropers Hayes Smith, Central Point, Ore. and Evan Arnold, Stephenville, Texas won the second round with a time of 5.4 seconds. Tanya Jones, Prineville, Ore., was the fast barrel racer with a time of 17.21 seconds, and bull riders Boudreaux Campbell, Crockett, Texas, and Maverick Potter, Waxahachie, Texas, both had scores of 87.5 points to be the top score for the performance.
The third and final performance of the 98th annual Red Bluff Round-Up takes place tomorrow, April 21, at 1:30 pm. Tomorrow’s event is the annual Tough Enough to Wear Pink day, with funds raised for the Dignity Health/St. Elizabeth Community Hospital. In the last ten years, the Round-Up and other community activities have raised over $474,000 for St. Elizabeth.
The Wrangler Network was live today and will be live tomorrow, with rodeo action. Performances will be archived for future viewings at wranglerwestern.com.
Results after second performance, Red Bluff Round-Up, April 22, 2019
Bareback riding (second performance scores)
Logan Patterson, Kim, Colo. 87 points on C5 Rodeo’s Black Feathers; 2. Garrett Shadbolt, Merriman, Neb. 85; 3. BoDell Jessen, Altamont, Utah 78; 4. Nate McFadden, Elsmere, Neb. 77.5.
Steer wrestling
2nd round results; the 2nd round is completed and the top twelve steer wrestlers in the average will compete in Sunday’s performance
(tie) Boudreaux Campbell, Crockett, Texas, 87.5 points on Flying U Rodeo’s Bringing Trouble, and Maverick Potter, Waxahachie, Texas, 87.5 points on Flying U Rodeo’s Countin Card; 3. John Pitts, Panama City, Fla. 85.5; 4. Dalan Duncan, Ballard, Utah 83.5.
Unofficial contestant list for Sunday, April 21 finals
These steer wrestlers have advanced to compete on Sunday, April 21 for the finals. * Unofficial.
Stetson Jorgensen, Blackfoot, Idaho 16.1 seconds on 3 head;
Hunter Cure, Holliday, Texas 16.9;
Juan Alcazar, Jr., Okeechobee, Fla. 17.3;
Jace Melvin, Ft. Pierre, S.D. 18.0;
Tucker Allen, Oak View, Calif. 18.3;
Curtis Cassidy, Donald, Alb. 18.5;
Charles Harris, Salinas, Calif. 18.9;
Blaine Jones, Templeton, Calif. 19.4;
Ty Erickson, Helena, Mont. 20.8;
(tie) Justin Kimsey, Kennewick, Wash. and Tom Lewis, Lehi, Utah 21.0 each;
Dakota Eldridge, Elko, Nev. 21.9.
These tie-down ropers have advanced to compete on Sunday, April 21 for the finals. * Unofficial.
Dane Kissack, Spearfish, S.D. 28.7 seconds on 3 head;
Joey Dickens, Loveland, Colo 30.5;
Taylor Santos, Creston, Calif. 31.7;
Rhen Richard, Roosevelt, Utah 32.4;
Haven Meged, Miles City, Mont. 32.5;
Cade Swor, Winnie, Texas 32.9;
Cody Craig, Wendell, Idaho 33.8;
Cooper Martin, Alma, Kan. 34.2;
J.D. McCuistion, Collinsville, Texas 34.3;
Reid Zapalac, Smithville, Texas 35.4;
Westyn Hughes, Caldwell, Texas 38.9;
Stetson Vest, Childress, Texas 39.1.
These team ropers have advanced to compete on Sunday, April 21 for the finals. * Unofficial.
Kaleb Driggers, Stephenville, Texas/Junior Nogueira, PResidente Prudente, Brazil 22.1 seconds on 3 head;
Ft. Hays rodeo students benefit from Kansas’ Biggest Rodeo
PHILLIPSBURG, KAN. (April 5, 2019) – For the twenty-third year, Kansas Biggest Rodeo in Phillipsburg is helping college rodeo athletes pay for their schooling at Fort Hays (Kan.) State University.
This year’s beneficiaries are Bailey McCaughey, Eads, Colo., and Nathan Poss, Scotia, Neb.
McCaughey is in her fourth year of studies at Ft. Hays, where she competes on the rodeo team in the breakaway roping and barrel racing. The 2015 Douglas County (Colo.) High School graduate competed in high school rodeo, qualifying for the Colorado State High School Finals Rodeo twice.
At Ft. Hays, she will apply for the radiology program and hopes to become a radiology tech. Prior to attending Ft. Hays, she spent two years at Garden City (Kan.) Community College.
McCaughey works part-time when she is home on the weekends and holidays, and appreciates the scholarship money. “It means a lot,” she said. “Being an out-of-state student, I have a higher tuition bill. It’s less money that I have to pay off in debt some day and I’m extremely grateful for that.” She is the daughter of Todd and Judy McCaughey.
Nathan Poss is a freshman at Ft. Hays State. He is competing in the team roping in collegiate rodeo, with a major in agri-business.
Nathan Poss, a freshman at Ft. Hays (Kan.) State University, is one of two recipients of this year’s Phillipsburg, Kansas Rodeo Association scholarships. He is from Scotia, Neb. – KC Creations Photography
A 2018 graduate of Central Valley High School in Greeley, Neb., Poss competed in high school rodeo and qualified for the Nebraska State High School Finals Rodeo three years. After college graduation, he’ll return to the family ranch, where they run 700 head of purebred Angus cattle. He is the son of Danny and Kristi Poss.
