(PRCA release)
FORT WORTH, Tex. – The lion’s share of nearly $650,000 in prize money was paid out at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo on Saturday.
The day got off to a rousing start on Saturday afternoon with the last performance of regular competition. That set the field for Saturday night’s finals and paid checks in the preliminary rounds.
Saturday night kicked off with the 12 best bareback riders trying to add their names to the history books. The most successful out of the 74 entries was Wyoming’s J.R. Vezain. The former college champion and five-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) qualifier got on an extra horse to earn the title.
Initially, he got on Universal Pro Rodeo’s horse named Short Fuse. When the horse stumbled, that gave Vezain another opportunity. He quickly made the decision to give up his 82-point score and try again. That was a wise decision as he improved by over five points. He rode Picket Pro Rodeo’s Top Notch for 87.5 points to win the finals. He also had the highest total through four rounds of competition at 338.5 to earn a total of $10,817.
Tyler Pearson could be the happiest rodeo contestant of the 1,147 that were entered here. Pearson, from Louisville, Mississippi won the steer wrestling world championship last December at the NFR and hasn’t slowed down one bit.
He won the championship at the National Western Stock Show in Denver for more than $16,000 just two weeks ago. He came here and added to that significantly. He stopped the clock in 3.9 seconds to win the final round. That gave him a total of 12.4 on three runs and the championship. Pearson left Fort Worth with $14,729 and is hoping for a trifecta when he competes at the San Antonio Stock Show which begins next week.
Tyler was riding Scooter, a horse he and fellow steer wrestler Kyle Irwin own in partnership. Scooter, whose registered name is Canted Plan, was the 2017 AQHA/PRCA steer wrestling horse of the year. This was the second big win at Fort Worth for the 13-year-old gelding. He took Luke Branquinho to the championship here one year ago.
Another contestant that is having a great season and hoping his momentum continues is Shane Hanchey, from Sulphur, La., Hanchey, like Pearson, earned the title at the National Western. He also won the championship here with a total of 27.3 seconds on three runs. Hanchey had the fastest time of the Championship Finals at 7.8. He earned $18,670 and won the most money of all the contestants in Fort Worth.
This is the second championship in the Will Rogers Coliseum for the 2013 world champion tie-down roper. He also earned his second championship at Denver this year. Hanchey has been riding his great horse “Bam Bam” and they have been working together flawlessly.
“I’ve gotten on a roll like this before, but never this early in the season,” Hanchey said. “I’m more excited than ever to compete at San Antonio. Winning at Fort Worth for a second time was really special. Then getting that $5,000 bonus was an awesome surprise.”
All the event champions got that extra surprise when they got their awards. It was the second win here for bull rider Trevor Kastner and team roping header Matt Sherwood, but the first time they received the bonus. Kastner won the title here in 2010. This year, he earned $12,504 after scoring 87 points on J Bar J Rodeo’s Little Big Man. That gave him a three-head total of 251.5 for the championship.
Sherwood, from Pima, Arizona did the heading for veteran heeler Walt Woodard, from Stephenville, Texas. They stopped the clock in the finals in 5.5 seconds and had the best total on three at 15.5 seconds. They each got $13,016.
Jacobs Crawley has won nearly every major rodeo on the circuit after getting his win here. The Boerne, Texas, resident won the world championship in 2015 and has made the trip to Las Vegas to compete at the NFR seven times. With the $13,016 that he won here, he has a good start on an eighth qualification.
The barrel racing was all about a brown mare named CP Dark Moon, known to her fans as Paige. Paige is owned and ridden by Amberleigh Moore of Keizer, Oregon. They made the trip to Las Vegas the first time in 2016. Then made it back again last year.
Moore trained Paige and the duo has a very special relationship. They won the first round here and were solid in the second. They had the fastest total time on three runs at 49.32 seconds to win $15,100.
The World’s Original Indoor Rodeo is making plans for the 2019 event and beyond. Next year’s rodeo will be the last one held in the historic Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum before the legendary event moves into the new Dickies Arena.
