OMAHA, Neb. – Steer wrestler Lee Graves says he feels like he’s “on the top of the world,” which seems only fair. After two nights’ work at the Justin Boots Championships he is on top of the world.
After winning both rounds at the Qwest Center in identical times of 3.3 seconds – and the two-head average – Graves has earned $17,421, pushing him past Jake Rinehart atop the PRCA World Standings by more than $15,000.
“When it’s your time, it’s your time,” Graves said, “and when you get in these grooves, you’ve just got to ride it out as long as you can. Don’t change anything and just back in there and win as much as you can.
“I’ve been on both ends of it and been where you can’t make a right turn or do anything right, but I’m just lucky my horse (Jessie) is working great.”
Graves was at that other end of things a year ago when he tore the patella tendon in his right knee in Tucson, Ariz., an injury that put him out of action for eight months. The 2005 world champion finished the season 65th with earnings of $17,565 – just $140 more than he’s won in two days on the banks of the Missouri River.
Graves was the only competitor to win both preliminary rounds and leads the top eight finishers into Saturday’s semifinals, where all scores and times are erased. The top four survivors from the semifinals then move on to the finals later in the evening, where again the scores are all wiped clean. The winner of the finals is the Justin Boots Championships champion.
“I’m just here trying to win something,” the Calgary, Alberta, cowboy said. “I wanted to set myself up to finish the regular season to say, ‘Hey, what a great year.’ Everybody (at the top) is just juggling positions, and we’re all good friends who all get along. There are no rivalries whatsoever, so it’s pretty cool. I’ve won what it pays to win a go-round (at the Wrangler NFR).”
Blaine Linaweaver and Rich Skelton, roping together in Omaha because their regular partners did not make the original entry cutoff, were the fastest team Friday night with a time of 4.3 seconds and won the average in 9.9 seconds on two head.
“Blaine gave me a good shot,” Skelton said. “He was trying really hard and got out of the barrier, turned the steer around and gave me a good shot. It was a great team effort.”
South Dakota saddle bronc rider J.J. Elshere arrived in Omaha in 13th place, uncertain whether he could hold on and qualify for his third Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Two days and $15,400 later, he’s feeling a little more certain.
Elshere won the second round Beutler & Son’s Painted Desert with an 89-point ride and won the average with 170 points, three better than five-time World Champion Billy Etbauer.
“This is my last rodeo (of the 2009 regular season),” Elshere said, “so I really needed to try to make a move here because the rest of the guys still have some to go to. So, I really needed this one.
“I’ve drawn phenomenally well here. They were good-to-ride horses, good to spur and they bucked, and that’s exactly what I needed.”
Like Elshere, tie-down roper Hunter Herrin used a second-round win to earn the two-head average with a time of 14.7 seconds. The $14,784 he’s earned thus far has moved him from 10th in the PRCA World Standings to fourth, trailing only Trevor Brazile, Clint Robinson and Tuf Cooper.
“I had a calf I had the other day in practice,” Herrin said, “and hands down, it was the best one in the bunch. I was not real sure how the calf was going to run tonight, but I knew if I got out of the barrier and messed up, it would be my fault.”
Ryan Gray’s 89-point ride on J Bar J Rodeo’s First Light was two points better than PRCA World Standings leader Clint Cannon in the second round of the bareback riding. They were also 1-2 in the average, with Gray holding a four-point advantage.
An incredible road odyssey that took bull rider Cody Whitney from Pendleton to Albuquerque, N.M., Abilene, Texas, El Paso, Texas, Asher, Okla., Texarkana, Ark., to Omaha – with a variety of drivers – ended with a big payday on the floor of the Qwest Center.
Whitney won the second round with an 88-point ride on Rafter H Rodeo’s Crazy Train that paid him $5,808, and with a third-place finish in the average behind J.W. Harris (167 points on two head) and Bobby Welsh (164), Whitney had earned $9,152.
“Our vehicle broke down in Pendleton with all our clothes and stuff in it,” Whitney said, “and we had to find a way to get down the road. From Pendleton, we caught a ride with a barrel racer in her half-million dollar rig, which was kind of cool. But she made us drive, which wasn’t.”