Both McCaughey and Poss say that competing in rodeo at the collegiate level is beneficial to them. “It teaches people responsibility,” McCaughey said. As a college rodeo athlete, “you have to enter (the rodeo), pay for fuel, feed your horse, and make sure you know when you’re up” for competition. McCaughey competes because she enjoys it. “I would have been extremely bored at college if I hadn’t rodeoed. I think it keeps a lot of kids out of trouble. It keeps us busy.”
For Poss, college rodeo has disciplined him. “It has really helped me maintain a work ethic. Every day, I have to practice. And it gives me something to become better at, to work at.”
Since 1997, the Phillipsburg Rodeo Association has awarded scholarships to FHSU students who compete in rodeo. The Phillipsburg Rodeo Association is the organization behind Kansas’ Biggest Rodeo, which will be held August 1-3, 2019. For more information on the rodeo, visit www.KansasBiggestRodeo.com.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The following PRCA Executive Council members were recently elected or re-elected and will serve two-year terms beginning April 1, as announced by PRCA CEO George Taylor.
The newly elected members are Josh Edwards (arena pickup men/specialty act/labor), Cody Rostockyj (bull riding representative), Matt Sherwood (team roping representative), John Franzen (general membership representative to the competition committee), Steve Sutton (stock contractor representative) and Jerry Dorenkamp (stock contractor representative).
The re-elected members are Larry McConnell (rodeo committee representative $20,000.01-$50,000), Mike Mathis (contract personnel – at large category), David Morehead (stock contractor representative), David Petty (rodeo committee representative $10,000-$20,000), Eva Chadwick (secretaries/timers), Caleb Bennett (bareback riding representative) and Jerome Schneeberger (tie-down roping representative).
At 23, Wyatt Denny of Minden, Nevada, is well on his way to a stellar bareback riding career. He’s ridden at the last three straight Wrangler National Finals Rodeos, and just won $50,000 at the World Champions Rodeo Alliance’s $1 Million Windy City Roundup in Chicago. This after winning $52,400 at last summer’s Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo in Salt Lake City. The 2015 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Resistol Bareback Rookie of the Year and 2016 National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Bareback Riding Champ is bullish on all big-money opportunities available to rodeo athletes today.
When the World Champions Rodeo Alliance came onto the rodeo scene, there was a lot of speculation with people wondering what it was all about, and if something based on the concept of cowboys going to fewer rodeos with a chance to win more money was too good to be true. As a bareback rider, I looked at it a little differently. Bareback riders’ bodies take a beating. So I just really wasn’t sure about having to go to more rodeos.
The gold buckle is everybody’s end goal. Putting more horses under your body isn’t ideal for a bareback rider, for sure. Bareback riders can count up to 100 rodeos toward the world standings in a season, so for the past few years I’ve been to about 100 a year, with 98 being the fewest. That’s not by choice, and the guys in a more comfortable position don’t have to do that. But I’ve been down at the lower end of the standings, so I had to keep going. Anyway, additional rodeos are tough on us. But we’re always going to show up for this kind of money. Rodeo is how we make a living, so when you’re talking about millions of new dollars, a guy’s got to try and get in on some of that.
There are a lot of things to like about what’s going on with the WCRA, in my mind starting with the way they have it set up so it’s fair for everybody to have a chance to be there. It’s not based on how you finished in the world standings last year, and everyone has an equal opportunity to nominate events and earn the points it takes to qualify for the big-money rodeos.
I travel with Clayton Biglow, who’s from Clements, California, and Kash Wilson from Gooding, Idaho. Clayton’s ridden at the last three NFRs, like I have. Kash is a dang good bareback rider with a good attitude. He hasn’t really gone a full year yet, but hopefully this will be his year. It’s cool that he has the same shot in the WCRA as Clayton and I do, and that’s going to bring a lot of talented circuit guys and weekend warriors out of the woodworks. This kind of money doesn’t come around very often, and in the WCRA, Joe Blow has the same shot as Tim O’Connell. That’s awesome.
Everybody knows there aren’t enough bareback riders in the world today, and that we’re a rather rare breed. Everybody also knows how strong cowboy camaraderie is. We’re roommates on the road. Rodeoing for a living is not an easy life, but it’s a whole lot easier when you don’t get up and argue about how the day’s going to go. There’s nothing but good vibes in our rig. We’re always having fun going down the road, whether we’re riding bucking horses, golfing, skiing, mountain biking or team roping. And yes, I entered every event except the saddle bronc riding in high school. We tend to like anything extreme, and we golf a lot. I actually kept all our scorecards from last year, and we played more rounds of golf than we went to rodeos.
I’d have to say that winning the first round at the 2018 NFR is the highlight of my bareback riding career so far. Those are buckles that don’t come around very often. There are only 10 of them a year, and to get one of those meant a lot. That was a $26,231 ride, but it meant more than the money to me. I ended up winning $40,462 at the Finals in December, which is a pretty good week anytime you can get it. I finished 14th in the world last year, and won $117,958 riding at 100 rodeos. I’m grateful for every dollar I win, but it also puts into perspective the new, big-money possibilities we’re riding for in the WCRA.
The fact that I’ve now won over $102,000 at two WCRA events is unreal. I got into the 2018 Days of ’47 last July by being the champ there in Salt Lake the summer before, in 2017 when it was a PRCA rodeo. Salt Lake’s obviously been very good to me. What’s kind of funny is that both times I went to it I was run down and tired, and not really in the bareback riding mood. And both years I didn’t feel very good about my first horse there. But two out of each set advance to the finals at that rodeo, and both years I had an awesome horse in the finals.
