Savage ignores injuries, earns checks in Steamboat Springs & Wolf Point

Courtesy PRCA Media

Wyoming bull rider Clayton Savage has been kind of a staple on the Justin Sportsmedicine injury report just lately. A sprained right ankle in Reno, Nev., was followed by a contusion to the left foot in Greeley, Colo., and a contusion to the right shoulder in Prescott, Ariz., all of which was meant to keep him out of action for a while.

But you know how that goes. Savage started the week in 13th place in the world standings and, being reluctant to give up ground, got back out on the road this week to win the bull riding at the Steamboat Springs (Colo.) ProRodeo Series.


His 82-point ride on Southwick’s Rocky Mountain Rodeo Company’s Spotted Wolf was three points better than the rest of the field and paid him $747. He also earned $913 for a third-place finish at the Wolf Point (Mont.) Wild Horse Stampede.


“I sat out the Fourth of July week (missing five rodeos and the Cody Xtreme Bulls) and used the time wisely to heal up,” Savage said. “I went swimming a lot, got in the hot tub, and followed the plan the Justin Sportsmedicine team set for me. I went down to Greeley (Colo.) for a checkup with them.

“The shoulder still hurts, but I was feeling well enough to ride (this weekend). It was kind of upsetting to miss so many of the rodeos over the Fourth, but after getting back on the road and performing pretty well, I’m feeling good about things. I just have to keep it going.” 


It was more of the same at Hamel, Minn. Bull rider Blake Rowan has a painful shoulder injury, and his doctor advised him to sit out two months so torn ligaments might mend on their own. But Blake knew he had his “dream draw” at the Hamel Rodeo & Bull Ridin’ Bonanza – Billionaire of the David Bailey Pro Rodeo Company string. “This was a bull I’d always wanted to get on, (so) I didn’t tell (the doctor) I was going.” The result? Rowan stayed on Billionaire for 89 points and became a thousandaire; he claimed the winner’s check of $3,274, more than doubling his season earnings. Now he’s going back home to Muskogee, Okla., and taking the rest of the season off.  “I’ve been getting a half a season of rodeo (for the last few years, due to injury),” Rowan told writer Ruth Nicolaus. “For Christmas, I’m going to put ‘a full season of rodeo’ on my wish list.” 


Blake Knowles won the steer wrestling at the Elgin (Ore.) Stampede, but it was a rare appearance in the team roping that put him over the top for the all-around title, edging Dakota Eldridge. Blake, a 2009 bulldogging qualifier for the Wrangler NFR, paired with his dad, Butch, the 1987 NFR saddle bronc average champion, to finish in a tie for fourth in the team roping with a time of 6.5 seconds. Of the nearly $335,000 Blake Knowles has earned in his PRCA career, $4,066 of that has come in team roping. “We’ve probably roped in about five PRCA rodeos together over the years,” Blake Knowles said, “and this is the first one where we’ve earned a check. It was a fun deal. My dad heeled off the back of my bulldogging horse, and we really enjoyed ourselves. We’ll probably get together again at Pendleton (Ore.) and Ellensburg (Wash.).”


Shawn Hogg of Odessa, Texas, moved back into the Top 15 of the bull riding world standings by winning the Laramie (Wyo.) Jubilee Days Rodeo with an 89-point ride on Burns Rodeo’s Coopers Magic that paid $4,772. It was equal to the highest-scored roughstock ride of the weekend in PRCA competition; Steve Woolsey won the bull riding at Browning, Mont., with an 89-pointer on JS Rodeo’s Colored Cat and Dustin Larsen the bull riding at Vernal, Utah, with an 89 on Powder River Rodeo’s Smoothie.


Pueblo, Colo., cowboy Josh Peek collected a pair of all-around titles over the July 8-10 weekend at the Dinosaur Days Roundup in Vernal, Utah, and the Laramie (Wyo.) Jubilee Days. He won Vernal on the strength of his third-place result in the tie-down roping and Laramie because he won the steer wrestling.


Frenchman Evan (aka Yvan Pierre) Jayne made a weekend in the northern latitudes pay off for him. His win in the bareback riding at the Heart of the North Rodeo in Spooner, Wis., yielded the biggest check of the rodeo ($3,662), and he also secured a win at the Wolf Point (Mont.) Wild Horse Stampede that paid $1,430. 


The Brazile Watch: Trevor Brazile and partner Patrick Smith finished fourth in the team roping at the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo in Vernal, Utah, earning $2,516 apiece. It brings Brazile’s total earnings for the season to $174,636, more than $100,000 ahead of second-place Shane Proctor in the all-around standings and $27,364 ahead of his pace at this time a year ago, when he broke the single-season earnings record. In addition to leading the all-around standings, he is also first in steer roping, second in tie-down roping and third among team roping headers (moving up one spot from last week).