The weekend rodeo report: August 12-14

Courtesy of PRCA

There was a ton of silver to be won at these Silver Tour rodeos – Hermiston, Lovington and Sikeston – and nobody helped themselves to more of it than Tryan and Graves. They were one of five team roping pairs to earn checks at all three, and each man banked $8,988 to edge bull rider Clayton Savage by $184 for top honors. Tie-down roper Michael Otero was third with $7,384. Oddly, apart from the team ropers (Tryan/Graves, Arky Rogers/York Gill, Kaleb Driggers/Brad Culpepper, Brandon Beers/Jim Ross Cooper and Spencer Mitchell/Broc Cresta), only three other cowboys earned checks in all three Wrangler Million Dollar Tour events, and none of them won any titles. Bareback rider Matt Bright led this group with $6,724, earning third-place finishes at Hermiston and Lovington and a fourth-place check at Sikeston. Steer wrestler Kenneth Lewis banked $5,576 from his three-state and 3,472-mile tour and saddle bronc rider Cody Wright had $2,395.

Cody Wright became the second PRCA cowboy to surpass $100,000 in single-event earnings on Aug. 9, when he finished second to Bradley Harter in the saddle bronc riding at the Larimer County Fair & Rodeo in Loveland, Colo., and earned $1,722. Bull rider Shane Proctor was the first to hit six figures in one event on July 4.  Wright also had those three checks from the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour events plus a third-place check at the Cache County Fair & Rodeo in Logan, Utah, to finish the week with $4,969 and a season total of $104,662. That third-place result in Logan? He finished one point behind two of his younger brothers – the twins, Jake and Jesse – who tied for the win with 83 points apiece. 

Until Clint Cannon draws a horse named Thunderous Boom or Matt Bright finds his name on a day sheet next to High Wattage, it’s going to be hard to find a better matchup of bareback rider and steed names than the Cowtown Rodeo had Aug. 13. Naval Academy Midshipman Blake Wilson drew Salty Dog, which is nautical slang for an experienced sailor and also for ornery, which bucking horses tend to be. It proved a winning combination in Woodstown Pilesgrove, N.J., with Wilson, a senior at Annapolis, getting the win with a 74-point ride. “I had been on him twice before, so I was familiar with him and knew he circles to the right,” Wilson said. “It wasn’t my best trip, but it was good enough to get the job done. I go to Cowtown because it’s the most convenient for me since it’s only a 90-minute drive. I try to go to the Pennsylvania rodeos; New York is just too far for me to do with my naval schedule. I have Friday and Saturday nights off from duty now that I’m a senior, so that helps.” (For more on Wilson, read the Sept. 2 issue of ProRodeo Sports News (PSN) magazine.) 

Half of the weekend’s 90-point roughstock rides came at one venue, the Western Montana Fairgrounds, with saddle bronc rider Tyrell Smith scoring 90 on New West Rodeo’s Show Biz and bull rider Travis Atkinson getting his 90 on Robinson Pro Rodeo’s Exotic Justin to win the Missoula Stampede. The others to reach 9-oh were bareback rider Caine Riddle in Sikeston, Mo., and bull rider Luke Dotson in Coffeyville, Kan. Dotson ended up nearly being trampled by David Bailey Rodeo Company’s Frosty after completing his ride and was far more eager to talk about his rescue that his score. “Those bullfighters (Cory Wall and Andy Burelle) did save me,” Dotson said. “I was right underneath him. I just went off on my head and didn’t know where I was … My hat is off to them.”

Dustin Bird of Cut Bank, Mont., had a “natural” all-around title at the Missoula (Mont.) Stampede, getting there by winning the tie-down roping and pairing with Ryle Whitford for a share of the team roping title. He earned a total of $4,448 … Vin Fisher Jr. won the steer roping at the Phil Gardenhire PRCA Rodeo in Poteau, Okla., for his fourth win in two weeks and yet dropped a spot to third in the world standings. Rocky Patterson won the steer roping in Ponca City, Okla., and was fifth in Lovington, to push past Fisher by $510 … Frenchman Evan Jayne is quietly having a strong season while working around his duties as an agricultural teacher at Forney (Texas) High School. His bareback riding wins this weekend in Crossett, Ark., and Mesquite, Texas, brought his total for the year to 11 … Two-time Wrangler NFR-qualifier Spud Duvall was also a double winner this weekend. He won the two-head title in 19.2 seconds in the mud at Coffeyville, Kan., and had a 3.5-second run to win in Ponca City, Okla. … Elder statesman winner of the week was Joe Bell Sr., 57, who won the steer wrestling at the Cowtown Rodeo in Woodstown Pilesgrove, N.J., with an impressive time of 4.8 seconds.

 Idle thoughts while culling through 31 PRCA rodeos: Given the nature of the event, has there ever been a better steer wrestling name than Seth Hadlock? (The Liberty, Utah, cowboy won the Jerome County Fair & Rodeo in Jerome, Idaho, with a time of 4.1 seconds) And what, exactly, are the odds that steer wrestlers Clayton Moore and Clayton Morrison would finish in a tie twice in the same weekend (in Omak, Wash., and Hermiston, Ore.)?

The Brazile Watch: Although he did not win the all-around title at any of the three Wrangler Million Dollar Tour rodeos over the Aug. 12-14 weekend, Trevor Brazile was the only contestant to show up in the all-around standings in all of them and would be the three-stop Tour all-around champion (if there were such a thing) with $6,393. Brazile lifted his total earnings for the year to $199,799, meaning he is just $201 away from reaching the $200,000 mark for the 11th consecutive season. 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

 “Everyone thinks Texas and Oklahoma are supposed to be the big cowboy states. Here in Wyoming, we have a fraction of the population of one of the big cities in those states, and we’re running right close with them at the top of the standings.” 

– Bobby Welsh, of Gillette, pointing out to the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle that his state has three of the top 14 bull riders in the world standings and four of the top 20, despite being the least-populated state in the union.