(NWSS media release)
DENVER – Leia Pluemer made her debut run in the barrel racing at the National Western Stock Show Rodeo on Wednesday and showed the poise and control of a seasoned veteran.
Pleumer was one of ten barrel racers that made both of their runs in the Denver Coliseum on Wednesday. At the afternoon performance, the Los Lunas, New Mexico, resident stopped the clock in 15.50 seconds, a solid performance. Then she came back that evening with a 15.32-second run that put her in second place in the round. She is also tied for fifth in the overall standings with veteran Lisa Lockhart. They each have a total time of 30.82 seconds and are hoping to be back here for Sunday’s final competition.
Any money that is won here will count in the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association world standings where Pluemer is currently ranked 14th. She will need to stay in the top 15 through next September to have her first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualification and return to Las Vegas, Nevada where she attended college. While there, she competed in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) and qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR). At the 2017 CNFR she finished as the reserve champion. Last year, she was second in the WPRA’s race for the Rookie-of-the-Year title.
Another college rodeo contestant that rode like a veteran at the National Western is bull rider Levi Gray from Dairy, Oregon. Gray is attending Mesalands Community College where he is learning to be a silversmith. He competed at the 2018 CNFR as a freshman and became the third bull rider to last eight seconds on two rides.
Gray has a total of 152 points on two rides and is third overall here. He is also looking good for another CNFR qualification. He is first in the Grand Canyon Region of the NIRA and plans on finishing his degree, then will be a full-time bull rider.
The PRCA and WPRA portion of the National Western will continue on Thursday with two performances at 1:30 and 7 p.m.
Eleventh Performance —
Bareback Riding: 1, Clint Laye, Cadogan, Alberta, 86.5 points on Vitalix Altered State. 2, Spur LaCasse, Calgary, Alberta, 83.5. 3, Trey Moore III, Anniston, Ala., 81. 4, Hunter Carter, Athens, Texas, 77.5.
Steer Wrestling: 1, Blake Knowles, Heppner, Ore., 3.6 seconds. 2, Eli Lord, Sturgis, S.D., 5.0. 3, Derek Stewart, San Angelo, Texas, 5.3. 4, Heath Thomas, Hemphill, Texas, 7.6.
Team Roping: 1, Luke Brown, Rock Hill, S.D., and Paul Eaves, Lonedell, Mo., 7.9 seconds. 2, Turner harris, Killdeer, N.D., and Ross Carson, Grassy Butte, N.D., 9.8.3, Chase Wiley, Charlotte, Texas, and Joel Galvan Jr., Cotulla, Texas, 11.0.
Saddle Bronc Riding: (three rides) 1, Joe Lufkin, Sallisaw, Okla., 80 points on Bailey Pro Rodeo’s Dancing Bear. 2, Preston Kafka, Wagner, S.D., 73. 3, Justin Lawrence, Exeter, Calif., 70.
Tie-Down Roping: 1, Stetson Vest, Childress, Texas, 9.9 seconds. 2, Sterling Smith, Stephenville, Texas, 12.5. 3, Wyatt Uptain, Craig, Colo., 12.8. 4, Ryan Thibodeaux, Stephenville, Texas, 13.9.
Barrel Racing: 1, Amy Jo Farella, Cheyenne, Wyo., 15.39 seconds. 2, Leia Pluemer, Los Lunas, N.M., 15.50. 3, Kathy Grimes, Medical Lake, Wash., 15.52. 4, Cheyenne Allan, Mabton, Wash., 15.71.
Bull Riding: (two rides) 1, Levi Gray, Dairy, Ore., 81 points on Cervi Brothers Rodeo’s Snowball’s Chance. 2, Scottie Knapp, Edgewood, N.M., 80.
Twelfth Performance —
Bareback Riding: (three rides) 1, Pascal Isabelle, Okotoks, Alberta, 81 points on Cervi Brothers Rodeo’s San Luis. 2, Clint Laye, Cadogan, Alberta, 79.5. 3, Trey Moore III, Inniston, Ala., 66.
Steer Wrestling: 1, Josh Garner, Live Oak, Calif., 4.5 seconds. 2, Cameron Moreman, Glen Ullin, N.D., 4.9. 3, J.D. Struxness, Milan, Minn., 4.7. 4, Sterling, Lambert, Fallon, Nev., 5.3.
Team Roping: 1, (tie) Logan Olson, Flandreau, S.D., and Blaine Vick, Breckenridge, Texas; and Pace Freed, Chubbock, Idaho and Jade Anderson, Genola, Utah; 5.3 seconds each. 3, (tie) Rhett Anderson, Annabella, Utah and Kasper Roy, Mossleigh, Alberta; and Jake Cooper, Monument, N.M., and Caleb Anderson, Mocksville, N.C.; 6.3 each.