2018 Champions
Bareback Riding – J.R. Vezain, Cowley, Wyo., 338.5 points, $10,817
Steer Wrestling – Tyler Pearson, Louisville, Miss., 12.4, $14,729
Team Roping – Matt Sherwood, Pima, Ariz., and
Walt Woodard, Stephenville, Texas, 15.5 seconds, $8,909 each
Saddle Bronc Riding – Jacobs Crawley, Boerne, Texas, 247.5 points, $13,016
Tie-Down Roping – Shane Hanchey, Sulphur, La., 23.0 seconds. $18,668
Barrel Racing – Amberleigh Moore, Keizer, Ore., 49.32 seconds, $15,100
Bull Riding – Trevor Kastner, Roff, Okla., 251.5 points, $12,504
Bareback Riding: Final Round – 1, JR Vezain, Cowley, Wyo., 87.5 points on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Top Notch, $1,650. 2, Orin Larsen, Inglis, Manitoba, 87, $1,250. 3, Richmond Champion, The Woodlands, Texas, 86.5, $900. 4, (tie) Clayton Biglow, Clements, Calif., and Justin Miller, Billings, Mont., 85.5, $475 each. 6, (tie) Kaycee Feild, Spanish Fork, Utah, and Tim O’Connell, Zwingle, Iowa, 85, $125 each.
(total on four) 1, Vezain, 338.5, $6,111.60. 2, Mason Clements, Springville, Utah, 338, $4,686. 3, Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D., 333, $3,463. 4, (tie) Miller and O’Connell, 332, $1,833 each. 6, Champion, 330.5, $1,019. 7, Larsen, 329, $815. 8, Seth Hardwick, Ranchester, Wyo., 328.5, $611.
Steer Wrestling: Final Round—1, Tyler Pearson, Louisville, Miss., 3.9 seconds, $2,013. 2, (tie) Josh Clark, Warner, Okla., and Tanner Brunner, Ramona, Kan., 4.0, $1,619 each. 4, Cody Cabral, Hilo, Hawaii, 4.4, $1,225. 5, (tie) Olin Hannum, Malad, Idaho, and Matt Reeves, Cross Plains, Texas, $831 each. 7, Taz Olson, Prairie City, S.D., 4.8, $438. 8, Will Lummus, West Point, Miss., $175.
(total on three) 1, Pearson, 12.4 seconds, $8,519. 2, Brunner, 13.0, $7,408. 3, Clark, 13.5, $6,297. 4, Cabral, 13.7, $5,186. 5, Reeves, 13.8, $4,074. 6, Hannum, 14.0, $2,963. 7, Olson, $1,852. 8, Lummus, 14.3, $741.
Team Roping: Final Round – 1, Jake Cooper, Monument, N.M., and Logan Medlin, Tatum, N.M., 5.0 seconds, $1,624 each. 2, Matt Sherwood, Pima, Ariz., and Walt Woodard, Stephenville, Texas, 5.5, $1,344 each. 3, (tie) Cody Snow, Los Olivos, Calif., and Wesley Thorp, Throckmorton, Texas, and Luke Brown, Rock Hill, S.C., and Jake Long, Coffeyville, Kan., 5.8, $924 each. 5, Derrick Begay, Seba Dalkai, Ariz., and Clay O’Brien Cooper, Gardnerville, Nev., 6.2, $504 each. 6, Shane Philipp, Washington, Texas, and Joel Bach, Mount Vernon, Texas, 6.4, $280 each.
(total on three) 1, Sherwood and Woodard, 15.6 seconds, $7,565 each. 2, Brown and Long, 16.0, $6,578 each. 3, Jake Cooper, Monument, N.M., and Logan Medlin, Tatum, N.M., 16.3, $5,591 each. 4, (tie) Snow and Thorp and Philipp and Bach, 16.5, $4,111 each. 6, Begay and O’Brien Cooper, 17.2, $2,641 each. 7, Tyler Wojciechowski, Hico, Texas, and Ross Ashford, Lott, Texas, 21.2, $1,645 each. 8, Lee Kiehne, Lemitar, N.M., and Rich Skelton, Llano, Texas, 23.4, $658 each.