It’s always fun when more than one guy in the truck wins. In 2016, when I won the College Finals and our Feather River College Men’s Team won the national team title, Clayton was the reserve national bareback riding champ. In Salt Lake last summer, Clayton won the long round and I won second. Then I won the rodeo and Clayton was second. That’s great for morale in any buddy group.
The Days of ’47 was a great rodeo, and the crowds were even better in 2018 than they were in 2017. Clayton and I had been at Calgary the week before, and since it was our second year there and we were a little more comfortable, we decided to enter some other rodeos during Calgary. We entered Sheridan (Wyoming), Clayton rode second to last and was 88 points on Dakota Rodeo’s War Rock. He lit the whole atmosphere up. I rode last and was 88 points on Ike Sankey’s Sozo, so we were the co-champs and that was another awesome career highlight for me right there. A lot of people don’t realize that a week later, I won Salt Lake on Sozo, too.
Fast forward to last fall, when I was on the bubble and struggling to make the cut for my third NFR. I only had about a $1,500 lead over the 16th-place guy, and I drew Sozo in the short round at Pendleton (Oregon). I split fourth and fifth in the round and won third in the average for about $4,500. That’s what got me in. More people talked about me winning the rodeo in San Bernardino (California) right there at the end of the regular season, but it would have been pretty hard for anyone to bump me out after I placed third at Pendleton on that same horse.
Winning the Days of ’47 got me and all the other Salt Lake champs a bye into Chicago this month. I have a lot of good to say about that little $1 million rodeo, but would first back up to mention why I didn’t ride at the $500,000 WCRA Semi-Finals in November, in case anyone was wondering. I really wanted to be there, but my flight got delayed, then canceled. I made one call to Guthrie, they understood, and that was the end of it. Any cowboy who’s had to pay entry fees and sometimes a turnout fine for not being able to make it to a rodeo for any reason will understand how much I appreciated not getting any additional grief after trying my best to get to Guthrie.
Finding out I got to go to a big rodeo in Chicago gave me a flashback from when I was 18 and on my PRCA permit. We were driving from Sikeston, Missouri to Gerry, New York, and when we drove through Chicago I was telling the guy I was with how cool it would be to have a rodeo there. He said they used to have a big rodeo in Chicago back in the day, and I was pretty wide-eyed about how bright and shiny everything was there in that big city, just dreaming about it. All people could say when I told them I was going to Chicago in January this year was that I was going to freeze my butt off. Little did they know what a big deal it would turn out to be.
When we got to Chicago, we didn’t have to pay any entry fees and every contestant showed up knowing he (or she) was going to get paid. As a bareback rider, the caliber of horses is a big deal. At these WCRA events, it’s not half the guys getting on hoppers and the other half getting on eliminators. The horses in each set at these events give every guy a chance. One guy’s not getting on a hopper to where he could almost take his hand out of the riggin’ and keep spurring him, while another guy is getting on an eliminator and getting his arm jerked off. A chance is all any cowboy can ask for, and we’re getting that.
Kaycee Feild and I played a pretty fun game of trading places in Chicago. He was 90.5 points to win the first round, and I was second with 89.5 points. In the Championship Match Round, Kaycee was 88.5 points and I was 89.5. Talk about too close to call. Kaycee and I didn’t know which way it was going to go. For those of you who were there or watching it live on RidePass.com, they did take a little extra time to make sure they got it right before announcing which one of us won it. While we were waiting for the final verdict, I told Kaycee, “No matter what happens, we’re both leaving here with a buttload of money.”
As cowboys, we appreciate the WCRA taking whatever time it takes to be sure they get it right.
I think that’s why the WCRA is really thriving—because they’re for the cowboys, bottom line and every time. They get what we do, because they’ve been there. Kaycee was the first guy to shake my hand in the arena, and I think he shook it four or five more times back behind the chutes when it was over. He was more stoked than maybe even I was, and the $25,000 he won for second was not too shabby, either.
We all help each other get down the road. When we’re not winning, we’re not getting paid. So we help each other out of bog holes all the time. We give each other rides, and know we’ll need a ride one of these days, too. We’re a big family in rodeo, and we work together. We have the same goals and mindset, and we push each other to win. That’s just cowboys.
Instant replay wasn’t needed in the bareback riding in Chicago, but I’m all for using it when it’s needed to get it right. There are so many times when things happen so fast, and we’re all human, including judges. If we can push a button, look at it again and make sure the money goes to the right guy, that’s a slight difference that can change somebody’s life. Why not use technology, if that’s what it takes to get the call right?
It’s hard to say how much it means to me to win $102,000 at two rodeos. It’s not about the money when you climb down into that chute. That’s not what we’re thinking about when it’s time to ride, anyway. But we do show up to win every time, and when you’re trying to make a living riding bareback horses—which is a very tough thing to do—this kind of money is life changing.
Everybody wants to win the gold buckle. But when you see all this big money being thrown around, you’re going to try to be there and get in on some of it. That’s just good business, and that goes for so many guys, even those who don’t ride bucking horses for a living. The odds of getting into these WCRA rodeos for a chance to win this kind of money are also so much greater than other opportunities out there, most of which involve year-long commitments and a lot more sacrifice.
