(Frontier Days release by Johna Cravens)
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Brody Cress and Koby Radley may live more than 1,300 miles apart but the two cowboys have a few things in common. Both young men have a parent who is a high school teacher; neither has celebrated their 23rd birthday; both name Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD) as their favorite rodeo, and both took the overall lead in their respective events on Thursday at Frontier Park.
No one is surprised that CFD is the 22-year-old Cress’s favorite rodeo. He thrilled the Wyoming crowd when he won the saddle bronc riding championship here last year. A local favorite, Cress graduated from Cheyenne East High School where he won three consecutive state championships in wrestling.
Cress scored 88 points in the first round of saddle bronc riding on Wednesday and followed that up Thursday with 78.5 points on a horse named Netflix from the Andrews Rodeo string. While Thursday’s ride didn’t put him in the second-round money standings, his total of 166.5 points put him first overall, 1.5 points ahead of Isaac Diaz who rode Thursday as well. Cress has a chance to become only the third saddle bronc rider to win back-to-back titles at Cheyenne, a feat no cowboy has accomplished since 1936.
The money Cress won here last year helped him qualify for his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo last December. He had the highest total score on 10 rounds there, won $176,622 while in Las Vegas and finished as the reserve world champion. He is currently third in the world standings and hungry for his first gold buckle.
Radley is from Montpelier, La., a town of less than 300 near Baton Rouge, so his connection to the Daddy of ‘em All is less obvious. The 20-year-old bull rider from Cajun country has qualified three years in a row for the Championship Bull Riding Finals, part of the Frontier Nights entertainment line-up at CFD. With a win at the rodeo here, he could be making plans to be in Las Vegas next December. He is currently 14th in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world standings and if he stays in the top 15 through the regular season he will qualify for his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
Radley is just the third bull rider to make two qualified rides during the 122nd edition of CFD. He scored 88 points on Wednesday to tie for the lead in the first round and followed that up Thursday with a score of 85.5 on bull #C9 of the Stace Smith Pro Rodeos’ herd. He now is in command of the overall standings with 173.5 and has a 5.5-point lead over the rest of the field.
All the competition at the seventh performance of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo will be in the first round, except barrel racers who will compete in the second round. Competition gets underway at 12:45 p.m.
Leaders from the 122th annual Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo after the sixth performance:
Bareback Riding: (first round) 1, Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas, 86.5 points on Hi Lo ProRodeo’s Pretty Woman. 2, Seth Hardwick, Ranchester, Wyo., 85.5 3, (tie) Jake Vold, Ponoka, Alberta, and Jamie Howlett, Weatherford, Texas, 85 points. 5, Kyle Charley, Lukachukai, Ariz., 84. 6, Wyatt Denny, Minden, Nev., 82. (second round) 1, Clayton Biglow, Clements, Ca., 87.5 points on Hi Lo ProRodeo’s Wilson Sanchez. 2, (tie) Lane McGeHee, Victoria, Texas, and Kaycee Feild, Spanish Fork, Utah, 85. 4, Caleb Bennett, Tremonton, Utah, 84. 5, Logan Patterson, Kim, Co., 6, Hardwick, 81. (overall leaders) 1, Hardwick, 166.5 points. 2, (tie) McGeHee and Feild, 166. 4, (tie) Bennett and Lowe, 165.5. 6, Biglow, 163. 7, Tate Schwagler, Mandan, N.D., 161.5. 8, Trenton Montero, Winnemucca, Nev., 160.5.
Steer Wrestling: (first round) 1, Aaron Vosler, Cheyenne, Wyo., 5.7 seconds. 2, Curtis Cassidy, Donalda, Alberta, 6.4. 3, Jacob Edler, Dacoma, Okla., 6.5. 4, (tie) Sam Olson, Buffalo, S.D., and Justin Kimsey, Kennewick, Wash., 6.9. 6, Chase Black, Coalville, Utah, 7.3. (second round) 1, Eli Lord, Sturgis, S.D., 7.5. 2, Kody Woodward, Dupree, S.D., 8.2. 3, Nick Guy, Sparta, Mich., 8.3. 4, Tyler Waguespack, Gonzales, La., 8.7. 5, Cody Harmon, Dublin, Texas, 8.9. 6, (tie) Scott Guenthner, Provost, Alberta, and Dirk Tavenner, Rigby, Idaho, 9.1. (overall leaders) 1, Cassidy, 16.7. 2, Guy, 16.8. 3, Straws Milan, Cochrane, Alberta, 17.5. 4, Kyle Irwin, Robertsdale, Ala., 17.8. 5, Dru Melvin, Hebron, Neb., 18.2. 6, Tom Lewis, Lehi, Utah, 18.3. 7, Garcia, 18.6. 8, Kelby Bond, Avondale, Co., 18.7.
