(Editor’s note: Clark County Fair & Rodeo media release)
LOGANDALE, Nevada (April 14, 2019) – Stetson Wright grew up coming to the Clark County Fair & Rodeo with his dad, Cody, who won the saddle bronc riding championship in Logandale on three occasions.
Stetson’s older brother, Rusty, has also earned the saddle bronc riding title twice and another brother, Ryder nearly won it this year. However, it was Stetson who earned not just one but two championship buckles at the 2019 edition of the rodeo. Stetson competed in the saddle bronc riding and bull riding here. He won the bull riding and by virtue of his success in that event and because he rode in the saddle bronc riding, he also earned the all-around championship.
He won the first round of competition after scoring 87 points on Growney Brothers Rodeo’s bull named Cup Cake. That qualified him for the final round where he again won first place, this time with an 87 on Bar T Rodeo’s Double Legit. His total of 174 points earned him $5,884.
Prior to Logandale’s rodeo, Stetson was ninth in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association bull riding world standings. The money he won here could see him moving up and help the 19-year-old cowboy secure his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualification.
Just like coming to Logandale, he has made the trip to Las Vegas on numerous occasions to watch his father, uncles and older brothers compete. Unlike all of them, he now has two buckles from the Clark County Fair and Rodeo that none of them have won.
“I remember every trip that I ever made here with my dad,” Stetson said. “Before I was old enough to compete, I used to beg the stock contractors to let me get on. This is a rodeo that I’ve always wanted to win.
“Getting two buckles here is just crazy.” He added. “This rodeo is really important, it’s one of my circuit rodeos so winning anything helps.”
Stetson and his family make their home just a couple of hours northeast in Beaver and Milford, Utah. He currently lists Beaver, where his parents live, as home but he spends a lot of time in Milford with his grandparents and uncles. The bull that earned him the championship is also from Utah, Double Legit of Bar T Rodeos based in Chester.
“A lot of good guys have gotten on him and he’s bucked them off,” Stetson said. “I knew I needed to show up and ride to have any kind of a chance.”
Not only did he show up to ride, he showed up to win. So did Tuf Cooper. The Decatur, Texas, cowboy took the lead in the first round of tie-down roping on Saturday and qualified for Sunday’s finals in the top spot.
After roping and tying a calf in 8.4 seconds on Sunday, he handily won the title and a total of $6,365. It’s more than he earned when he roped here as an 18-year-old in 2008. That Clark County Fair and Rodeo was the first pro rodeo that he ever won. He got the title again in 2011 and now can add 2019 to his resume.
Leia Pluemer from Los Lunas, N.M., came from behind to win the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association barrel race. She qualified for the finals in 10th place and then made the fastest run of the whole rodeo, stopping the clock in 17.31 seconds. The former University of Nevada – Las Vegas student earned the title and nearly $5,000.
This year’s rodeo drew over 500 contestants to the Moapa Valley from across the nation. The Clark County Fair & Rodeo is consistently among the best in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and Women’s Professional Rodeo Association. This year’s rodeo was part of the ProRodeo Tour and paid total prize money of $253,397.
2019 Clark County Fair & Rodeo Champions
Bareback Riding: Austin Foss, Terrebonne, Ore., 172 points on 2, $6,020
Steer Wrestling: Taz Olson, Prairie City, S.D., 14.5 seconds on 3, $5,635
Team Roping: Garrett Rogers, Baker City, Ore.,
and Jake Minor Ellensburg, Wash., 15.9 seconds on 3, $6,840 each
Saddle Bronc Riding: Isaac Diaz, Desdemona, Texas, 174 points on 2, $5,332
Tie-down Roping: Tuf Cooper, Decatur, Texas, 27.6 seconds on 3, $6,365
Barrel Racing: Leia Pluemer, Los Lunas, N.M., 35.01 seconds on 2, $4,898
Bull Riding: Stetson Wright, Beaver, Utah, 174 points on 2, $5,884
All-Around Cowboy: Stetson Wright, Beaver, Utah
Bareback Riding: Final round: 1, R.C. Landingham, Hat Creek, Calif., 89 points on Northcott Mezca Rodeo’s Stevie Knicks, $1,650. 2, Steven Peebles, Redmond, Ore., 86, $1,250. 3, Jessy Davis, Power, Mont., 85.5, $900. 4, Paden Hurst, Cypress, Texas, 84.5, $600. 5, (tie) Clayton Biglow, Clements, Calif., and Austin Foss, Terrebonne, Ore., 83, $300 each. Overall winners-on 2: 1, Foss, 172, $2,860. 2, (tie) Landingham and Peebles, 171, $1,906 each. 4, (tie) Hurst and Biglow, 168, $858 each. 6, Davis, 167.5, $477. 7, Tristan Hansen, Dillon, Mont., 165, $381. 8, Seth Hardwick, Ranchester, Wyo., 164, $286.
Steer Wrestling: Final round: 1, (tie) Stetson Jorgensen, Blackfoot, Idaho, and Taz Olson, Prairie City, S.D., 4.0 seconds, $928. 3, Tanner Brunner, Ramona, Kan., 4.3, $665. 4, Levi Russ, Chelsea, Okla., 4.4, $490. 5, Harley Cole, Okotoks, Alberta, 4.7, $315. 6, Josh Clark, Belgrade, Mont., 4.8, $175. Overall winners-on 3: 1, Olson, 14.5 seconds, $3,153. 2, Clark, 14.7, $2,742. 3, Jorgensen, 16.7, $2,330. 4, Stephen Culling, Fort St. John, British Columbia, 16.8, $1,919. 5, Dakota Eldridge, Elko, Nev., 17.1, $1,508. 6, (tie) Brunner and Cole, 17.7, $891. 8, Baxtor Roche, Tremonton, Utah, 18.8, $274.