I honestly don’t know that I can think of how the WCRA can improve right now. But if I think of something, I’ll tell them. They want to hear it, and they’re listening, because they really do want to make rodeo better. We don’t get paid anywhere else for showing up, and that takes a lot of stress and worry off of the cowboys. They fed us when we got there, showcased us in a state-of-the-art building with locker rooms used by other professional athletes in other sports. If a guy fell off in the long round at Chicago—which nobody did—he got paid $1,444 just for being there. When you go to a $5,000-added rodeo, you have to win the rodeo to win $1,400. It’s pretty cool to be treated like professional athletes, and it’s appreciated by the contestants.
Everybody’s going to get on board with what’s going on here, because it’s progress and it’s a good deal for the cowboys. I hope by the time I’m 30 that I’ve had half the career as guys like (WCRA President) Bobby Mote and Kaycee Feild, who are both four-time world champs and are always trying to make the sport better for all of us. Winning these big events changes lives, has a shot at changing the way we rodeo and saving our bodies. The WCRA actually has a chance to not only make us some big money now, but to also extend our careers. How cool is that?
Justin Mcmillion and William Evans were the winners of the #10 American Cowboy, winning $70,000 in AT&T stadium on March 3. “It was unbelievable,” said Justin, a 29 year old farmer from Ohio. “Getting to rope where the professionals are and backing into the box in that stadium was mind blowing. It was a lot of time and traveling to get there, but it was worth it.” Justin made the 15 hour drive to Texas after qualifying through a series of ropings put on in the SouthEast. “It was held in conjunction with the World Series and you had to win a #10 American Qualifier, then they had 8 qualifed teams from the East go to a match roping in Jacksonville, and the top four went to Decatur to run three steers – the top six teams from there roped in the short go at Dallas.
“Around our area, everyone was scared to enter because nobody really knew what we were roping for. The whole deal cost $200, and we got paid $600 for winning the roping, then we got $2,500 to show up in Texas,” he said. The money is going to replacement farm equipment, a third child due in June, and maybe a new head horse. After his win at The American, he remembers they took his horse and he didn’t see him for an hour. “Not knowing where my animal was drove me nuts. And the only thing I wanted to do is go see my wife and celebrate with her and the friends I had down there.”
Justin farms 400 acres in Covington, Ohio, raising corn, beans, and hay. He is married Brianna and they have two children and one on the way. Hunter is 10, Cheyenne is 5, and Weston Paul is due in June. Farming works into his roping schedule just fine as most of his roping is done in the winter months and he travels to Johnny Johnson’s ropings in the southeast to rope. “My wife and I leave on Wednesdays, so our parents watch them for us.” Brianna works as a nurse, and works her schedule around his roping. “I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t for her helping me with the horses,” said the #5 header and #5 heeler. Justin grew up around team roping, but never took an interest in it until he met my wife, who is a barrel racer. “She starts all my horses from three year olds. A couple horses I’ve used to get there, she did all the work on them so I could go do what I did on them.” He also takes good care of his horses while traveling, using Soft Ride and Back on Track leg wraps.
Since Jacksonville, Florida, Justin has been on a roll. “Hard work pays off – you put your mind to it. I set my goal in January to qualify for the American. And if I qualified, I was going to win it … and it happened,” he said. “I have an indoor barn at the house and we rope three times a week no matter the weather. We were out there at 10 degrees one day roping and riding the horses.”
He doesn’t get to practice with Bill Evans too often, who split the win with Justin in Dallas. “He lives two and a half hours from me, but we rope together down south whenever we can.”
“I met Justin through ropings and we’ve been roping together for a long time,” said the 49-year-old father of two who drives 1.5 hours one way twice a week to practice. “My wife is in the truck every time to support me. She takes care of the horses, makes sure she has the paperwork for the horses and she’s my biggest supporter.” Kriston hardly rides, but she takes care of the horses making sure everything is set to go when they travel. They have two daughters, Jess (24) and Jen (22) and they both have children of their own.
Bill is in the construction business, building and remodeling, the owner of Elite Building Group for 33 years. “I’ve had my own company since I was out of high school,” he said. “Kriston takes care of all the office stuff, employee paperwork, and the farm when I’m not around “They took some of their winnings from the American and buy a food truck that they will be picking up soon. “We’re going to focus on the big factories where they can’t take off for lunch.” They have decided to ease out of the construction business and try something different. “She’s going to start with it and we’re going to see where it goes.”
Bill started roping in 1999. “I watched and thought I could do that. I won my first truck at a Booger Barter in Tunica, Mississppi when I was fresh into it and I was hooked.” This is the biggest win he’s had since then. “If we won $100,000 tomorrow it wouldn’t beat this. It was the biggest stage a roper could ask for – pretty cool stuff.”
They are not slowing down, and plan to try to qualify for the World Series Finale next year next weekend. “I’ve gone three years in a row – had to miss last year because of work, but I’m going to try again.”
Red Bluff woman has family history at the Round-Up, volunteers her time.
Red Bluff, Calif. (March 18, 2019) – The Red Bluff Round-Up runs through the blood of Vicki Stroud.
It’s a part of her family heritage, actually.
Stroud, who was raised in Red Bluff, is the daughter of Jim Davis, long-time volunteer with the Round-Up, and the great-niece of Guy Davis, one of the original shareholders.
Vicki has either attended or volunteered at the rodeo –or both – for at least sixty years, she estimates.
Her dad, Jim, was a California Highway Patrolman for 27 years, taking a week off every April to volunteer his time at the Round-Up. He ran the timed event chute for fifty years, opening the chute for the calf or steer to run out of.
