Patterson wins world title with 10th-round comeback at NFSR
GUTHRIE, Okla. – Winning the 10th round at the Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping was nice, but Rocky Patterson was convinced after action had concluded at the Lazy E Arena that he would be returning to his Pratt, Kan., home with a second-place finish.
A few friends of his weren’t so sure.
“I’ve got some friends who keep track of everything, and after it was over, they came down and told me, ‘I think they (the announcers) are wrong,’” Patterson said. “They said I had won it by $1,000 or $1,500 or something. You don’t want to let yourself believe it. It gave me a little hope, though.”
Before Scott Snedecor rode out of the chutes for his 10th-round run, the last of the event, it was announced that a time of 14.9 seconds or better – essentially, placing in the round – would give him his second consecutive world title. Snedecor made a safe run and stopped the clock in 13.5 seconds, placing fourth in the round and seemingly locking up the gold buckle.
But with Patterson finishing third in the average – good for $11,322 – and Snedecor finishing eighth and out of the average money, Patterson won with a season total of $80,923. Snedecor finished with $79,492.
“I was shocked,” said Patterson, who placed in six rounds and pocketed $31,283 in Guthrie.
The same could be said for Snedecor, who just four years ago came out on top of the closest race in PRCA history, finishing $1.67 ahead of 18-time World Champion Guy Allen for his first gold buckle.
“There’s not going to be a day that goes by where I don’t know I could have tied that steer as quick as I needed to,” Snedecor said. “If I needed to tie him in 10 (seconds), I could have tied him in nine.”
Despite his misgivings about the way things ended, Snedecor was quick to give respect to the PRCA’s first world champion of 2009.
“Rocky earned it,” Snedecor said. “He roped well; he’s roped well all year, and he’s roped well for a long time. Shoot, I’m proud of him. He’s done well, and he just about out-roped everybody this weekend.”
The dramatic finish capped off an exciting return of the NFSR to the Lazy E Arena, which had not hosted the event since 2000. The return to Guthrie coincided with a return to the NFSR by the Davis family and its third-generation representative, Bryce.
Davis was the only cowboy to record times on all 10 head in Guthrie, giving the 29-year-old the average title in his first NFSR appearance.
After Patterson missed his eighth-round steer, Davis knew the average crown would be his if he could catch and tie his final two steers. When Round 10 came, Davis used the advice of his father, two-time world champion and 1988 NFSR average winner Jim Davis, to help get past his nerves.
“Dad’s always told me that I’ve run so many cattle at home, you just worry about the start,” Bryce Davis said. “Once you get the start down, the rest is just reaction to the situation. I thought my last steer at Waco (where Davis finished second at the Heartland ProRodeo Steer Roping Championships to qualify for the NFSR) was the toughest steer I’d ever run until tonight.”
It had been a tough year personally for Davis, who had to deal with the death of his 24-year-old sister, Samantha, due to a heart ailment in August, as well as his wife suffering a miscarriage. The average win proved to be a galvanizing moment for Davis and the roughly 30 members of his family – including his father – who were in attendance.
Davis jumped from 10th to sixth in the PRCA World Standings, the best finish of his career.
Two-time World Champion Steer Roper Trevor Brazile earned $26,510 in his two days in Guthrie to lift his season earnings to $288,588 and move a step closer to his record-tying seventh all-around gold buckle. He will enter the Dec. 3-12 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo with a lead of $144,638 over second-place Clint Robinson in the all-around world standings and will compete in both the team roping and tie-down roping.
Whitaker claims record-tying seventh Great Lakes all-around title
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Just call Kyle Whitaker the Trevor Brazile of the Great Lakes Circuit.
By winning the all-around title at the Nov. 12-14 Dodge Great Lakes Circuit Finals Rodeo, presented by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, Whitaker clinched his seventh buckle as the circuit’s best multi-event cowboy.
It tied the record set by Bill Huber (1984, 1987, 1989, 1993-96), and Whitaker managed it by finishing among the circuit’s top 10 in steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding and tie-down roping.