That ride got him to Albuquerque, where he hitched a ride with fellow bull rider Howdy Cloud to Abilene. In El Paso, he and travel partner Corey Navarre borrowed a vehicle to get to their homes in Oklahoma. Another travel partner, Austin Ambrose, picked up Whitney at his Asher home to take him Texarkana. Navarre drove his truck over to Arkansas for the trip to Omaha.
“When you rodeo, you do whatever you have to do to get there,” Whitney said.
Sue Smith of Blackfoot, Idaho, won the second round with a time of 13.91 seconds, but failed to qualify for the semifinal round. She could not overcome having knocked over a barrel in Thursday’s first round.
Lindsay Sears backed up her first-round win with a second-place finish Friday to win the average race by a little over two-tenths of a second over Jordon Peterson.
Justin Boots Championships
Qwest Center, Omaha, Neb.
Sept. 25, 2009
Bareback riding: Second round: 1. Ryan Gray, Cheney, Wash., 89 points on J Bar J Rodeo's First Light, $5,808; 2. Clint Cannon, Waller, Texas, 87, $4,400; 3. Kelly Timberman, Mills, Wyo., 85, $3,168; 4. (tie) Tilden Hooper, Carthage, Texas, and Steven Peebles, Redmond, Ore., 82, $1,672 each; 6. (tie) Heath Ford, Greeley, Colo., Royce Ford, Briggsdale, Colo., Bobby Mote, Culver, Ore., 79, $293 each; 9. (tie) Justin McDaniel, Porum, Okla., and Kaycee Feild, Elk Ridge, Utah, 78; 11. Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas, 77; 12. D.V. Fennell, Neosho, Mo., 76. Average: 1. Ryan Gray, Cheney, Wash., 172 points on two head, $5,808 2. Clint Cannon, Waller, Texas, 168, $4,400 3. Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas, 162, $3,168 4. (tie) Justin McDaniel, Porum, Okla., and Royce Ford, Briggsdale, Colo., 161, $1,672 each; 6. Steven Peebles, Redmond, Ore., 159, $880; 7. Tilden Hooper, Carthage, Texas, 158; 8. Kelly Timberman, Mills, Wyo., 157; 9. (tie) Kaycee Feild, Elk Ridge, Utah, and Bobby Mote, Culver, Ore., 156; 11. (tie) Heath Ford, Greeley, Colo., and D.V. Fennell, Neosho, Mo., 155
Steer wrestling: Second round: 1. Lee Graves, Calgary, Alberta, 3.3 seconds, $5,808; 2. Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo., 3.4, $4,400; 3. (tie) Gabe Ledoux, Kaplan, La., and Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., 3.6, $2,640 each; 5. Jake Rinehart, Highmore, S.D., 3.9, $1,232; 6. (tie) Blake Knowles, Heppner, Ore., and Darrell Petry, Beaumont, Texas, 4.5, $440 each; 8. Hunter Cure, Holliday, Texas, 5.2; 9. (tie) Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah, and Matt Reeves, Pampa, Texas, 5.3; 11. Casey Martin, Sulphur, La., 13.4; 12. Joey Bell Jr, Athens, Texas, NT. Average: 1. Lee Graves, Calgary, Alberta, 6.6 seconds on two head, $5,808; 2. Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., 7.2, $4,400; 3. Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo., 7.7, $3,168; 4. Blake Knowles, Heppner, Ore., 9.1, $2,112; 5. Hunter Cure, Holliday, Texas, 9.2, $1,232; 6. Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah, 9.5, $880; 7. (tie) Jake Rinehart, Highmore, S.D., and Matt Reeves, Pampa, Texas, 11.4; 9. Casey Martin, Sulphur, La., 17.8; 10. Darrell Petry, Beaumont, Texas, 18.7; 11. Gabe Ledoux, Kaplan, La., 3.6 on one; 12. Joey Bell Jr, Athens, Texas, 13.5.
