Hass dominant in Mesquite Championship Rodeo
MESQUITE, Texas – Clayton Hass of Terrell, Texas, gave himself a nice belated birthday present Dec. 29-30 by winning the all-around title at the $36,183 Mesquite Championship Rodeo in Resistol Arena.
Hass, who turned 26 on Dec. 9, earned a rodeo-best $2,455 by pairing with J.W. Cotton to win the team roping title with a time of 5.3 seconds and finishing second to Cody Harmon in the steer wrestling.
Hass completed his steer wrestling run in 3.7 seconds, two-tenths shy of Harmon’s winning time.
It was Hass’ most substantial result – given the level of competition – since his career-best season of 2007, when he won steer wrestling titles at the Grand National Rodeo in San Francisco, the St. Paul (Ore.) Rodeo and the Sikeston (Mo.) Jaycee Boothill Rodeo in addition to winning the season finale at Mesquite.
Hass finished 32nd in the steer wrestling world standings in 2007 and 22nd in the all-around standings with total earnings of $36,375.
Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier Wes Stevenson won the bareback riding competition with an 87-point ride on Smith, Harper & Morgan Rodeo’s Teaspoon, with Jake Brown a distant second with an 80-pointer.
Blake Huckabee emerged from a tie-down roping field that included three world champions to win with a time of 8.8 seconds. Reigning World Champion Trevor Brazile finished sixth in 9.9 seconds.
The other champions at Mesquite were saddle bronc rider Mike Outhier (80 points), bull rider Aaron Pass (83 points) and barrel racer Kassie Mowry (16.18 seconds).
Stars come out in Lone Star State’s circuit finals rodeo
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Nobody is going to waste a lot of time arguing with Johnny Van Court’s assessment that the Dodge Texas Circuit Finals Rodeo is “an NFR quality show in a circuit finals setting.”
Van Court, the Texas circuit president, is looking at a Jan. 7-9 rodeo in Waco, Texas, that has 34 competitors who qualified for either the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo or the Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping in 2009.
When you add in Fred Whitfield, Allen Bach, Mickey Gee and Stran Smith – none of whom made it to the Wrangler NFR last year – the field accounts for 35 world championships.
The numbers should even be a bit stronger, but reigning World Champion Bull Rider J.W. Harris had surgery to repair his broken right (riding) hand on Dec. 31 and has doctor released from Waco, as has Reserve World Champion Bareback Rider Clint Cannon (groin, MCL), who is resting now so he can make a better showing at the National Western Stock Show & Rodeo in Denver later this month.
“Some of our guys who limit themselves to competing at the circuit level are just as good as the NFR qualifiers,” Van Court said, “so it’s going to be a great rodeo, especially at the timed-event end of the arena.”
Seven-time World Champion All-Around Cowboy Trevor Brazile and 2005 World Champion Heeler Patrick Smith headline a team roping field that will also include David Key and eight-time World Champion Heeler Rich Skelton, Joel Bach and four-time World Champion Heeler Allen Bach and reigning Reserve World Champions Luke Brown and Martin Lucero.
Brazile, the reigning world champion tie-down roper, will not take part in that event at Waco, but the field is loaded nonetheless, with seven-time World Champion Whitfield and 2008 World Champion Stran Smith, plus current Wrangler NFR average champion Tuf Cooper and fellow Wrangler NFR qualifiers Scott Kormos, Justin Maass and Adam Gray.
The steer roping field includes two-time World Champion Scott Snedecor, current NFSR average champion Bryce Davis, plus Vin Fisher Jr., Dan Fisher, Leo Campbell, Cody Lee, Landon McClaugherty, Cash Myers, Neal Wood and Shane Suggs – 10 of the 15 NFSR qualifiers from last season.
Buddy Cockrell inducted into Texas Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame
Gene (Buddy) Cockrell, the 1977 PRCA steer roping champion, will be inducted into the Texas Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame Feb. 14 in Amarillo. Cockrell, 75, will be joined in the induction class by former West Texas A&M quarterback Tod Mayfield and late high school basketball star Martha Sutton Poole.
Cockrell was the 1953 Texas High School All-Around Cowboy and won two state amateur titles before joining the Rodeo Cowboys Association (precursor to the PRCA) in 1964. He competed in all four timed events, but had his best results in steer roping. In his title year of 1977, Cockrell earned $11,878, finishing second at the Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days Rodeo and third at the National Finals Steer Roping.
Reno Rodeo’s Denim Drive again proves big success
The annual Reno (Nev.) Rodeo Denim Drive, which benefits children in protective custody and foster care, produced thousands of dollars in cash donations, 1,500 pairs of jeans and 700 packages of socks, according to Marie Baxter, executive director of the Reno Rodeo Foundation. “Over the next 12 months,” Baxter told the Reno Gazette Journal, “every child who is removed from an unsafe home and is placed at the Kid’s Kottage or an emergency foster home will receive new clothes from this drive.”
Pendleton Round-Up kicks off centennial celebration with Let ‘er Buck Ball
The Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up’s Let ‘er Buck Ball on New Year’s Eve stylishly kicked off the rodeo’s 100th anniversary year. Nearly 400 guests paid $150 each to attend the ball in the Slick Fork Saloon with the proceeds from the entry fees and the auction earmarked for the Round-Up’s $1.1 million Centennial Plaza project.
World’s Oldest Continuous Rodeo gets new management
The 120-member Payson (Ariz.) Pro Rodeo Committee has taken over management of the World’s Oldest Continuous Rodeo with plans to make arena and seating improvements, increase prize money and upgrade the specialty acts. Their first move was to engage Salt River Rodeo as the stock contractor for the August 2010 rodeo.
Upcoming Rodeos
Jan. 5 National Western Rodeo (qualifier), Denver, begins
Jan. 7 Dodge Texas Circuit Finals Rodeo, Waco, begins
Jan. 8 SandHills Stock Show & Rodeo, Odessa, Texas, begins
Jan. 9 Seminole Classic PRCA Rodeo, Okeechobee, Fla.
Jan. 9 National Western Stock Show & Rodeo, Denver, begins
Jan. 10 Seminole Classic Xtreme Bulls Division I Qualifier, Okeechobee, Fla.
Jan. 14 Dodge First Frontier Circuit Finals Rodeo, Harrisburg, Pa., begins
Jan. 14 Mid Winter Fair & Rodeo, Lafayette, La., begins
Jan. 15 Dodge Montana Circuit Finals Rodeo, Great Falls, Mont., begins
Jan. 15 Amicus Club PRCA Rodeo, Alexandria, La., begins
Jan. 19 Fort Worth Division II Qualifying Event