And he took his family to the rodeo. Stroud remembers, as a young girl, her dad backing his old gray pickup into the arena to watch the rodeo. “That’s where our love of the sport started,” she said. As she and her friends got older, they sat on the fence near the bucking chutes, to watch. And at the end of the rodeo, when the wild horse race began, “we’d run across the arena to get closer to the action,” she remembered. “The fence along the track would fold over with the weight of the people on it.”
Stroud’s great-uncle, Guy Davis, has roots even deeper in the Round-Up. Born in 1887, Davis owned the Ford-Plymouth-DeSoto dealership on Main Street, and was president of the Red Bluff Chamber of Commerce in 1932. Guy promoted the Round-Up, realizing the economic impact rodeo goers had on Red Bluff businesses. He and other men went from town to town, in the 1930s, promoting the Round-Up. Guy passed his share on to his nephew Jim, who passed it on to Stroud.
Even though she didn’t live on a farm, Stroud loved to ride horses. She and friends would pack a lunch and spend the day riding through the countryside. She was (and continues to be) good friends with Margo Growney Trujillo, and she would go to the Growney Ranch to help brand and work cattle. She never competed in rodeo, but she loved to go to the youth rodeos and watch Margo and other friends compete.
She has many memories surrounding the Round-Up, like the time she and her friend Debbie Slattery Stone took her Volkswagon to the rodeo. A cooler of pop was situated over the battery, and when the ice melted, it ran all over the battery. “There we were, at the rodeo, looking for a jump,” she laughed.
Stroud remembers sneaking into the rodeo, too. “If we didn’t have a ticket to the rodeo, we’d say, we’re taking lunch to George Growney, or John Growney, and we’d sneak our way right in.”
She remembers hearing stories of her dad, Jack Craig and Jim Owens saying they could never watch the parade because they always had to be at the rodeo. One year, they decided they would watch the parade. But instead of watching it, they borrowed someone’s old checker motor car and snuck into the parade line, becoming an entry in it!
Jim was awarded the Top Hand Award, given to a volunteer who has dedicated their time in assisting with the rodeo. He was selected for the honor in the 1980s and at the time of his death in July of 2018, was the oldest living Top Hand Award winner.
In Stroud’s younger years, she volunteered with some of the ancillary events surrounding the Round-Up, like the cowboy golf tournament. As a Red Bluff Rotarian, she helps man the beer booth, where proceeds go towards the Rotary’s scholarships. She also co-chairs the Think Pink luncheon, held on the Tuesday before the Round-Up (this year, April 16.) Proceeds from the Jolene Kemen Think Pink luncheon go to the Tough Enough to Wear Pink campaign, for cancer treatment at Dignity Health St. Elizabeth Community Hospital. Last year, the luncheon, along with its auction, raised $11,500, along with tips from the beer stands.
The cancer fundraiser holds an important part in Stroud’s heart because she is a breast cancer survivor. She knows she was fortunate enough to have good insurance. “There are a lot of people in our community that aren’t lucky enough to have that. By having this luncheon, we are making it possible for those people to receive the treatment they need.”
Vicki and her husband Doyle’s children Wes and Matt are the third generation of Round-Up fans. Wes and Matt “have been going to the rodeo since they were in my belly,” she laughed. “They’d sit at the rodeo through the wind and the cold. Not too many times did we miss the rodeo.” And the fourth generation is starting. Wes and Lauren’s children, daughter Hayden and son Boden, go to the rodeo with their family. Vicki’s brother Jimmy Davis has entered the wild horse race at the Round-Up, and Doyle is a volunteer at the Round-Up Mercantile in downtown Red Bluff.
The rodeo is important to Stroud, her family and the community. “To me, it means income to our community, it means bonding with community members and cowboys. It brings together people in our community. It’s a fun week to be involved.”
The 98th annual Red Bluff Round-Up takes place April 19-21 at the Tehama District Fairgrounds in Red Bluff. Performances start at 7 pm on April 19, at 2:30 pm on April 20, and at 1:30 pm on April 21. Tickets range in price from $14 to $35 and can be purchased online at www.RedBluffRoundup.com. Call the Round-Up office at 530.527.1000 for more information.
SALT LAKE CITY (March 26, 2019) – The Komatsu Equipment Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo presented by Zions Bank in Salt Lake City has become a must stop on the summer rodeo schedule for contestants from the junior high level all the way to the pros of the sport. Not only does the $1 million purse make it attractive but so does the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals awarded to the top three, setting this rodeo apart from any other rodeo in the world.
“We strive to bring the best in the sport of rodeo to the Great Salt Valley to celebrate Utah’s heritage and continue one of Utah’s longest-standing traditions,” said Dan Shaw, Chairman of the board for the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo. “Due to our partnership with PBR (Professional Bull Riders), WCRA (World Champions Rodeo Alliance) and our rodeo partners via the trial events, we are able to bring great talent from all areas for this one-of-a-kind Gold Medal Rodeo.”
A total of 256 competitors will have a chance to punch their ticket to the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo and take their shot at a share of the $1 million in prize money and the coveted medals. The rodeo will showcase the seven standard rodeo events and will feature 32 competitors in each with eight competitors per performance starting on Friday, July 19. The top two from each performance, along with two via the Wild Card category, will advance to the Gold Medal Round on July 24 where ten competitors in each event will compete in a sudden-death format with the winner collecting a Gold Medal and $50,000 cash.
Contestants in all events will have a few avenues in which to qualify – either via the Days of ’47 Qualification trial events or the WCRA path. Bull riders will also have opportunity via the PBR as noted below.
