Etbauer Holds on for Win in Reno

Posted Friday, June 26, 2009

RENO, Nev. --- Billy Etbauer just had one successful ride in the saddle bronc riding at the Reno Rodeo, and he made it count.

Etbauer from Edmond, Okla., scored 89 points on Big Bend Rodeo’s Devil Lady at the first of eight performances that feature preliminary competition. His score held on through another 45 rides to win the top spot in the first round. Etbauer earned $3,203 here.

He is currently in 45th place in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) world standings, so the money he won here will be very important in helping him qualify for his 21st Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR).

Shaun Stroh from Dickinson, N.D., moved into a tie for third place on Thursday night with an 86-point effort on Growney Brothers Billy the Kid. He will have his second round horse Friday night and will be hoping to be among the top 12 who qualify for Saturday night’s finals.

Kaycee Feild is the big money winner in bareback riding so far. His 88-point effort on Western Rodeo’s Big Easy earned him $3,474. He still leads the over-all standings, but Zach Curran could overtake the top spot on Friday. Curran rode Growney Brother’s Raggedy Ann for 84 points to tie for the second place spot in the first round. He put himself in great position to qualify for Saturday night’s finals. Curran split the spot with the current world standings leader, Clint Cannon, from Waller, Texas and the man in second place, Heath Ford, from Greeley, Colo. They each earned $2,316.

Not only is the money at the 61st annual Reno Rodeo important for the contestants trying to qualify for the NFR, it also counts for the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour presented by Justin Boots. Reno is the third of the Gold Tour Rodeos. Contestants are hoping to advance to the Justin Boots Playoffs this fall. Total prize money in the tour system is expected to exceed $5 million.

There were only three bull rides on Thursday night, but all three were exceptional. Colin McTaggart from Las Vegas, Nev., had the high-marked ride at 90 points. McTaggart won the Xtreme Bulls here a week ago and is loving the success he is having in his home state. Bull riding has one round of competition here. McTaggart is currently in second place in that round. Zack Oakes from Elk, Wash., had an 86 and Shane Gordon from Fort Jones, Calif., had an 84. All three rides were on bulls from Growney Brothers.

The eighth performance of the Reno Rodeo will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday. At the conclusion of the rodeo, the second round winners and final round qualifiers will be determined.

--- Following are unofficial results after the fifth performance at the Reno Rodeo, Thursday, June 25, 2009, courtesy of Clearwire Wireless Broadband.

Seventh Performance---

Bareback Riding: 1, Zach Curran, 84 points on Growney Brothers’ Raggedy Ann. 2, (tie), Steven Peebles, Redmond, Ore., and Jason Jeter, Mansfield, Texas, 81. 3 (tie), Zac Compton; Hermiston, Ore.; Joe Gunderson, Agar, S.D.; and Cody DeMers, Kimberly Idaho; 80.

Steer Wrestling: 1, Ted Gollaher, Cascade, Mont., 5.7 seconds. 2, Gabe Taylor, Valentine, Neb., 6.2. 3, Dustin Merritt, Mount Pleasant, Texas, 9.3. 4, Chad Bouchard, Rolling Hills, Alberta, 16.7.

Team roping: (three qualified times) 1, Cole Bigbee, Stephenville, Texas, and Tanner Bryson, Cornville, Ariz., 6.2 seconds. 2, Blake Hirdes, Turlock, Calif., and Mike George, Oakdale, Calif., 11.3. 3, Blaine Vick, Stephenville, Texas, and Kyle Crick, Lipan, Texas, 16.1.

Saddle Bronc Riding: 1, Shaun Stroh, Dickinson, N.D., 86 points on Growney Brother’s Billy the Kid. 2 (tie), Jeff Willert, Belvidere, S.D., and Jesse Kruse, Great Falls, Mont., 82. 4, Joe Heguy, Elko, Nev., 80.

Tie Down Roping: 1, Seth Emerson, Benton, La., 11.7. 3, Clint Arave, Blackfoot, Idaho, 12.2. 4, Pete Jones, Twin Falls, Idaho, 12.7.

Barrel Racing: 1, Brenda Seely, Lander, Wyo., 17.23. 2, Sammi Bessert, Loma, Colo., 17.46. 3, Morgan Montello, El Campo, Texas, 17.66. 4, Kyna Schrader, Wickenburg, Ariz., 17.72.

Bull Riding: (three qualified rides) 1, Colin McTaggart, Las Vegas, Nev., 90 points on Growney Brothers’ Scoundrel. 2, Zack Oakes, Elk, Wash., 86. 3, Shane Gordon, Fort Jones, Calif., 84.

Current Leaders ---

Bareback Riding: (first round winners) 1, Kaycee Feild, Elk Ridge, Utah, 88 points on Western Rodeo’s Big Easy, $3,474. 2 (tie), Clint Cannon, Waller, Texas; Heath Ford, Greeley, Colo.; and Zach Curran, Arvada, Colo.; 83, $2,316. 5, Ethan McNeill, Grantsville, Utah, 82, $810. 6(tie), Jason Jeter, Mansfield, Texas, and Steven Peebles, Redmond, Ore., 81, $521 each. 8(tie), Wes Stevenson, Lubbock, Texas,; Ryan Gray, Cheney, Wash.; Zac Compton, Hermiston, Ore.; Cody DeMers, Kimberly, Idaho; and Joe Gunderson, Agar, S.D.; 80, $70. (second round) 1, Justin McDaniel, Porum, Okla., 84 points on Flying U Rodeo’s Sundowner. 2, (tie) Dustin Mulrony, Pomeroy, Wash., and Cannon, 82. 4 (tie), Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas, and Feild, 80. (total on two) 1, Feild, 168. 2, Cannon, 165. 3, McDaniel, 163. 4, Heath Ford, 162. 5, Gray, 159. 6, Lowe, 157.

