Beers refreshes his Wrangler NFR hopes with win at Sikeston, Mo.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Brandon Beers keeps inching toward a spot in the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo without getting any closer to knowing who he might rope with if he makes it to the Thomas & Mack Center.
Beers paired with Ryan Motes, Aug. 5-8, to win the Sikeston (Mo.) Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo, a Wrangler Million Dollar Tour silver-tier event presented by Justin Boots and finish third in the Lawton (Okla.) Rangers Rodeo .
But that partnership is over now. Beers and Motes entered into a six-rodeo agreement when none of their regular partners were available. It worked out fine, but they are moving on after roping two head in 10.4 seconds at Sikeston.
Beers is used to this sort of thing. Motes was his seventh partner this season. Beers won the Lea Park Rodeo in Marwayne, Alberta, with Marty Becker, the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo in Colorado Springs, Colo., with Patrick Smith and Sikeston with Motes.
“I don’t like switching around that much, but you do what have to do,” Beers said. “Things come up, and you have to adjust. I’ve just been very fortunate to have great partners all season.”
It’s worked out well. With his earnings of $5,605 over the Aug. 5-8 weekend, Beers moved from 20th to 17th in the PRCA World Standings. The top 15 headers and heelers in the money standings qualify for the Wrangler NFR.
And for the home stretch, the last 15 rodeos on his schedule, Beers is going with the partner he knows best, his dad, Mike Beers. Mike was the 1984 world champion team roper and is a 17-time NFR qualifier in the event, most recently in 2007 when Brandon and Mike qualified together.
“It’s great to have a former world champion to call on,” Brandon Beers said. “There’s no learning curve with him. I know exactly how he wants me to handle the steer. We’ve roped a lot together over the years. There is a real comfort level there.”
The Oregon residents roped together in a couple of home state rodeos earlier in the year, and Brandon Beers has also paired with Cesar de la Cruz, Jade Corkill, Kory Koontz, Becker, Smith and Motes.
Brandon’s not too worried about who he might draw in Las Vegas.
“If I’m lucky enough to make into the field, I’ll be happy with whoever they put me with,” Beers said. “I’d just be thrilled to be there again.”
Five-time World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider Billy Etbauer continued his move up the PRCA World Standings with a win at Sikeston. He had an 88-point ride on Stace Smith Pro Rodeos’ Ghost Town to earn $4,745 and banked another $556 with a third-place finish at Ponca City, Okla.
Over the last month, Etbauer has advanced from 20th to 14th to eighth and is now sixth with season earnings of $55,384.
The other champions at the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo were two-time World Champion Bareback Rider Bobby Mote (88 points), steer wrestler Jake Rinehart (11.4 seconds on two head), tie-down roper Adam Gray (16.6 seconds on two head), rookie bull rider Kevin Ventura (88 points) and barrel racer Sabra O’Quinn (16.05 seconds).
Lovington proves to be just the place for closeness
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Bull rider Zack Oakes is making another late-season run at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
A year ago, Oakes, of Tonasket, Wash., put together a series of wins starting around Cowboy Christmas – St. Paul, Ore.; Sisters, Ore. and San Juan Capistrano, Calif. – that carried him all the way to Las Vegas in December.
The path to his fourth NFR became a bit clearer Aug. 5-8 when he won the Lea County Fair & PRCA Rodeo in Lovington, N.M., a Wrangler Million Dollar Tour silver-tier event presented by Justin Boots.
Oakes’ 87-point ride on Triple V Rodeo’s Shorty Cash paid enough cash, $5,487, to move him from 18th place to 14th in the PRCA World Standings with $53,957.
Oakes’ one-point margin over Taylor Cowan was typical of a highly competitive rodeo at Jake McClure Arena in which four events ended in ties.
Chad Masters and Jade Corkill added to their leads in the team roping world standings by winning the two-head average in 10.4 seconds and earning $6,621 each. Brittany Pharr won the barrel racing by seven-hundreths of a second over Tiffany Fox with a time of 17.24 seconds.
The other champions at Lovington were bareback riders Clint Cannon and Kelly Timberman (89 points each), steer wrestlers Lee Graves and Matt Reeves (8.5 seconds on two head), saddle bronc riders J.J. Elshere and Isaac Diaz (85 points) and tie-down ropers Ryan Watkins, Cimarron Boardman and Cody Owens (17.4 seconds on two head).