The Days of ’47 qualification route, including bull riders will consist of the following:
2018 Calgary Stampede Champion
2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo Medalists *top 3
2019 Lewis Feild Bulls and Broncs *roughstock only
2019 RodeoHouston Super Series Champions
2019 Denver Rodeo All-Star
2019 Rodeo Corpus Christi (Texas)
2019 Utah Timed Event Classic WCRA Western Quarter-Finals*timed-event only
2019 Santa Maria (Calif.) Elks Rodeo
2019 College National Finals Rodeo Champions
The WCRA qualifications will consist of the following:
2019 Chicago, Ill. Champion *includes bull rider
2019 Green Bay, Wis. Champion *includes bull rider
Top 20 in WCRA Virtual Qualifier points as of July 8, 2019 *not including bull riding
The remaining 20 bull riders will earn qualification based on the following:
2019 PBR Fresno, CA Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Event
2019 PBR Casper, WY Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Event
2019 PBR Bakersfield, CA Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Event
2019 PBR Billings, MT Unleash the Beast Tour Event
2019 Albuquerque, NM Unleash the Beast Tour Event
2019 PBR World Standings (Top 3 as of June 24th)
2019 WCRA VRQ Standings (12 athletes)
Bull riders will need to have a PBR card and be registered on the WRCA App to compete while all others must be registered with the WCRA to compete.
“Last year our Gold Medal Round featured world champions, defending Days of ’47 champions, college champions and an 11-year old barrel racer further proving our event features all the best the sport of rodeo has to offer,” noted Tommy Joe Lucia, General Manager of the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo. “We hope that not only the contestants but also the fans will make this a destination event where they can experience Utah and Life Elevated. Fans not only have the opportunity to experience a world class rodeo at night but can enjoy all the adventure Utah has to offer during the day.”
The Komatsu Equipment Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo presented by Zions Bank, July 19-20 and 22-24, will take place at the $17.5 million state-of-the-art Days of ’47 Arena at the Utah State Fairpark, custom designed and built for rodeo. The venue—an outdoor arena located in the heart of Salt Lake City—features over 10,000 stadium-style seats.
For only the fifth time in the history of rodeo, riders will have an opportunity to compete for Gold, Silver or Bronze Medals. The first two times were in conjunction with the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary (1988) and Salt Lake City (2002), when rodeo was part of the Cultural Olympiad and the other two times being the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo in 2017 and 2018. The medals that will be awarded at the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo will be produced by OC Tanner, the same company that made the Olympic medals for the champions of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
Tickets are currently on sale at smithstix.com. For more information on the event visit www.daysof47cowboygames.com.
The Komatsu Equipment Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo will broadcast exclusively on PBR’s RidePass via RidePass.com or the RidePass mobile app.
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Current list of contestants who have earned qualification for 2019 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo
Bareback Riding
Richmond Champion – 2018 Calgary Stampede
Wyatt Denny – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
*JR Vezain – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo (will be unable to compete due to injury)
Ty Breuer – 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo
Tristan Hansen– 2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo (replacing JR Vezain)
Kaycee Feild – 2019 WCRA Windy City Roundup, Chicago
Marco Antonio Eguchi – 2019 PBR Fresno, CA Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Event
Remaining schedule
– 2019 PBR Casper, WY Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Event – March 30
– 2019 PBR Bakersfield, CA Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Event – April 6
– 2019 Denver Rodeo All-Star – April 12-13
– 2019 PBR Billings, MT Unleash the Beast Tour Event – April 12-14
– 2019 Rodeo Corpus Christi – April 25-28
– 2019 Utah Timed Event Classic – May 2-4
– 2019 Albuquerque, NM Unleash the Beast Tour Event – May 17-19
– 2019 Santa Maria Elks Rodeo – May 30 – June 2
– 2019 WCRA Title Town Stampede, Green Bay – June 1
– 2019 College National Finals Rodeo Champion – June 9-15
– 2019 PBR World Standings (Top 3) – June 24th
– 2019 WCRA VRQ Standings (20 athletes all events except bull riding; 12 athletes for bull riding) July 8
About Days of ‘47
The Komatsu Equipment Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo presented by Zions Bank, takes place at the all-new, $17.5 million, state-of-the-art Days of ’47 Arena at the Utah State Fairpark each July. The venue—an outdoor arena located in the heart of Salt Lake City—features over 10,000 stadium-style seats. The Days of ’47 Rodeo is one of Utah’s longest-standing traditions – celebrating Utah’s heritage since 1847. The rodeo, and other Days of ’47 events, commemorate the day – July 24, 1847 – when a determined company of Mormon pioneers realized their dreams upon entering the Great Salt Valley. The Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo is a private, non-profit, volunteer, charitable organization. Our mission is to honor Utah’s pioneer heritage and educate Utah’s kids. Please visit daysof47cowboygames.com for more information.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Top-three finishes in the first three events of his Bullfighters Only season weren’t enough for Kris Furr, so he did something about it this past weekend at Rodeo Scottsdale.
Furr outlasted a talented field of eight bullfighters to win the Wrangler Bullfight Tour stop. Furr made his way to Saturday’s Hooey Championship Round with a second-place finish on the first day of the rodeo and bullfights, joining round winner Zach Flatt of Fittstown, Oklahoma.
“I thought it was a great event, and I think the people there love to watch it,” said Furr of Hamptonville, North Carolina. “After Scottsdale’s rodeo last year and the Barrett-Jackson Auction (in January), I think we’re starting to get a pretty big following in Arizona.”
Furr and Flatt were joined in the final round by Beau Schueth of O’Neill, Nebraska, and Chance Moorman of Lytle, Texas; Schueth won the second round with an event high 84-point bout, and Moorman was 80 points.