Saddle Bronc Riding: (two rides) 1, Tate Thybo, Belle Fourche, S.D., 63 points on Calgary Stampede’s Zelda’s Whitney. 2, Preston Kafka, Wagner, S.D., 62.
Tie-Down Roping: (two times) 1, Cliff Kirkpatrick, Post, Texas, 13.9 seconds. 2, Quade Hyatt, Canyon, Texas, 21.0.
Barrel Racing: 1, Leia Pluemer, Los Lunas, N.M., 15.32. 2, Amy Jo Farella, Cheyenne, Wyo., 15.42. 3, Kathy Grimes, Medical Lake, Wash., 15.47. 4, Nikki Hansen, Dickinson, N.D., 15.59.
Bull Riding: (one ride) 1, Levi Gray, Dairy, Ore., 71 points on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Rum Springer.
Current Leaders –
Bareback Riding: (first round) 1, Richmond Champion, The Woodlands, Texas, 88 points on Calgary Stampede’s Added Money. 2, Clayton Biglow, Clements, Calif., 87.5. 3, Shane O’Connell, Rapid City, S.D., 85. 4, Kash Wilson, Gooding, Idaho, 84.5. 5, Garrett Shadbolt, Merriman, Neb., and Kody Lamb, Sherwood Park, Alberta, 83.5. (second round) 1, Casey Colletti, Pueblo, Colo., 86.5 points on Cervi Brothers Rodeo’s High Rollin Sidney. 2, Dantan Bertsch, Eastend, Saskatchewan, 85. 3, Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, Min., 84.5. 4, (tie) Garrett Shadbolt, Merriman, Neb., and Blaine Kaufman, Pretty Prairie, Kan., 84. 6, Austin Foss, Terrebonne, Ore., 83.5. (total on two) 1, Shadbolt, 168. 2, (tie) Colletti, and Biglow, 167. 4, Clint Laye, Cadogan, Alberta, 166. 5, Bertsch, 165.5. 6, Taylor Broussard, Estherwood, La., 165.
Steer Wrestling: (first round) 1, Riley Duvall, Checotah, Okla., 3.5 seconds. 2, (tie) Ty Erickson, Helena, Mont., and Tanner Brunner, Ramona, Kan., 3.6 each. 4, (tie) Cole McNamee, Pine Bluffs, Wyo., and Dru Melvin, Hebron, Neb., 3.8. 6, Bubba Boots, St. Anthony, Idaho, 3.9. (second round) 1, (tie) Kyle Irwin, Robertsdale, Ala.; Tyler Waguespack, Gonzales, La.; and Riley Duvall, Checotah, Okla.; 3.7 each. 4, Cole Edge, Duncan, Okla., 3.8. 5, Jake Fulton, Rosebud, S.D., 3.9. 6, (tie) Dylan Schroeder, Waller, Texas, and Sam Shelton, Kennewick, Wash., 4.0. (total on two) 1, Duvall, 7.2. 2, Irwin, 8.0. 3, Ty Erickson, Helena, Mont., 8.1. 4, Dru Melvin, 8.2. 5, (tie) Hunter Cure, Holliday, Texas, and Bubba Boots, 8.6.
Team Roping: (first round) 1, (tie) Coleman Proctor, Yukon, Okla., and Ryan Motes, Weatherford, Texas; and Clay Tryan, Billings, Mont., and Travis Graves, Jay, Okla.; 4.1 each. 3, Riley and Brady Minor, Ellensburg, Wash., 4.3. 4, Luke Brown, Rockdale, S.C., and Paul Eaves, Lonedell, Mo., 4.5. 5, Dustin Bird, Cutbank, Mont., and Russell Cardoza, Terrebonne, Ore., 4.7. 6, Steven Duby, Hereford, Ore., and Jason Duby, Klamath Falls, Ore., 4.8. (second round) 1, Casey Tew, Billings, Mont., and Jerren Johnson, Casper, Wyo., 3.8 seconds. 2, Brenten Hall, Stephenville, Texas, and Chase Tryan, Helena, Mont., 3.9. 3, Cody Snow, Los Olivos, Calif., and Wesley Thorp, Throckmorton, Texas, 4.1. 4, Jake Orman, Prairie, Miss., and Walt Woodard, Stephenville, Texas, 4.4. (total on two) 1, Clay Tryan and Travis Graves, 9.3. 2, Smith and Long, 9.5. 3, Jeff Johnston, Thedford, Neb., and Dustin Harris, O’Neill, Neb., 4, J.B. James, Jr., Bennett, Colo., and Brock Hanson, Bennett, Colo., 13.0. 5, Cory Kidd V, Statesville, N.C., and Logan Medlin, Tatum, N.M., 14.9. 6, Duby and Duby, 15.1.