Steer Wrestling: (first round): 1 Zane Hankel, Red Cliff, Alberta, 4.0 seconds. 2, B.J. Campbell, Benton City, Wash., 4.6. 3, (tie), Brad Johnson, Reva, S.D.; Joey Bell Jr., Malakoff, Texas; and Jason Reiss, Dickinson, S.D.; 4.7. (second round) 1 (tie); Rhett Kennedy, Chowchilla, Calif.; Wade Sumpter, Fowler, Colo.; and Campbell; 3.8. 4, Jake Hannum, Ogden, Utah, 3.9. (total on two) 1, Campbell, 8.4. 2, Bell 9.1. 3, Dean Gorsuch, Gearing, Neb., 9.9. 4, Spud Duvall, Checotah, Okla., 10.2. 5, Jason Reiss, Dickinson, N.D., 10.4. 6, Brandon Christensen, Hermiston, Ore., 10.5.

Team Roping: (first round) 1, Travis Tryan, Billings, Mont., and Michael Jones, Stephenville, Texas, 4.9 seconds. 2, Chad Masters, Clarksville, Tenn., and Jade Corkill, Fallon, Nev., 5.1. 3 (tie), Kelsey Parchman, Cumberland City, Tenn., and Monty Joe Petska, Turlock, Calif.; Charly Crawford, Prineville, Ore., and Russell Cardoza, Farmington,Calif. 5.8. (second round) 1, Jake Stanley, Hermiston, Ore., and Justin Davis, Cottonwood, Calif., 5.1. 2,Jay Tittel, Pueblo, Colo., and Cole Cooper, Montrose, Coo., 5.3. 3 (tie), Masters and Corkill, and Steve Purcella, Hereford, Texas, and Jhett Johnson, Casper, Wyo., 5.6. (total on two): 1, Masters and Corkill, 10.7. 2 (tie), Travis Tryan, Billings, Mont., and Michael Jones, Stephenville, Texas; and JoJo Lemond, Andrews, Texas, and Randon Adams, Logandale, Nev.; 11.8. 4, Luke Brown, Santo, Texas, and Martin Lucero, Stephenville, Texas, 12.1. 5, David Key, Caldwell, Texas, and Rich Skelton, Llano, Texas, 12.2. 6, Cody Odell, Como, Texas, and Dustin Davis, Texarkana, Ark., 12.7.

Saddle Bronc Riding: (first round): 1, Billy Etbauer, 89 points on Big Bend Rodeo’s Devil Lady, $3,203. 2, Justin Arnold, Santa Margarita, Calif., 88, $2,456. 3 (tie), Dusty Hausauer, Dickinson, N.D., and Shaun Stroh, Dickinson, N.D., 86, $1,495. 5, Wes Burns, Stephenville, Texas, 85, $747. 6 (tie), Coddy Wright, Milford, Utah; J.J. Elshere, Quinn, S.D.; Dustin Flundra, Pincher Creek, Alberta; Jeff Willert, Belvidere, S.D.; and Jesse Kruse, Great Falls, Mont.; 82, $256. (second round) : 1, Chad Ferley, Oelrichs, S.D., 85 points on Flying Five Rodeo’s Dual Motion. 2, (tie), Bradley Harter, Weatherford, Texas; Wade Sundell, Boxholm, Iowa; and Hausauer; 83. (total on two): 1, Hausauer, 169. 2, Arnold, 166. 3, Harter, 164. 4, Cody Wright, Milford, Utah, 163. 5, Chad Ferley, Oelrichs, S.D.,162. 6, Dustin Flundra, Pincher Creek, Alberta, 160.

Tie Down Roping: (first round): 1, Landon McClaugherty,Tilden, Texas,7.8 seconds. 2, Cole Bailey, Okmulgee, Okla., 9.0. 3, Adam Gray, Seymour, Texas, 9.5. 4, Matt Shiozawa, Chubbock, Idaho, 9.6. (second round) 1, Hunter Herrin, Apache, Okla., 7.8 seconds. 2, Trevor Thiel, Greeley, Colo., 8.6. 3, Shane Hanchey, Sulphur, La., 8.8. 4, Casey Wilson, Benson, Ariz., 8.9. (total on two) 1, Vohs, 19.0. 2, Shiozawa, 19.2. 3, Ryan Jarrett, Summerfield, Ga., 19.3. 4, Bailey, 19.4. 5, Kody Curry, Buna, Texas, 19.5. 6, Cimarron Boardman, Stephenville, Texas, 20.4.

Barrel Racing: (second round) : 1, Lindsay Sears, Nanton, Alberta, 16.96 seconds. 2, Sue Smith, Blackfoot, Idaho, 17.01. 3 Jeanne Anderson, White City, Kan., 17.06. 4, Tammy Key Fischer, Ledbetter, Texas, 17.09. (total on two): 1, Sears, 34.03. 2, Smith, 34.41. 3, P.J. Burger, Pauls Valley, Okla., 34.45. 4, Fischer, 34.46.

Bull Riding: (first round): 1, J.W. Harris , 91 points on Big Bend Rodeo’s Major Shock. 2,Collin McTaggart, Las Vegas, Nev., 90. 3, Sean Case, Riverside, Calif., 89. 4, Zack Oakes, Elk, Wash., 86. 5, Shane Gordon, Fort Jones, Calif., 84. 6 (tie), Steve Woolsey, Payson, Utah, and Cody Whitney, Asher, Okla., 83.