Once in the championship round, it was a tight battle between the four combatants. Furr took the title with an 80-point fight, with Moorman finishing as the runner-up just one point behind.
“This was a huge win,” Furr said. “I’ve been consistent in the four events I’ve been to, but I’ve been second twice and third once, so I was dying for a win.”
With the victory he picks up $4,500, which boosts him to No. 2 in the Pendleton Whisky World Standings with $14,000. He is just $3,250 behind the leader, three-time reigning world champion Weston Rutkowski.
“This was a little bit of a different format where two guys advanced out of the rounds,” Furr said. “It was nice, because usually there’s a lot of pressure that you have to win. When you have that pressure, you put yourself at more risk. You’re usually putting it all out there on the first bull.
“This event allowed you to play it smart and slip into the short round. It lets you have a better chance and lets you breathe a little more going into it.”
As with anything he does, the North Carolinian gained some valuable lessons while competing in Arizona this past weekend. Though his confidence remains rock solid, he saw some things in his own fights that could allow him to improve as he moves forward.
“What I took away from there were a couple of learning points,” he said. “I think everything I did in the short round was correct, but there was a lot more I could have done to add to it. Even though I won, I feel like I learned a lot.”
Each step of the way is a process, and he’s reminded of that every day. In addition to the rigors of the competition, Furr puts his body through a tremendous test regularly to make sure he’s in the best physical condition when it comes time to face the beast.
“It’s like any other sport; you lift a lot of weights to keep your body used to being under that kind of stress,” said Furr, who spends a great deal of time in Decatur, Texas, so he can utilize the training facilities at Fit-N-Wise, an athletic training and sports medicine operation. “A lot of the speed drills and agility drills I do help keep the crispness and the snappiness I have.
“If you look at me and Weston, we’ve got our meals lined out; we know what we’re taking in. A lot of guys can copy what you do as a bullfighter, but it’s hard to copy what you don’t see outside the arena.”
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – With the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo on the line, Tilden Hooper delivered.
The bareback rider from Carthage, Texas, had a 92-point ride on Hi Lo Pro Rodeo’s Redzilla to win the four-man round Sunday at the Silver Spurs Arena.
Hooper’s score broke the RAM NCFR bareback riding record of 91 points set by Cimmaron Gerke on Kesler Rodeo’s Smiling Cat in 2004 in Pocatello, Idaho.
“That was one of my most fun bareback rides of my career,” said Hooper, 31, who joined the PRCA in 2006. “There’s nothing better than breaking a record and having all your buddies cheering for you behind the chutes.”
Hooper, who was making his debut at the RAM NCFR, was plenty familiar with Redzilla. He drew that horse in Round 1 of the 2018 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and had an 83-point ride.
“I’m also really good friends with the guys who run Hi Lo Pro Rodeo,” Hooper said. “My friend Levi McCray was flanking him and Dustin Murray, the guy who runs Hi Lo Pro Rodeo, was running the neck rope. I’ve known those guys forever, and it is fun to win, but it is even more fun with your buddies involved.”
Hooper acknowledged Redzilla was better this time.
“When I had that horse before, she was good, but she just covered a little more ground,” Hooper said. “So, when she hooked that right and stood in one spot, I knew I had a chance and just let it roll, and here we are.”
Hooper departed the RAM NCFR after earning $19,670 – $7,493 for winning the final round. Hooper entered the RAM NCFR March 21 fifth in the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $44,231.
In addition to the money earned, each event national champ also received a Voucher toward a new RAM truck; a Polaris Ranger XP 1000; a 65 Venture OtterBox Cooler; a pair of Justin Boots; a custom champion Montana Silversmiths buckle; and a champion saddle handcrafted by Cactus Saddlery.
“It always feels good to win this kind of money,” Hooper said. “I’m excited. I’m trying to win a world championship, so all those dollars are just helping me get a little closer to No. 1.”
A year ago, Hooper placed a career-best third in the world standings with $245,583. He earned $150,391 in Las Vegas at the 2018 Wrangler NFR. Hooper has qualified for the Wrangler NFR five times (2008-09, 2011, 2014 and 2018).
“Ever since I had surgery on my neck in 2013, I had to completely change what I was doing,” he said. “I started working out and I have a fitness regimen. Those injuries have been blessings for me because they have made me really work for it and crafted me into the bareback rider I am today, which is a lot better than I was 10 years ago.”
Leon Fountain – RodeoBum.com
Pearson picked a heck of a time to take some time off
Pearson, the 2017 Steer Wrestling World Champion, won the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo with a run of 3.9 seconds in the four-man finals Sunday.
Pearson also took second in the eight-man round earlier in the day. All told, he won $13,267, which will give him a boost in the PRCA | RAM World Standings where he stood at 16th with $20,723 entering the RAM NCFR.
“That felt good,” said Pearson, who claimed his first RAM NCFR title.
Now, the 34-year-old from Louisville, Miss., is going to take a break from competing until the summer run.
“I’m going to take a couple months off, I’ve been rodeoing pretty hard,” Pearson said. “I’ll come back out in June.”
Joining him will be Scooter, the 2017 and 2018 PRCA | AQHA Horse of the Year for steer wrestling that earson rode to the win Sunday. Three of the four qualifiers in the RAM NCFR finals were riding Scooter.
“He gets some time off for sure,” said Pearson, who co-owns Scooter with Kyle Irwin. “We’re going to give him a couple months off, as well. “We’ll let him relax now until June, the summer’s pretty hard.