Saddle Bronc Riding: (first round) 1, Zeke Thurston, big Valley, Alberta, Canada, 83 points on Summit Pro Rodeo’s Fringe Benefit. 2, Wyatt Casper, Pampa, Texas, 82. 3, Spencer Wright, Milford, Utah, 81.5. 4, (tie) Rusty Wright, Milford, Utah, and Troy Crowser, Whitewood, S.D., 81 each. 6, Isaac Diaz, Desdemona, Texas, 80. (second round) 1, (tie) Ryder Wright, Milford, Utah, on Summit Pro Rodeo’s Goodnight Trail, and Hawkins Boyce, Malad, Idaho, on Cervi Brothers Rodeo’s Redial, 85 points each10.5. 3, Spencer Wright, Milford, Utah, 84.5. 4, (tie) Sterling Crawley, Stephenville, Texas, and Hardy Braden, Welch, Okla., 81.5. (total on two) 1, Spencer Wright, 166. 2, Boyce, 163. 3, Wyatt Casper, 162.5. 4, Rusty Wright, 162. 5, Zeke Thurston, Big Valley, Alberta, 161. 6, Sterling Crawley, 159.5.
Tie-Down Roping: (first round) 1, (tie) Adam Gray, Seymour, Texas, and Rhen Richard, Roosevelt, Utah, 7.7 seconds each. 3, Brandon Neugebauer, La Junta, Colo., 8.3. 5, Cooper Matthews, Cleburne, Texas; Cooper Martin, Alma, Kan.; and Logan Bird, Nanton, Alberta, 8.6. (second round) 1, Cole Bailey, Okmulgee, Okla., 7.9. 2, Cooper Martin, Alma, Kan., 8.1. 3, Joey Dickens, Loveland, Colo., 8.5. 4, Bo Pickett, Caldwell, Idaho, 8.7. 5, (tie) Blake Ash, Aurora, Mo.; Colton Farquer, Oakdale, Calif.; and Caddo Lewallen, Morrison, Okla.; 9.2 each. (total on two) 1, Martin, 16.7. 2, Brody Stallard, Fort Sumner, N.M., 18.6. 3, Cade Swor, Winnie, Texas, 18.8. 4, Joey Dickens, 19.3. 5, Kyle Dickens, Loveland, Colo., 19.4. 6, Lewallen, 19.8.
Barrel Racing: 1, Jennifer Sharp, Montgomery, Texas, 15.26 seconds. 2, (tie) Shelley Morgan, Canton, Texas, and Hailey Kinsel, Cotulla, Texas, 15.30. 4, Tiany Schuster, Krum, Texas, 15.39. 5, Shali Lord, Lamar, Colo., 15.40. 6, Sadye Simpson, Stephenville, Texas, 15.41. (second round) 1, Emily Miller, Weatherford, Texas, 15.23. 2, Leia Pluemer, Los Lunas, N.M., 15.32. 3, Chris Gibson, Windsor, Colo., 15.35. 4, Jennifer Sharp, 15.37. 5, (tie) Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D., and Shali Lord, Lamar, Colo., 15.38. (total on two) 1, Sharp, 30.63. 2, Miller, 30.76. 3, Lord, 30.78. 4, Amy Jo Farella, Cheyenne, Wyo., 30.81. 5, Lockhart, and Pluemer, 30.82 each.
Bull Riding: (first round) 1, Nevada Newman, Melstone, Mont., 86.5 points on Summit Pro Rodeo’s Turnabout. 2, Aaron Williams, Pismo Beach, Calif., 85. 3, Stetson Wright, Beaver, Utah, 84.5. 4, Jordan Hansen, Ponoka, Alberta, 83.5. 5, Jeston Mead, Holcomb, Kan., 83. 6, Clayton Appelhans, Colby, Kan., 82. (second round) 1, Dillon James Tyner, Eaton, Colo., 89 points on Summit Pro Rodeo’s Grey Denim. 2, Ty Wallace, Collbran, Colo., 86.5. 3, Bart Miller, Pleasanton, Neb., 85. 4, Parker Breding, Edgar, Mont., 84. 5, (tie) Tyler Hessman, Beaver, Okla., and Nathan Hatchel, Weatherford, Okla., 82. (total on two) 1, Wallace, 166.0. 2, Nathan Hatchel, Weatherford, Okla., 163. 3, Levi Gray, Dairy, Ore., 152. (on one) 4, Tyner, 89. 5, Nevada Newman, 86.5. 6, (tie) Aaron Williams, Pismo Beach, Calif., and Miller, 85.