Upcoming PRCA Rodeos
Aug. 10 Northeast Montana Fair & Rodeo, Glasgow, Mont., ongoing
Aug. 12 Painted Pony Championship Rodeo, Lake Luzerne, N.Y., begins
Aug. 12 Juneau County Fair ProRodeo, Mauston, Wis., begins
Aug. 12 Inter-State Rodeo, Coffeyville, Kan., begins
Aug. 12 Jasper (Wyo.) Heritage Rodeo begins
Aug. 12 Farm-City Pro Rodeo, Hermiston, Ore., begins
Aug. 13 Dawson County Fair & Rodeo, Glendive, Mont., begins
Aug. 13 Cassia County Fair & Rodeo, Burley, Idaho, begins
Aug. 13 Red Horse Ranch PRCA Rodeo, Fergus Falls, Minn., begins
Aug. 13 Freedom Rodeo and Old Cowhands Reunion, Freedom, Okla., begins
Aug. 14 Wyoming State Fair & Rodeo, Douglas, Wyo., begins
Aug. 14 Davis County Fair & PRCA Rodeo, Farmington, Utah, begins
Aug. 14 Sand & Sage Roundup, Lamar, Colo., begins
Aug. 14 Mesquite (Texas) Championship Rodeo begins
Aug. 14 Missoula (Mont.) Stampede begins
Aug. 14 Phil Gardenhire PRCA Rodeo, Poteau, Okla., begins
Aug. 14 Barron County Fair & Rodeo, Rice Lake, Wis., begins
Aug. 14 Sonora (Texas) Outlaw Pro Rodeo begins
Aug. 14 Steamboat Springs (Colo.) Pro Rodeo Series begins
Aug. 14 Sturgis (S.D.) Western Heritage Days PRCA Rodeo begins
Aug. 14 125th World’s Oldest Continuous Rodeo, Payson, Ariz., begins
Aug. 14 Pincher Creek (Alberta) Fair & Rodeo begins
Aug. 15 Chouteau County Fair & Rodeo, Fort Benton, Mont., begins
Aug. 15 Cowtown Rodeo, Woodstown Pilesgrove, N.J.
Aug. 15 Fallon County Fair & PRCA Rodeo, Baker, Mont., begins
Aug. 15 Tehachapi Mountain PRCA Rodeo, Tehachapi, Calif., begins
Aug. 15 Ventura County Fair Rodeo, Ventura, Calif., begins
Aug. 17 Dacotah Stampede Rodeo, Aberdeen, S.D., begins
Aug. 18 Caldwell (Idaho) Night Rodeo, begins
Rodeo News and Notes
Former Thomas & Mack executive director honored by friends, colleagues
Friends and colleagues of the late Dennis Finfrock, a former executive director of the Thomas & Mack Center who was influential in the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo moving to Las Vegas, are getting together Aug. 13 for one last night of remembrance at the MGM Grand.
The by-invitation-only affair is being billed as “An Evening of Dennis Stories,” covering his long career as a special events visionary in the Las Vegas market and the athletic director at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Mr. Finfrock died July 12 at age 62 from complications associated with Parkinson’s disease.
Five-time NFR qualifier Bernis Johnson recovering from heart attack
Five-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier Bernis Johnson is back home in Cleburne, Texas, recovering from a heart attack he suffered late last month while attending a funeral in Baton Rouge, La.
Johnson, who has a history of heart trouble, was airlifted to the Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, where he was assessed and stabilized. According to rodeo announcer Charlie Throckmorton, who spoke to Johnson Aug. 9, surgery remains an option.
Johnson competed in the NFR three times as a bareback rider (1959, 1962-63) and twice as a bull rider (1961-62).
Former NIRA Executive Secretary Corfield dies
Tim Corfield, former Executive Secretary of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, died Aug. 8 from complications of cancer, in Spokane, Wash. He was 66. Corfield served the NIRA from 1979-2001 and also had stints as the Walla Walla (Wash.) Community College rodeo coach and the Northwest Region Faculty Director. He had most recently worked producing barrel races in the Northwest. The funeral service will be Aug. 14 at 1:15 p.m. (PT) at the Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up Arena.
The Trevor Brazile Watch
With three more all-around titles over the weekend – at Sikeston, Mo.; Lovington, N.M., and Lawton, Okla. – Trevor Brazile kept his bid for a record-tying seventh all-around world championship on track.
Brazile earned $10,871 at the three rodeos to push his season total to $182,926. This gives him a lead of $81,485 over second place Curtis Cassidy and is $4,030 ahead of Brazile’s pace when he set the single season earnings record of $425,115 in 2007.