Saddle Bronc Riding: Final Performance- 1, Jesse Wright, Milford, Utah, 85 points on Dakota Rodeo’s Cash Deal, $1,650. 2, (tie) Colt Gordon, Comanche, Okla., and Jacobs Crawley, Boerne, Texas, 84, $1,075 each. 3, Dawson Jandreau, Kennebec, S.D., 82, $600. 4, Jake Finlay, Goondiwindi, Queensland, Australia, 80, $350. 6, (tie) Hardy Braden, Welch, Okla., and Rusty Wright, Milford, Utah, 78.5, $125 each.
(total on three) 1, Crawley, 247.5 points, $7,165. 2, (tie) Gordon and Brody Cress, Hillsdale, Wyo., 247, $4776 each. 4, Rusty Wright, 246.5, $2,627. 5, Jandreau, 246, $1,672. 6, Braden, 242. $1,194. 7, Jesse Wright, 241, $955. 8, (tie) Isaac Diaz, Desdemona, Texas, and Blaise Freeman, Snyder, Texas, 237.5, $358 each.
Tie-Down Roping: Final Round- 1, Shane Hanchey, Sulphur, La., 7.8 seconds, $2,208. 2, J.C. Malone, Plain City, Utah, 8.7, $1,920. 3. Blane Cox, Cameron, Texas, 8.9, $$1,632. 4, Clif Cooper, Decatur, Texas, 9.8, $1,344. 5, Cody Huber, Albia, Iowa, 9.9, $1,056. 6, Marty Yates, Stephenville, Texas, 10.4, $768. 7, Cody Quaney, Cheney, Kan., 108, $480. 8, Braxton Laughlin, Sulphur, La., 12.4, $192.
(total on three) 1, Hanchey, 27.3 seconds, $9,876. 2, Cooper, 27.9, $8,588. 3, Malone, 28.4, $7,300. 4, Cox, 28.5, $6,012. 5, Yates, 28.6, $4,723. 6, Huber, 29.7, $3,435. 7, Quaney, 29.9, $2,147. 8, Laughlin, 32.1, $859.
Barrel Racing: Final Round – 1, Carman Pozzobon, Aldergrove, British Columbia, 16.33, $3,833. 2, Cheyenne Kelly, Hallettsville, Texas, 16.44, $2,875. 3, Amberleigh Moore, Keizer, Ore., 16.45, $1,917. 4, Hailey Kinsel, Cotulla, Texas, 16.47, $958.
(total on three) 1, Moore, 49.32 seconds, $7,762. 2, Kinsel, 49.33, $6,654. 3, Kylie Weast, Comanche, Okla., 49.43, $5,545. 4, Pozzobon, 49.51, $4,805. 5, Kelly, 49.56, $3,696. 6, Kelly Collier, Hereford, Texas, 49.61, $2,947. 7, Taci Bettis, Round Top, Texas, 49.81, $2,218. 8, (tie) Cayla Small, Burneyville, Okla., and Sarah Rose McDonald, Brunswick, Ga., 49.91, $1,294. 10, Sadye Simpson, Stephenville, Texas, 50.04, $739.
Bull Riding: Final Round— 1, Trevor Kastner, Roff, Okla., 87 points on J Bar J Rodeo’s Little Big Man, $1,800. 2, Elliot Jacoby, Fredericksburg, Texas, 85.5, $1,400. 3, Tyler Bingham, Honeyville, Utah, 82, $1,050. 4, Colby Hill, Del Rio, Texas, 81, $750.
(total on three) 1, Kastner, 251.5 points, $8,861. 2, Bingham, 248.5, $6,793. 3, Hill, 231, $4,021. (on two) 4, Jacoby, 174, $3,249. 5, Garrett Tribble, Bristow, Okla., 167.5, $2,067. 6, Dustin Boquet, Bourg, La., 166, $1,477. 7, Colby Demo, Red Bluff, Calif., 161.5, $1,181. 8, Tristan Mize, Bryan, Texas, 156, $886.