Team Roping: Final round: 1, David Key, Stephenville, Texas, and Rich Skelton, Llano, Texas, 5.1 seconds, $1,000 each. 2, Garrett Rogers, Baker City, Ore., and Jake Minor, Ellensburg, Wash., 5.6, $828 each. 3, (tie) Jr. Dees, Aurora, S.D., and Lane Siggins, Coolidge, Ariz.; and Kaleb Driggers, Hoboken, Ga., and Junior Nogueira, Presidente Prude, Brazil, 5.8, $569 each. 5, Dustin Bird, Cut Bank, Mont., and Russell Cardoza, Terrebonne, Ore., 5.9, $311 each. 6, Luke Brown, Rock Hill, S.C., and Jade Corkill, Fallon, Nev., 6.4, $173 each. Overall winners-on 3: 1, Rogers and Minor, 15.9, $3,607 each. 2, Driggers and Nogueira, 16.0, $3,137 each. 3, Brown and Corkill, 16.8, $2,666 each. 4, Dees and Siggins, 17.0, $2,196 each. 5, Bird and Cardoza, 17.2, $1,725 each. 6, J.B. James, Jr., and Brock Hanson, Bennett, Colo., 18.4, $1,255 each. 7, Key and Skelton, 19.3, $784 each. 8, Hayes Smith, Central Point, Ore., and Evan Arnold, Stephenville, Texas, 27.3, $314 each.
Saddle Bronc Riding: Final round: 1, Isaac Diaz, Desdemona, Texas, 88.5 points on Northcott Mezca Rodeo’s Get Smart, $1,650. 2, Jake Wright, Milford, Utah, 86.5, $1,250. 3, Sterling Crawley, Stephenville, Texas, 85, $900. 4, Ryder Wright, Milford, Utah, 84.5, $600. 5, Layton Green, Meeting Creek, Alberta, 83.5, $350. 6, Kolby Wanchuk, Sherwood Park, Alberta, 83, $250. Overall winners-on 2: 1, Diaz, 174 points, $2,084. 2, Ryder Wright, Milford, Utah, 170, $1,599. 3, Green, 168, $1,101. 4, Jake Wright, 167.5, $764. 5, Crawley, 166.5, $486. 6, Wanchuk, 165, $347. 7, Dustin Flundra, Pincher Creek, Alberta, 159, $288. 8, Spencer Wright, Milford, Utah, 158.5, $208.
Tie-Down Roping: Final round: 1, Ty Harris, San Angelo, Texas, 8.1, $1,015. 2, Tuf Cooper, Decatur, Texas, 8.4, $840. 3, Matt Shiozawa, Chubbuck, Idaho, 8.7, $665. 4, Bo Pickett, Caldwell, Idaho, 9.5, $490. 5, Cody McCartney, Ottawa lake, Mich., 9.7, $315. 6, Stetson Vest, Childress, Texas, 10.8, $175. Overall winners-on 3: 1, Cooper, 27.6, $3,315. 2, Harris, 28.5, $2,883. 3, Pickett, 31.5, $2,450. 4, Shiozawa, 31.6, $2,018. 5, Stetson Vest, Childress, Texas, 31.8, $1,585. 6, McCartney, 32.4, $1,153. 7, Tyler Milligan, Pawhuska, Okla., 32.8, $721. 8, Tanner Green, Cotulla, Texas, 43.2, $288.
Barrel Racing: Final round: 1, Leia Pluemer, Los Lunas, N.M., 17.31 seconds, $1,365. 2, Stevi Hillman, Weatherford, Texas, 17.51, $1,024. 3, Teri Bangart, Olympia, Wash., 17.56, $683. 4, Cheyenne Allan, Mabton, Wash., 17.57, $341. Overall winners-on 2: 1, Pluemer, 35.01 seconds, $3,226. 2. Hillman, 35.10, $2,765. 3, Bangart, 35.11, $2,304. 4, Lori Todd, Willcox, Ariz., 35.22, $1,997. 5, Allen, 35.31, $1,536. 6, Chris Gibson, Windsor, Colo., 35.42, $1,229. 7, Tyra Kane, Weatherford, Texas, 35.43, $922. 8, Carolyn Uhler, Holden, Mo., 35.66, $614. 9, Haley Wolfe, Flora Vista, N.M., 36.31, $461. 10, Tonia Forsberg, Fillmore, Calif., 40.19, $307.
Bull Riding: Final round: 1, Stetson Wright, Beaver, Utah, 87 points on Bar T Rodeo’s Double Legit, $1,800. 2, Levi Gray, Dairy, Ore., 86, $1,400. 3, Brady Portenier, Caldwell, Idaho, 82.5, $1,050. 4, J.T. Moore, Alvin, Texas, 82, $750. Overall winners-on 2: 1, Stetson Wright, Beaver, Utah, 174 points, $2,042. 2, Moore, 158.5, $1,565. 3, Portenier, 157.5, $1,157. 4, Gray, 156, $749. (on one) 5, Cole Melancon, Liberty, Texas, 86.5, $476. 6, Trevor Kastner, Roff, Okla., 81, $340. 7, Riker Carter, Stone, Idaho, 80, $272. 8, Eli Vastbinder, Union Grove, N.C., 77, $204.