Whitaker earned $3,070 at Freedom Arena over the weekend to move ahead of Gabe Gwaltney, who had entered the circuit finals with a $1,032 lead in the season standings.
Bareback rider Tim Wilkinson clinched his fifth Great Lakes yearend title and qualified for the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, Idaho, by winning the circuit finals title. He won the first round and placed second in another round on his way to scoring 247 points on three head.
The other champions were steer wrestler Justin Morehouse (13.9 seconds on three head), team ropers Ben Ray and Jason Stroup (17.6 seconds on three head), saddle bronc rider Lyle Welling (221 points on three head), tie-down roper Matt Kenney (28.1 seconds on three head), barrel racer Bobbie Jo Bohlman (47.80 seconds on three runs) and bull rider Matt Pojanowski (158 points on two head).
Hughes, Griffin repeat as champions at Dodge Mountain States Circuit Finals
DENVER – Kyle Hughes and Jake Griffin took different paths to manage it, but both repeated as champions at the Nov. 12-14 Dodge Mountain States Circuit Finals Rodeo, presented by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco.
Hughes, of Olney Springs, Colo., won the first round and placed second in round two of the steer wrestling – completing each run in 4.2 seconds – then wrapped up the average title with a safe run of 6.3 seconds in the finale. His time of 14.7 seconds on three head edged Seth Brockman of Wheatland, Wyo., by two-tenths of a second.
Griffin, of Powell, Wyo., won the final round of the saddle bronc riding with a 79-point ride on Harry Vold’s Pine Cone, and that was good enough to hold off Tate Owens and Colin Stalley for the title. Griffin scored 229 points on three head.
Pueblo, Colo., cowboy Josh Peek, who is qualified for next month’s Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in both steer wrestling and tie-down roping, put the finishing touches on his third Mountain States all-around title, and second in two years, by winning the circuit finals with $2,313.
The other champions were bareback rider Craig Wisehart (245 points on three head), team ropers Jay Tittel and Cole Cooper (18.7 seconds on three head), tie-down roper Chase Johnston (27.8 seconds on three head), barrel racer Julie James (49.0 seconds on three head) and bull rider Jake Booco (242 points on three head).
Gold card member Hill dies at age 79
Arnold Hill, a gold card member who rode bulls when the PRCA was still known as the Cowboys’ Turtle Association, died Nov. 13 in Canadian, Texas. Hill started riding bulls at the age of 12, following in the footsteps of older brothers Clinton and Clayton Hill. His riding career took him through the short grass country of the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma. Arnold was an avid cowboy who also worked for the Beutler Brothers hauling the rodeo stock and working on the ranch in Elk City, Okla. The family suggests memorial gifts be made to the Hemphill County Hospice, 1020 S. Fourth St., Canadian, TX 79014.
PRCA tie-down roper Miller dies in truck accident
PRCA tie-down roper Spencer Miller, 24, died Nov. 15 from injuries suffered when his Ford truck went off the road 19 miles east of Pueblo, Colo. Miller, a resident of Calhan, Colo., was the son of Bill Miller, Penrose Equestrian Center General Manager and a member of the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo committee in Colorado Springs.
PRCA signs multi-year agreement with Pro Fantasy Rodeo
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) has entered into a multi-year agreement and endorsed Pro Fantasy Rodeo as the Official Fantasy Rodeo Game of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
“The collaboration with Pro Fantasy Rodeo is a great marketing tool to increase our fan base and give fans a connection to the contestants,” said Sean Daniels, vice president, PRCA Properties, Inc. As the Wrangler NFR has been sold out for more than 20 years, Pro Fantasy Rodeo is another method for fans to become a part of the event without physically being in Las Vegas.
Since its inception six years ago, Pro Fantasy Rodeo has paid out more than $660,000 and averaged more than 3,000 players the past few years. The payout for the 2009 Wrangler NFR game is $109,500.
The object of the game is to pick a team that will earn the most money during the Wrangler NFR. With a salary cap of $550,000, players must recruit a team with a contestant from each event. Players can also recruit multiple teams or become a promotional partner and recruit other players. The promotional partner with the most teams will win a trip to the Wrangler NFR. Players must be 18 years or older, and entries are accepted online at profantasyrodeo.com or can be mailed or faxed or follow the link on prorodeo.com.
