LAS VEGAS — Montana was well-represented on the opening night of the 2019 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas and Mack Center Thursday evening, with four Treasure State competitors landing in the top three in their respective events.
Richmond Champion, who recently moved to Stevensville, set a new Round 1 record in the bareback with a 91.5 ride, one of three riders to break the previous first round record.
“It’s pretty fun,” Champion said in a PRCA release. “I’ve never gone out in the NFR and gotten a round win this early. That’s always the goal when you come here, you want to come out hot. Hopefully it will stay that way. The guys are riding great and the horses are great. I expect these records to keep getting broken all week long.”
“I had never been on that horse before,” Champion continued, mentioning the bronc Night Crawler. “I saw him on video a couple of times, and Caleb and I were talking and saying how (Night Crawler and Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Nightlivin) are about the same horse. Nightlivin had an off day and Night Crawler saved the day. The nerves for the first one are always the hardest here. That (first ride) brought me back to level ground, and I was feeling excited to get on that re-ride.”
Corvallis cowboy Caleb Bennett scored a 90-point ride in the bareback, good for the No. 3-ride on Thursday night. The score rewarded a $15,654 paycheck, moving Bennett to the No. 6 slot in the world standings, some $75,000 back from world leader Clayton Biglow.
Barrel racer Lisa Lockhart, a Circle native, has been to every NFR since 2007 and entered this year’s event No. 3 in the world. Lockhart posted a time of 13.70 secondes in the barrels, good for second place on the evening and a $20,731 paycheck. Lockhart, who now lives in South Dakota, is chasing her first world title. She moved to No. 1 in the world with Thursday’s performance.
Stevensville’s Bridger Chambers split No. 2-money in Thursday’s round of the steer wrestling, cruising in 3.8 seconds. Chambers and J.D. Struxness were given checks of $18,192 each for the efforts. Chambers is making his second appearance at the NFR after finishing No. 2 in both the rodeo and world standings last year.
Helena’s Ty Erickson joined Chambers in the big-man event, coming into the Thomas and Mack No. 1 in the world steer wrestling standings. Erickson looked to have the fast time of the night at 3.4 seconds but was penalized 10 seconds for breaking the barrier. Erickson still holds a near $40,000 lead in the race for the world title. Chambers is No. 8.
Haven Meged of Miles City, who entered the finals No. 2 in the world tie-down standings, finished third on Thursday night with a time of 8.3 seconds, earning $15,654 along the way. Meged, now the No. 1 man in the world, is chasing a world title in his first trip to the NFR.
Billings team roper Clay Tryan missed on the header side Thursday evening, collecting a no-score with heeling partner Jake Long. Chase Tryan, of the Helena Tryan family, scored a 4.5-second performance with header Brenten Hall, good for fourth on the night.
Clay Tryan sits No. 4 in the world header standings, while Chase is 11th in the heeling.
The saddle bronc performance saw Deer Lodge’s Chase Brooks tie for fourth place with a score of 86, a three-way tie with Brody Cress and Spencer Wright, with each collecting $7,333. Brooks is No. 4 in the world standings with more than $133,000 earned this year.
For more on the Montanans competing in Round 1 in Las Vegas, please click here for an update from Montana ProRodeo's Jeff Marn.
Results from Thursday’s first performance at the 2019 WNFR can be found below, along with updated world standings.
First Performance Results, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019
Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas
Bareback riding: 1. Richmond Champion, 91.5 points on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Night Crawler, $26,231; 2. Clayton Biglow, 90.5, $20,731; 3. Caleb Bennett, 90, $15,654; 4. Tilden Hooper, 88.5, $11,000; 5. Tim O'Connell, 88, $6,769; 6. (tie) Orin Larsen and Clint Laye, 87.5, $2,115 each; 8. Kaycee Feild, 87; 9. Steven Dent and Austin Foss, 86; 11. Trenten Montero, 84; 12. Ty Breuer and Taylor Broussard, 83.5; 14. Jake Brown and Tanner Aus, NS. World Standings: 1. Clayton Biglow, $212,683; 2. Kaycee Feild, $186,205; 3. Orin Larsen, $185,558; 4. Richmond Champion, $167,060; 5. Tilden Hooper, $158,559; 6. Caleb Bennett, $136,627; 7. Tim O'Connell, $129,938; 8. Clint Laye, $120,069; 9. Jake Brown, $105,068; 10. Steven Dent, $103,799; 11. Austin Foss, $102,895; 12. Ty Breuer, $98,699; 13. Tanner Aus, $91,595; 14. Trenten Montero, $90,757; 15. Taylor Broussard, $89,271.