Saddle Bronc Riding: (first round) 1, Brody Cress, Hillsdale, Wyo., 88 points on Stace Smith Pro Rodeo’s Utopia. 2, Isaac Diaz, Desdemona, Texas, 84.5. 3, Spencer Wright, Milford, Utah, 83.5. 4, Wyatt Casper, Pampa, Texas, 83.0. 5, (tie) Jacobs Crawley, Boerne, Texas, and Jake Finlay, Goondiwindi, Australia, 82. (second round) 1, Rusty Wright, Milford, Utah, 86 points on Andrews Rodeo’s Trophy Wife. 2, Jake Wright, Milford, Utah, 85. 3, Zeke Thurston, Big Valley, Alberta, 84.5. 4, Chase Brooks, Deer Lodge, Mont., 84. 5, Sterling Crawley, Stephenville, Texas. 6, Samuel Kelts, Millarville, Alberta, 81.5. (overall leaders) 1, Cress, 166.5 points. 2, Diaz, 166. 3, Casper, 163. 4, (tie) Thurston and Dawson Hay, Wildwood, Alberta, 159.5. 7, (tie) Jacobs Crawley and Spencer Wright, 158.
Team Roping (first round) 1, Ty Bach, Mt. Vernon, Texas, and Trey Johnson, Weatherford, Texas, 7.0 seconds. 2, (tie) Paul David Tierney, Oklahoma City, Okla., and Tanner Braden, Dewey, Okla.; and Cody Callaway, Gillette, Wyo., and Clay Johnson, Rozet, Wyo., 8.0. 4, Jeff Flenniken, Caldwell, Idaho, and Jake Minor, Ellensburg, Wash., 8.3. 5, Levi Simpson, Ponoka, Alberta, and Jeremy Buhler, Arrowwood, Alberta, 8.4. 6, Chris Francis and Cade Passig, Las Vegas, N.M., 8.6. (second round) 1, Garrett Tonozzi, Fruita, Co., and Joe Mattern, Plantersville, Texas, 7.5 seconds. 2, Kellan Johnson and Jhett Johnson, Casper, Wyo., 7.6. 3, Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, and Patrick Smith, Lipan, Texas, 7.7. 4, (tie) Nelson Wyatt, Clanton, Ala., and Trace Porter, Leesville, La.; and Derrick Begay, Seba Delkai, Ariz., and Cory Petska, Marana, Ariz., 8.5. 6, (tie) Kaleb Driggers, Hoboken, Ga., and Junior Nogueira, Presidente Prude, Brazil; Clint Gorrell, B, N.D., and Drew Gartner, Killdeer, N.D.; and Cole Dorenkamp, Lamar, Co., and T.J. Watts, Eads, Co., 8.6.
(overall leaders) 1, Francis and Passig, 17.5. 2, Bach and Johnson, 18.3. 3, White and Wakefield, 18.5. 4, Driggers and Nogueria, 18.6. 5, Begay and Petska, 18.7. 6, Chad Masters, Cedar Hill, Tenn., and Joseph Harrison, Overbrook, Okla. 7, Tyler Harris, Killdeer, N.D., and Ross Carson, Grassy Butte, N.D., 19.1. 8, Jr. Dees and Cody Cowden, 19.3.