Tom Thumb Texas Stampede has familiar faces in winner’s circle
While the $80,000 Tom Thumb Texas Stampede in Dallas was not a PRCA event this year, it managed to stand as a pretty good summing up of what happened in the 2009 PRCA regular season, which concluded a month ago.
The Nov. 13-14 event at the American Airlines Center featured only roughstock events and barrel racing. All of the four-head roughstock titles were won by the PRCA regular-season leaders – bareback rider Clint Cannon (342 points), saddle bronc rider Jesse Kruse (332) and bull ruder J.W. Harris (264.5, edging Bobby Welsh by a half-point). Two-time World Champion Sherry Cervi won the barrel racing.
Johnson’s Canadian Finals draw proves more congenial this time
EDMONTON, Alberta – Wyoming saddle bronc rider Chet Johnson had mixed feelings when he learned he drawn legendary Miss Congeniality for the last round of the $1.27 million Canadian Finals Rodeo, Nov. 12-15.
On the one hand: Miss Congeniality is a two-time USSTC Saddle Bronc Riding Horse of the Year (2005, 2007), a horse capable of giving him the just the sort of big score he needed to win his first CFR.
On the other hand? Miss Congeniality had knocked him silly at the 2008 CFR.
“I had a flashback to last year,” Johnson told the Canadian Press, “to when I was about two jumps out of the chute and laying there in the dirt and watching her buck away. So, I was a little nervous, yeah.”
This time, Johnson made it all the way to the eight-second whistle, scoring 86 points to finish second to Dustin Flundra (86.75) and put the finishing touches on the six-head average title.
Kyle Bowers edged fellow Canadian Dusty LaValley and 2004 World Champion Kelly Timberman for the bareback riding championship despite suffering a separated shoulder during his 84-point ride in the final round.
The other champions in the Rexall Arena were steer wrestler Cody Cassidy, team ropers Travis Gallais and Kevin Schreiner, tie-down roper Alwin Bouchard, barrel racer Gaylene Buff and bull rider Brett Thompson.
Lane Frost documentary selected for Digital Film Festival
Producer/Director David Wittkower’s film about World Champion Bull Rider Lane Frost and the legendary bull Red Rock will be the Official Selection, kicking off the 2nd annual Digital Film Festival in Paso Robles, Calif., Nov. 20-24.
The Challenge of Champions: The Story of Lane Frost and Red Rock is an 82-minute documentary film that covers the great duel between Frost and Red Rock. Their special seven-match series in 1988 captured the attention of die-hard rodeo fans and those totally new to the sport. Tragically, Frost, who was an iconic rodeo athlete and personality, was killed in the arena following a bull ride at Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days 20 years ago this past July. He was 25.
The film won distinction as the Best Western Documentary at the 48th Wrangler Awards in Oklahoma City earlier this year. Commentary in the film is provided by Lane’s parents, Clyde and Elsie Frost, rodeo stock contractor and owner of Red Rock John Growney, sportscaster George Michael, Frost’s traveling partner, Tuff Hedeman, author Jeff Coplon, journalist Kendra Santos, photographer Sue Rosoff and actor Luke Perry, who portrayed Frost in the 1994 feature film 8 Seconds.
Wittkower’s other films have won more than 24 awards. His titles include Drive of a Champion: The Joe Beaver Story and Cowboy Up: Inside the Extreme World of Bull Riding.
There will be a Q&A after the 7:30 p.m. (PT) showing of the film. Guests will include Wittkower, Growney, Santos, Rosoff and Perry. More information about the festival can be found on the Web at: www.thePDFF.com.
Upcoming PRCA Rodeos
Nov. 20 Citrus Stampede Rodeo, Inverness, Fla., begins
Nov. 20 Dodge California Circuit Finals Rodeo, Norco, Calif., begins
Nov. 20 Dodge Columbia River Circuit Finals Rodeo, Redmond, Ore., begins
Dec. 3 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Las Vegas, begins
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