Team roping: Second round: 1. Blaine Linaweaver, Leavenworth, Kan./Rich Skelton, Llano, Texas, 4.3 seconds, $5,808 each; 2. Luke Brown, Rock Hill, S.C./Martin Lucero, Stephenville, Texas, 5.4, $4,400; 3. Jay Adams, Logandale, Nev./Richard Durham, Morgan Mill, Texas, 5.7, $3,168; 4. Steve Purcella, Hereford, Texas/Jhett Johnson, Casper, Wyo., 6.0, $2,112; 5. David Key, Caldwell, Texas/Brad Culpepper, Ashburn, Ga., 6.2, $1,232; 6. Clay Tryan, Billings, Mont./Cory Petska, Lexington, Okla., 6.7, $880; 7. Chad Masters, Clarksville, Tenn./Jade Corkill, Fallon, Nev., 14.1; 8. (tie) Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas/Patrick Smith, Midland, Texas, Nick Sartain, Yukon, Okla./Kollin VonAhn, Durant, Okla., Travis Tryan, Billings, Mont./Michael Jones, Stephenville, Texas, Shane Philipp, Washington, Texas/Justin Davis, Cottonwood, Calif., and JoJo LeMond, Andrews, Texas/Randon Adams, Logandale, Nev., NT. Average: 1. Blaine Linaweaver, Leavenworth, Kan./Rich Skelton, Llano, Texas, 9.9 seconds on two head, $5,808; 2. Luke Brown, Rock Hill, S.C./Martin Lucero, Stephenville, Texas, 10.3, $4,400; 3. Jay Adams, Logandale, Nev./Richard Durham, Morgan Mill, Texas, 11.1, $3,168; 4. (tie) Clay Tryan, Billings, Mont./Cory Petska, Lexington, Okla., and Steve Purcella, Hereford, Texas/Jhett Johnson, Casper, Wyo., 12.2, $1,672 each; 6. David Key, Caldwell, Texas/Brad Culpepper, Ashburn, Ga., 15.8, $880; 7. Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas/Patrick Smith, Midland, Texas, 4.1 on one; 8. Travis Tryan, Billings, Mont./Michael Jones, Stephenville, Texas, 5.0; 9. Shane Philipp, Washington, Texas/Justin Davis, Cottonwood, Calif., 6.7; 10. Chad Masters, Clarksville, Tenn./Jade Corkill, Fallon, Nev., 14.1; 11. (tie) Nick Sartain, Yukon, Okla./Kollin VonAhn, Durant, Okla., and JoJo LeMond, Andrews, Texas/Randon Adams, Logandale, Nev., NT.
Saddle bronc riding: Second round: 1. J.J. Elshere, Quinn, S.D., 86 points on Beutler and Son Rodeo Co.'s Painted Desert, $5,808; 2. (tie) Isaac Diaz, Stephenville, Texas, and Shaun Stroh, Dickinson, N.D., 85, $3,784 each; 4. Billy Etbauer, Edmond, Okla., 83, $2,112; 5. Chad Ferley, Oelrichs, S.D., 80, $1,232; 6. Dusty Hausauer, Dickinson, N.D., 78, $880; 7. (tie) Heith DeMoss, Heflin, La., and Cody Wright, Milford, Utah, 77; 9. (tie) Dustin Flundra, Pincher Creek, Alberta, and Chet Johnson, Gillette, Wyo., 76; 11. (tie) Cody DeMoss, Heflin, La., and Jesse Kruse, Great Falls, Mont., NS. Average: 1. J.J. Elshere, Quinn, S.D., 170 points on two head, $5,808; 2. Billy Etbauer, Edmond, Okla., 167, $4,400; 3. Isaac Diaz, Stephenville, Texas, 163, $3,168; 4. Chad Ferley, Oelrichs, S.D., 161, $2,112; 5. (tie) Heith DeMoss, Heflin, La., and Shaun Stroh, Dickinson, N.D., 158, $1,056; 7. (tie) Dustin Flundra, Pincher Creek, Alberta, and Dusty Hausauer, Dickinson, N.D., 155; 9. Cody Wright, Milford, Utah, 153; 10. Chet Johnson, Gillette, Wyo., 149; 11. Cody DeMoss, Heflin, La., 86 on one; 12. Jesse Kruse, Great Falls, Mont., 73.