Steer wrestling: 1. Dakota Eldridge, 3.6 seconds, $26,231; 2. (tie) J.D. Struxness and Bridger Chambers, 3.8, $18,192 each; 4. Stetson Jorgensen, 4.0, $11,000; 5. Tyler Waguespack, 4.1, $6,769; 6. (tie) Cameron Morman, Tyler Pearson and Will Lummus, 4.3, $1,410 each; 9. Matt Reeves, 4.5; 10. Riley Duvall, 4.6; 11. Hunter Cure, 4.7; 12. Ty Erickson, 13.4; 13. Kyle Irwin, 14.0; 14. Scott Guenthner, 18.2; 15. Tanner Brunner, NT. World Standings: 1. Ty Erickson, $156,081; 2. Dakota Eldridge, $117,334; 3. Hunter Cure, $114,568; 4. Tyler Waguespack, $113,900; 5. Scott Guenthner, $112,750; 6. Stetson Jorgensen, $111,220; 7. J.D. Struxness, $111,022; 8. Bridger Chambers, $107,221; 9. Will Lummus, $97,805; 10. Riley Duvall, $95,963; 11. Tyler Pearson, $94,520; 12. Kyle Irwin, $93,472; 13. Matt Reeves, $89,490; 14. Cameron Morman, $88,114; 15. Tanner Brunner, $84,950.
Team roping: 1. Tyler Wade/Cole Davison, 4.0 seconds, $26,231; 2. Matt Sherwood/Hunter Koch, 4.1, $20,731; 3. Erich Rogers/Kyle Lockett, 4.3, $15,654; 4. Brenten Hall/Chase Tryan, 4.5, $11,000; 5. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 4.6, $6,769; 6. (tie) Riley Minor/Brady Minor and Luke Brown/Paul Eaves, 4.7, $2,115 each; 8. Cody Snow/Wesley Thorp, 4.9; 9. Ty Blasingame/Travis Graves, 5.5; 10. Chad Masters/Joseph Harrison, 6.0; 11. Clay Smith/Jade Corkill, 9.4; 12. Tate Kirchenschlager/Tyler Worley, 9.8; 13. Jake Cooper/Caleb Anderson, 14.6; 14. Coleman Proctor/Ryan Motes, 19.0; 15. Clay Tryan/Jake Long, NT. World Standings (headers): 1. Clay Smith, $160,512; 2. Kaleb Driggers, $135,225; 3. Coleman Proctor, $114,318; 4. Clay Tryan, $113,165; 5. Ty Blasingame, $111,490; 6. Brenten Hall, $109,927; 7. Riley Minor, $109,764; 8. Tyler Wade, $109,625; 9. Matt Sherwood, $106,935; 10. Chad Masters, $105,529; 11. Cody Snow, $105,054; 12. Erich Rogers, $99,653. 13. Luke Brown, $97,055; 14. Tate Kirchenschlager, $85,738; 15. Jake Cooper, $83,191. World Standings (heelers): 1. Junior Nogueira, $132,544; 2. Kyle Lockett, $124,384; 3. Ryan Motes, $119,166; 4. Jade Corkill, $118,638; 5. Jake Long, $116,896; 6. Hunter Koch, $115,038; 7. Travis Graves, $113,165; 8. Brady Minor, $109,764; 9. Joseph Harrison, $108,278; 10. Cole Davison, $108,140; 11. Chase Tryan, $107,345; 12. Paul Eaves, $101,562; 13. Wesley Thorp, $97,296; 14. Caleb Anderson, $82,390; 15. Tyler Worley, $81,190.
Saddle bronc riding: 1. Zeke Thurston, 88 points on Mo Betta Rodeo's Sue City Sue, $26,231; 2. (tie) Bradley Harter and J.J. Elshere, 86.5, $18,192 each; 4. (tie) Chase Brooks, Brody Cress and Spencer Wright, 86, $7,333 each; 7. Dawson Hay, 83; 8. Rusty Wright, 81.5; 9. Colt Gordon, 79.5; 10. (tie) Ryder Wright, Jacobs Crawley, Sterling Crawley, Jesse Wright, Mitch Pollock and Jake Watson, NS. World Standings: 1. Ryder Wright, $234,488; 2. Zeke Thurston, $213,222; 3. Spencer Wright, $137,438; 4. Chase Brooks, $133,617; 5. Jacobs Crawley, $131,012; 6. Rusty Wright, $128,192; 7. Bradley Harter, $127,543; 8. Sterling Crawley, $124,427; 9. Brody Cress, $123,205; 10. J.J. Elshere, $119,004; 11. Jake Watson, $118,791; 12. Dawson Hay, $110,311; 13. Mitch Pollock, $109,542; 14. Jesse Wright, $106,505; 15. Colt Gordon, $101,071.