Pearson was making his first trip to the RAM NCFR since it moved to Kissimmee in 2015. Pearson and his family got to enjoy some of the sites in and around Kissimmee, not to mention celebrate Pearson’s victory.
“We love the weather, the kids love the atmosphere, the pools,” Pearson said. “People around here are cool. We enjoy it. We went to Disney village or something like that. They liked it – Mickey and Minnie, that rat makes a lot of money.”
Clay Smith/Jake Long capturing team roping crown
Team ropers Clay Smith and Jake Long capped a superb week at the RAM NCFR by winning the RAM NCFR title with a 4.8-second run in the four-team finals.
“This is great to win,” Smith said. “This is a great rodeo down here, especially with as much as it pays and everything you win.”
Long agreed.
“Honestly, I rode about as poor of a corner since I have been here,” Long said about his team’s run in the finals. “Colonel (Long’s horse) did such a good job and let me set my rope down in a pretty tough spot, and Clay did a good job of keeping it moving and it worked out.”
Long also won the RAM NCFR in team roping in 2007 in Pocatello, Idaho.
Meged stays hot, snares tie-down roping title
Rookie Haven Meged clocked a 7.4-second run in the final round to claim the title.
“This is just crazy,” Meged said. “That was my goal to come here and win it, and I achieved that goal, which was really sweet.”
Strong draws nets Brooks title
Chase Brooks posted a 91-point ride on Dakota Rodeo’s Cash Deal in the semifinals and an 89.5-point ride on Mo Betta Rodeo’s Sue City Sue in the four-man finals to win the saddle bronc riding and his first RAM NCFR title.
“I’d never been on her, but I’d seen her quite a bit,” Brooks said. “She’s an older horse. She felt really good. She was one you could really open up and just have a good time.”
Smith only bull rider to make whistle
Garrett Smith was the only bull rider in the four-man finals to make the whistle, posting an 85-point ride on Painted Pony Championship Rodeo’s Holly Holy.
“This is pretty awesome,” Smith said. “I’ve been here a couple times and had a little bit of success winning a couple rounds, but never made the four man.”
Texas grabs Circuit team title
In the team race, Texas came in first, winning $133,689. The Prairie Circuit was second with $110,432, followed by the Badlands $91,808 and Wilderness $81,308.
The remaining team finishers were:
Montana ($69,123), Mountain States ($60,956), California ($49,133), Columbia River ($46,164), Southeast ($43,171), Great Lakes ($30,325), Turquoise ($16,805) and First Frontier ($4,549).
Top Stock of RAM NCFR
The top stock of the 2019 RAM NCFR was as follows: Bareback horse, Hi Lo Pro Rodeo’s Pretty Woman; Saddle bronc horse, Silver Spurs Rodeo’s Best Hope; Bull, Barnes PRCA Rodeo’s Tallahassee Red.
Valenzuela wins all-around
Miguel Valenzuela of the Mexico Circuit won the all-around title. Valenzuela competed in team roping and tie-down roping at the Silver Spurs Arena.
Bull riding: Finals: 1. Garrett Smith, 85 points on Painted Pony Championship Rodeo’s Holly Holy, $7,581; no other qualified rides.
First round: 1. Cole Melancon, 88 points on Stace Smith Pro Rodeos’ Hacksaw Ridge, $6,444; 2. Justin Rickard, 80.5, $4,928; 3. (tie) Tyger Gonzalez and Jeff Bertus, 80, $3,032 each; 5. Aaron Williams, 69, $1,516; no other qualified rides. Second round: 1. Garrett Smith, 87 points on 4L & Diamond S Rodeo’s Rough Ride, $6,444; 2. Tyler Bingham, 86, $4,928; 3. Trevor Kastner, 80, $3,601; 4. Roscoe Jarboe, 78, $2,464; 5. Brett Custer, 71, $1,516; no other qualified rides. Average: 1. Cole Melancon, 88 points on one head, $6,254; 2. Garrett Smith, 87, $4,738; 3. Tyler Bingham, 86, $3,412; 4. Justin Rickard, 80.5, $2,274; 5. (tie) Trevor Kastner and Jeff Bertus, 80, $758 each. Semifinals: 1. No qualified rides.
Total payoff: $758,112. Stock contractors: New Star Pro Rodeo, Universal Pro Rodeos and Three Hills Rodeo. Sub-contractors: Stace Smith Pro Rodeos, 4L & Diamond S Rodeo, Mo Betta Rodeo, Painted Pony Championship Rodeo, Dakota Rodeo, Barnes PRCA Rodeo, Brookman Rodeo, Big Rafter Rodeo, Cowtown Rodeo, Hi Lo ProRodeo Company, Five Star Rodeo, Harper & Morgan Rodeo Co, Vold Rodeo, Korkow Rodeos, Hi Lo ProRodeo, Rafter H Rodeo Livestock and Silver Spurs Club. Rodeo secretary: Mikey Duggan. Officials: Mike Todd, Carl Burkholder, Chuck Hoss and Allan Jordan Jr. Timers: Kate Rumford and Molly Twitchell. Announcers: Bob Tallman and Roger Mooney. Bullfighters: Luke Kraut and J.D. Harrell. Clown/barrelman: J.J. Harrison. Flankmen: R.J. Griscom Jr., Tyson Fowler, Levi McCray and Garrett Burruss. Chute bosses: Scott Ramsey, John Gwatney and Dustin Murray. Pickup men: Shawn Calhoun and Will O’Connell. Photographers: James Phifer and Roseanna Sales. Music director: Benje Bendele.
