(Editor's note: Days of '47 media release)
SALT LAKE CITY - The WCRA (World Champions Rodeo Alliance) closed out the second leg of its 2021 WCRA Triple of Rodeo (TCR) major Saturday at the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo in Salt Lake City. The event paid out $562,500 with each champion earning a minimum of $25,000 and a gold medal.
Brody Cress (Hillsdale, WY) and Chase Brooks (Deer Lodge, MT) were immersed in a saddle bronc shootout with each delivering 90.5-point performances in the gold medal round. Because Cress earned a higher marked ride in the semi-finals, he was crowned champion. TCR contender Kolby Wanchuk (Sherwood Park, AB) placed third with a 90-point ride aboard Get Smart to take the bronze.
Seventeen-year-old tie-down roper Riley Webb (Denton, TX) entered with two consecutive wins (Stampede at the E, Rodeo Corpus Christi) in contention to become the youngest millionaire in rodeo history.
Webb squared off against world champion Ryan Jarrett (Bigfoot, TX) and Marshall Leonard (Shongaloo, LA) in the gold medal round. Last to rope, he needed to beat Jarrett’s 8.03-second time but missed his catch.
“Riley’s sportsmanship and attitude is truly what makes this young man a champion,” said WCRA President Bobby Mote. “It's been a journey since his very first major win and we could not be more proud to call him a WCRA champion."
The bareback riding was a tightly contested battle with seven of eight riders earning 80 points or higher. Clayton Biglow (Clements, CA) took the week's highest marked ride with a 90.5-point score. The 2019 world champ finished ahead of TCR contender Richmond Champion’s (Stevensville, MT) 85.0 and Nebraska’s Garrett Shadbolt’s (Merriman, NE) 84.5.
Tyler Waguespack (Gonzalez, LA) was unstoppable in steer wrestling where he notched the only time under four seconds in the gold medal round. The 2-time world champion recorded a 3.69-second run after delivering a 4.03-second effort in the semis. The victory marked Waguespack’s first WCRA major win.
As the one of only four team roping duos to deliver a qualified run in the finals, Tanner Green (Cotulla, TX) and Will Woodfin (Stephenville, TX) closed in 5.08 seconds besting WCRA champions Kaleb Driggers (Hoboken, GA) and Junior Nogueira (Presidente PRU, SP BR) and 13-time NFR qualifier Luke Brown (Lipan, TX) and Hunter Koch (Lott, TX).
A fiercely contested race unfolded in breakaway roping as WRCA all-around champion Jackie Crawford (Stephenville, TX) nailed a 2.28-second time prior to edge Bradi Good’s (Abilene, TX) 2.48-second run. Earlier, ICU nurse Tacy Kay Webb (Madisonville, TX) delivered a groundbreaking performance in 1.95 seconds - fastest of the week. Webb’s time won the discipline title.
Women’s Rodeo World Champion (WRWC) Hallie Hanssen (Hermosa, SD), two-time WCRA champion Michelle Darling (Medford, OK), and Oklahoma’s Wenda Johnson (Pawhuska, OK) closed the gold medal round in tight fashion. Johnson navigated Macgyver to the week's top time in 16.948. Hanssen’s 16.997 placed second followed by Darling in 17.189.
Claudio Montanha, Jr. (Pacaembu, SP, BR) capped his perfect 2-for-2 bull riding effort aboard Arctic Assassin for 90.5 points and $25,000. Montanha logged one of only three qualified rides in the round to land his first WCRA title.
Full Days of '47 results may be found here.
Fans can to tune into The Days of ‘47 on a CBS network broadcast July 31 at 11 a.m. MDT.
Since launching in May of 2018, the WCRA and its partners have awarded more than $9-million to rodeo athletes.