Tie-down roping: 1. Shane Hanchey, 7.6 seconds, $26,231; 2. Taylor Santos, 8.1, $20,731; 3. Haven Meged, 8.3, $15,654; 4. (tie) Tyson Durfey and Marty Yates, 8.4, $8,885 each; 6. Michael Otero, 8.6, $4,231; 7. Tuf Cooper, 8.7; 8. Rhen Richard, 9.3; 9. Caleb Smidt and Shad Mayfield, 9.7; 11. Riley Pruitt, 10.3; 12. Cooper Martin, 13.9; 13. Tyler Milligan, 17.8; 14. Adam Gray, 18.9; 15. Ty Harris, NT. World Standings: 1. Haven Meged, $145,533; 2. Caleb Smidt, $141,900; 3. Shane Hanchey, $138,428; 4. Taylor Santos, $132,138; 5. Tyson Durfey, $131,763; 6. Marty Yates, $120,200; 7. Tuf Cooper, $115,592; 8. Michael Otero, $111,924; 9. Riley Pruitt, $109,535; 10. Ty Harris, $107,649; 11. Tyler Milligan, $107,474; 12. Adam Gray, $102,173; 13. Shad Mayfield, $100,421; 14. Rhen Richard, $98,661; 15. Cooper Martin, $96,260.
Barrel racing: 1. Emily Miller, 13.63 seconds, $26,231; 2. Lisa Lockhart, 13.70, $20,731; 3. Stevi Hillman, 13.75, $15,654; 4. Nellie Miller, 13.90, $11,000; 5. (tie) Jessica Routier and Jennifer Sharp, 13.97, $5,500 each; 7. Shali Lord, 14.01; 8. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, 14.02; 9. Ericka Nelson, 14.05; 10. Ivy Conrado-Saebens, 14.07; 11. Dona Kay Rule, 14.08; 12. Lacinda Rose, 14.46; 13. Hailey Kinsel, 18.66; 14. Cheyenne Wimberley, 19.09; 15. Amberleigh Moore, 23.81. World Standings: 1. Lisa Lockhart, $177,082; 2. Nellie Miller, $175,611; 3. Hailey Kinsel, $158,867; 4. Emily Miller, $134,376; 5. Stevi Hillman, $130,989; 6. Shali Lord, $121,776; 7. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, $115,503; 8. Jessica Routier, $112,082; 9. Jennifer Sharp, $107,254; 10. Dona Kay Rule, $106,507; 11. Ericka Nelson, $103,433; 12. Ivy Conrado-Saebens, $103,269; 13. Amberleigh Moore, $103,059; 14. Cheyenne Wimberley, $100,361; 15. Lacinda Rose, $98,936.
Bull riding: 1. Stetson Wright, 92.5 points on 4L & Diamond S Rodeo’s Monte Walsh, $26,231; 2. Boudreaux Campbell, 92, $20,731; 3. Tyler Bingham, 90, $15,654; 4. Jordan Hansen, 89.5, $11,000; 5. Sage Kimzey, 87.5, $6,769; 6. Garrett Smith, 87, $4,231; 7. Koby Radley, 86.5; 8. Clayton Sellars, 84.5; 9. Jordan Spears, 82.5; 10. Trevor Kastner, Josh Frost, Jeff Askey, Daylon Swearingen, Trey Kimzey and Trey Benton III, NS. World Standings: 1. Sage Kimzey, $262,207; 2. Stetson Wright, $188,652; 3. Trevor Kastner, $159,100; 4. Boudreaux Campbell, $157,502; 5. Tyler Bingham, $153,181; 6. Clayton Sellars, $139,191; 7. Garrett Smith, $138,205; 8. Jordan Hansen, $135,747; 9. Trey Benton III, $132,277; 10. Jordan Spears, $131,548; 11. Josh Frost, $129,561; 12. Koby Radley, $124,554; 13. Jeff Askey, $123,694; 14. Daylon Swearingen, $121,837; 15. Trey Kimzey, $118,160.