Tie-down roping: Second round: 1. Hunter Herrin, Apache, Okla., 7.2 seconds, $5,808; 2. Adam Gray, Seymour, Texas, 7.8, $4,400; 3. Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, 8.6, $3,168; 4. Stran Smith, Childress, Texas, 8.8, $2,112; 5. Justin Maass, Giddings, Texas, 9.0, $1,232; 6. (tie) Tuf Cooper, Decatur, Texas, and Kody Curry, Buna, Texas, 9.5, $440 each; 8. Blair Burk, Durant, Okla., 10.0; 9. Cody Ohl, Hico, Texas, 10.6; 10. Monty Lewis, Hereford, Texas, 11.8; 11. Jake Hannum, Ogden, Utah, 17.1; 12. Fred Whitfield, Hockley, Texas, NT. Average: 1. Hunter Herrin, Apache, Okla., 14.7 seconds on two head, $5,808 2. Justin Maass, Giddings, Texas, 16.6, $4,400; 3. Blair Burk, Durant, Okla., 17.1, $3,168; 4. (tie) Kody Curry, Buna, Texas, and Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, 17.4, $1,672; 6. (tie) Cody Ohl, Hico, Texas, and Stran Smith, Childress, Texas, 17.8, $440 each; 8. Monty Lewis, Hereford, Texas, 19.5; 9. Jake Hannum, Ogden, Utah, 27.4; 10. Adam Gray, Seymour, Texas, 7.8 on one; 11. Fred Whitfield, Hockley, Texas, 8.4; 12. Tuf Cooper, Decatur, Texas, 9.5.
Barrel racing: Second round: 1. Sue Smith, Blackfoot, Idaho, 13.91 seconds, $5,808; 2. Lindsay Sears, Nanton Alberta, 13.95, $4,400; 3. Jordon Peterson, Chilton, Texas, 14.08, $3,168 4. Tiffany Fox, Fox, Okla., 14.14, $2,112 5. (tie) Danyelle Campbell, Beaumont, Calif., and P.J. Burger, Pauls Valley, Okla., 14.17, $1,056 each; 7. Brenda Mays, Terrebonne, Ore., 14.21; 8. Mattie Little, Ardmore, Okla., 14.23; 9. Kelli Tolbert, Hinckley, Utah, 14.27; 10. Rachael Ross, Murrieta, Calif., 14.31; 11. Brittany Pozzi, Victoria, Texas, 14.45; 12. Sabra O'Quinn, Ocala, Fla., 19.36. Average: 1. Lindsay Sears, Nanton, Alberta, 27.82 seconds on two runs, $5,808; 2. Jordon Peterson, Chilton, Texas, 28.05, $4,400; 3. P.J. Burger, Pauls Valley, Okla., 28.13, $3,168; 4. Brenda Mays, Terrebonne, Ore., 28.25, $2,112; 5. Danyelle Campbell, Beaumont, Calif., 28.32, $1,232; 6. Tiffany Fox, Fox, Okla., 28.33, $880; 7. Brittany Pozzi, Victoria, Texas, 28.42; 8. Kelli Tolbert, Hinckley, Utah, 28.45; 9. Rachael Ross, Murrieta, Calif., 28.69; 10. Mattie Little, Ardmore, Okla., 28.87; 11. Sue Smith, Blackfoot, Idaho, 33.04; 12. Sabra O'Quinn, Ocala, Fla., 33.54.
Bull riding: Second round: 1. Cody Whitney, Asher, Okla., 88 points on Rafter H Rodeo Livestock Co.'s Crazy Train, $5,808; 2. Howdy Cloud, Kountze, Texas, 87, $4,400; 3. (tie) Bobby Welsh, Gillette, Wyo., and Wesley Silcox, Santaquin, Utah, 82, $2,640 each; 5. J.W. Harris, May, Texas, 77, $1,232; 6. (tie) Brad Pierce, Baird, Texas, Jake Wade, Alamo, Nev., Corey Navarre, Weatherford, Okla., Shawn Hogg, Odessa, Texas, Colin McTaggart, Las Vegas, Nev., Zack Oakes, Elk, Wash., and B.J. Schumacher, Hillsboro, Wis., NS. Average: 1. J.W. Harris, May, Texas, 167 points on two head, $5,808; 2. Bobby Welsh, Gillette, Wyo., 164, $4,400; 3. Cody Whitney, Asher, Okla., 88 on one, $3,168; 4. Howdy Cloud, Kountze, Texas, 87, $2,112; 5. Corey Navarre, Weatherford, Okla., 85, $1,232; 6. (tie) Brad Pierce, Baird, Texas, and Wesley Silcox, Santaquin, Utah, 82, $440 each; 8. (tie) Jake Wade, Alamo, Nev., Shawn Hogg, Odessa, Texas, Colin McTaggart, Las Vegas, Nev., Zack Oakes, Elk, Wash., and B.J. Schumacher, Hillsboro, Wis., NS
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