Rookie Saddle Bronc Riding (first round) 1, Lane Schuelke, Newell, S.D., 77 points on Dakota Rodeo’s Watch This. 2, Stetson Wright, Milford, Utah, 74.5. 3, (tie) Rhett Fanning, Martin, S.D., and Chance Masters, Leon, Iowa, 72. 5, (tie) Corey LeFebre, Bloomfield, N.M.; Will Pollock, Utopia, Texas; and Logan Cook, Alto, Texas; 71. (second round) 1, Rowdy Chesser, Kansas, Okla., on Use Primary’s Stan Headings and Rhett Fanning, Martin, S.D., on Stace Smith Pro Rodeos’ Carl, 74 points. 3, (tie) LeFebre, Schuelke and Connor Murnion, Jordan, Mont., 71. 6. Cree Minkoff, Billings, Mont., 70. 7, Logan Cook, Alto, Texas, 69. 8, (tie) Jake Foster, Meadow, S.D., and Jarrod Hammons, Stephenville, Texas, 66. (overall leaders) 1, Schuelke, 148. 2, Fanning, 146. 3, (tie) LeFebre and Murnion, 142. 5, Cook, 140. 6, Wright, 136.5. 7, Parker Kempfer, Melbourne, Fla., 134. 8, (tie) Jacob Kammerer, Philip, S.D., and Chris Williams, Greybull, Wyo., 131.
Tie-down Roping (first round) 1, Sterling Smith, Stephenville, Texas, 9.4 seconds. 2, Treg Schaack, Canyon, Texas, 10.1. 3, Cole Bailey, Okmulgee, Okla., 10.3. 4, Clint Cooper, Decatur, Texas, 10.6. 5, Cimarron Boardman, Stephenville, Texas, 10.7. 6, Tyson Durfey, Weatherford, Texas, 10.8. (second round) 1, Adam Gray, Seymour, Texas, 10.3. 2, Scott Kormos, Teague, Texas, 10.4. 3, Cory Solomon, Prairie View, Texas, 10.7. 4, Austin Barstow, Springview, Neb., 10.8. 5, Riley Pruitt, Gering, Neb., 10.9. 6, Billy Hamilton, Stigler, Okla., 11.6. (overall leaders) 1, Pruitt, 21.8 seconds. 2, Smith, 22.8. 3, Gray, 22.9. 4, Ty Harris, San Angelo, Texas, 23.2. 5, Cooper, 23.3. 6, Boardman, 23.6. 7, Shane Hanchey, Sulphur, La., 8, Kormos, 24.5.
Barrel Racing: (second round leaders) 1, Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, Victoria, Texas, 17.61 seconds. 2, Lacinda Rose, Willard, Mo., 17.65. 3, Billie Ann Harmon, Dublin, Texas, 17.68. 4, Michelle Darling, Medford, Okla., 17.76. 5, Sherry Cervi, Marana, Ariz., 17.77. 6, Shali Lord, Lamar, Co., 17.82. (overall leaders) 1, Pozzi Tonozzi, 35.44. 2, Rose, 35 .77. 3, Cervi, 35.84. 4, Kelly Yates, Pueblo, Colo., 35.94. 5, (tie) Darling and Lord, 35.96. 7, Laura Lambert, Wiggins, Colo., 36.00. 8, Wanda Brown, Edgemont, S.D., 36.04.
Bull Riding: (first round) 1, (tie) Brady Portenier, Caldwell, Idaho, on Smith, Harper & Morgan’s #419 and Koby Radley, Montpelier, La., on Dakota Rodeo’s Gangster Can Do, 88 points. 3, (tie) Steve Woolsey, Payson, Utah, and Eli Vastbinder, Athens, Texas, 87.5. 5, (tie) Jeff Bertus, Avon, S.D., and J.W. Harris, Goldthwaite, Texas, 86.5. (second round) 1, Brennon Eldred, Sulphur, Okla., 90 points on Rocky Mountain Rodeo’s American Blood. 2, Dalan Duncan, Ballard, Utah, 88. 3, Silvano Alves, Decatur, Texas, 86. 4, Radley, 85.35. 5, (tie) Jeff Askey, Athens, Texas; Garrett Tribble, Bristow, Okla., and Boudreaux Campbell, Crockett, Texas, 85. (overall leaders) 1, Radley, 173.5. 2, (tie) J.W. Harris, Goldthwaite, Texas, and Askey, 166 points. (on one) 4, Eldred, 90. 5, (tie) Portenier and Duncan, 88, 7, (tie) Bertus and Alves, 86.
Wild Horse Race: No qualifiers
