Driggers first team roper to be overall rookie of the year in eight years
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Rookie years in professional sports are often about young, talented athletes getting the opportunity to develop, and such is the case with Kaleb Driggers. The Georgia cowboy claimed the overall and team roping heading PRCA Rookie of the Year honors, but fell just short of a berth in the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Dec. 3-12, in Las Vegas.
Bareback rider Steven Peebles is the lone Rookie of the Year to qualify for the Wrangler NFR. The Redmond, Ore., cowboy is 14th in the world standings with $59,925.
Among the other Rookies of the Year, there is a Canadian who will become a first-time father in December and a young man following in his brother’s footsteps.
Chad Bouchard, from Rolling Hills, Alberta, finished first in the rookie steer wrestling ($14,011) and all-around standings – he also competed in tie-down roping and earned a total of $17,495 in 2009.
Bouchard and his wife of three years, Karen, are expecting their first child on Dec. 15. Karen doesn’t want her husband to miss Rookie Night festivities.
“As far as she is concerned, I’m going, but it is just for the night, and I’m flying right back,” he said.
Rookie Night also will be special for Saddle Bronc Riding Rookie of the Year Jesse Wright, the younger brother of defending World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider Cody Wright. Jesse, from Milford, Utah, is coming off an average win at the Dodge Wilderness Circuit Finals Rodeo, presented by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, held Oct. 22-24 in Ogden, Utah.
Jesse and another Wright brother, Alex, traveled with Cody during the 2009 season.
“Cody helped me out a lot along the way,” said Jesse, who finished with $50,684. “He helped with a little bit of everything, I guess, mostly entering (rodeos).
The other Rookies of the Year were: team roping (heeling) – Justin Hendrick, Rosenberg, Texas, $29,699; tie-down roping – Shane Hanchey, Sulphur, La., $41,480; bull riding – Tyler Willis, Wheatland, Wyo., $54,825 and steer roping – Spicer Lewis, Abilene, Texas, $3,025.
Trell Etbauer’s Wrangler NFR aspirations will have to wait at least one more year. Despite winning $50,028 this year, Etbauer did not finish in the Top 15 in the PRCA World Standings in any of his events.
“My biggest goal is to make it to the NFR in all three of my events,” Etbauer said. “I haven’t really gone all out yet. This next year, I want to try to go a little harder and see if I can. We’ll just see how it goes.”
Etbauer won $25,699 in steer wrestling, $18,831 in saddle bronc riding, $4,988 in tie-down roping and $510 in team roping (heading).
DeMoss, from Heflin, La., won a total of $92,171, with $89,701 coming in saddle bronc riding and $1,624 in bareback riding, but came up $153.55 short in his timed event.
“I usually don’t have a problem winning $1,000 (in team roping), but I didn’t enter enough,” DeMoss said.
Kyle Whitaker, who holds the record for the most Linderman Awards with five, finished in second place behind Etbauer with a total of $44,369. The Chambers, Neb., cowboy competed in steer wrestling ($27,923), saddle bronc riding ($5,660) and tie-down roping ($10,786).
Etbauer won the Linderman Award last year in his rookie season, along with picking up the Rookie of the Year All-Around Award.
“Ever since I won it last year, it’s been my goal to win it every year that I can,” said Etbauer, who usually travels to rodeos with at least three horses in tow.
“The main thing is that I would like to thank all the guys who have helped me: all the guys who have hazed for me, all the guys who have helped me get my horses ready.”
The steer wrestling competition was especially hard-fought, with nine sub-four-second runs in the three rounds, led by Shayne Bennett of Riverton, Utah, who won the third round with an astonishing time of 2.9 seconds, just five-tenths of a second off the world record.
Schneeberger finds new hope with win at Dodge Prairie Circuit Finals
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After struggling for two years to regain top form, tie-down roper Jerome Schneeberger has found signs of hope back on his home turf.
Schneeberger, a six-time Prairie Circuit champion (1997-2001, 2003), placed in every round and won the average title with a time of 24.7 seconds on three head to win the Dodge Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo, presented by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, in Kansas City, Mo.
He finished 2 1/2 seconds ahead of runner-up Trent Creager.
“To have that kind of run is more of a confidence builder,” Schneeberger told the Kansas City Star. “To tell the truth, I’ve been down in the dumps the last two years. There’s a lot that goes into it, but basically I just didn’t rope well.
“I’ve got a new horse, and it’s been pretty green all year. But it’s starting to click along. It makes me realize I’ve still got it.”
Schneeberger, 33, has qualified for the Wrangler NFR 10 times, but entering the circuit finals had won just a single PRCA rodeo this year, in Coffeyville, Kan., and finished 45th in the world standings.
The others who advanced through competition at the Kemper Arena to earn spots at the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo next April were bareback rider Matt Bright of Azle, Texas (239 points on three head), steer wrestler Stockton Graves of Newkirk, Okla. (11.0 seconds on three runs), team ropers Ty Smith of Edmond, Okla., and Jace Crabb of Blair, Okla. (18.0 seconds on three head), saddle bronc rider Jesse James Kirby of Dodge City, Kan. (241 points on three head), barrel racer Mary Burger of Pauls Valley, Okla. (43.23 seconds on three runs) and bull rider Austin Ambrose of Fletcher, Okla. (246 points on three head). www.ahamoment.com/pg/voting?id=8452.
Sparks’ story about how he pursued his dream and became a bullfighter to protect cowboys was chosen by online voters from 75 semifinalists, Oct. 1-15.
Those who voted for Sparks in the semifinal round may vote for him again in the finals.
Sparks, 32, is a captain in the Air Force, along with being a bullfighter. The Cheyenne resident has had his PRCA card since 2000. Along with Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days, Sparks has worked several circuit finals rodeos. To learn more about Sparks, visit his Web site, www.JeremySparks.com.
Gold Card member Jim victim of double shooting
Sonny Jim, a PRCA member for 33 years and a Gold Card member since 1991, died Oct. 23, the victim of a double shooting in Grants, N.M. He was 68.
Jim had agreed to help his friend Wayne Johnson resolve a land dispute, and both men were shot to death when the meeting suddenly turned violent. Danny Stanfield, 61, has been arrested by the Cibola County Sheriff on multiple charges, including murder.
Jim, of Modoc Indian descent, was the national all-around Indian Cowboy in 1969 and 1970. He was also the Indian bareback riding champion in 1970 and the steer wrestling champion in 1982.
A memorial service will be conducted Oct. 29 in Gallup, N.M.
Funeral services held for Charlie Jones in Las Animas, Colo.
Charlie Jones, the father of five-time Wrangler NFR steer wrestling qualifier K.C. Jones, died Oct. 18 in Swedish Hospital in Denver. He was 67. Funeral services were held Oct. 22 at First Presbyterian Church in Las Animas, where he lived with his wife, Ruby.
Charlie Jones competed as a tie-down roper and bull rider during his college years and later was an avid team roper and horse trainer.
A memorial fund has been established at the First National Bank of Las Animas, P.O. Box 270, Las Animas, CO 81054, and the family will make contributions to several worthy causes.
Upcoming PRCA Rodeos
Nov. 5 Dodge Southeastern Circuit Finals Rodeo, Davie, Fla., begins
Oct. 26 Greater Gulf State Fair ProRodeo, Mobile, Ala., ongoing
Nov. 6 Adirondack Stampede Charity Rodeo, Glen Falls, N.Y., begins
Nov. 7 A Tribute to Chris LeDoux Rodeo, Casper, Wyo.
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