Steve Dent gives home-state fans a thrill at River City Roundup

Posted Saturday, September 27, 2008

OMAHA, Neb. - Nebraska high school football fans remember Steven Dent as a tailback who ran for more than 2,400 yards in back-to-back seasons at Mullen High and this weekend his home-state fans are getting a close-up look at how he has come to dominate a much bigger stage in ProRodeo.

In winning the two-head average Sept. 26 at the River City Roundup, Dent took over the bareback riding lead in the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour standings and extended his lead in the Crusher Rentals PRCA World Bareback Riding Standings to nearly $20,000 over three-time World Champion Will Lowe.

Dent backed up a solid 83-point ride on Sept. 25 with an 86-point ride on Beutler & Son's Regulator Sept. 26 that was good for second place behind Lowe's 87 points on Beutler & Son's Full Deck. Dent's total of 169 points was one better than Chris Harris and Tim Shirley.

The top eight competitors in each event advance to the semifinals at 7 p.m. CT Sept. 27 and the four survivors move on to the final round, later in the evening. All times and scores are tossed out and the competitors start with a clean slate in the semifinal round and again in the finals.

"This is awesome," Dent said. "Every time I go to a rodeo in Nebraska, my family comes. It's always good. Nebraska’s got some of the greatest fans in the world. Look how many people are behind the Huskers. They always support somebody from their home state.

"It’s really neat when I get off (the horse) and everybody is on their feet. That means a lot to me when fans are like that."

Dent was not the only world standings leader who has advanced his cause in this third-round event of the Ariat Playoffs.

Steer wrestler Wade Sumpter, who like Dent has been leading the standings since winning RodeoHouston in March, finished first in the two-head average with a time of 7.5 seconds. He shared first place with Curtis Cassidy and Ken Lewis on Sept. 25 and cashed again Sept. 26, tying for third with Gabe Ledoux.

Les Shepperson won the second round with a time of 3.3 seconds that was just one tenth of a second off the arena record set by Jason Lahr in the Qwest Center in 2004. But Shepperson missed his steer in the first round and failed to qualify for the semifinal round.

Experience and youth went head-to-head in the tie-down roping and came out even. Rookie of the Year Tuf Cooper, at 18 the youngest of ProRodeo Hall of Fame roper Roy Cooper's three sons, tied for the two-head average with Mike Johnson, who is 44 and about to compete in his event-record 23rd Wrangler NFR.

World standings leader Josh Peek had the fastest time of the second round with a 7.3-second run, but Cooper tied for second with Doug Pharr at 8.1 and Johnson was fourth in 9.0 to create the deadlock in the average with combined times of 18.4 seconds.

"To (share) the average tonight is great," Cooper said. "I came in wanting to do it. I’m glad I got it done. I’ve always wanted to rope (in Omaha). I’m glad I qualified and made it here. I’m excited. Tomorrow I’m just going to be faster and do it as fast as I can."

Nobody has banked more money in the first two days of the rodeo than 2006 World Bull Riding Champion B.J. Schumacher. He backed up his second-place 89-point ride Sept. 25 with a winning 88-pointer on Powder River Rodeo's Hot Stuff Sept. 26.

His two-day total of 177 points was eight points better than rookie Stormy Wing, the only other bull rider to complete two rides here, and brought Schumacher's two-day earnings to $10,625.

A sixth-place finish Sept. 26 was just good enough to allow the brother pairing of Riley and Brady Minor of Ellensburg, Wash., to secure the two-head average in team roping with a time of 9.1 seconds, three-tenths ahead of JoJo LeMond and Martin Lucero.

Barrel racer Lindsay Sears, who won all four rounds of the River City Roundup a year ago, bounced back from a tough first round to win Sept. 26 with a time of 13.75 seconds and barely make it into the semifinal round as the eighth qualifier.

River City Roundup
Omaha, Neb., Sept. 26
Bareback riding: Second round: 1. Will Lowe, 87 points on Beutler & Sons Rodeo's Full Deck, $3,750; 2. Steven Dent, 86, $2,813;

3. Chris Harris, 85, $1,875; 4. (tie) Kelly Timberman, Tim Shirley and Royce Ford, 84, $313 each; 7. (tie) Josi Young, Kaycee Feild and Justin McDaniel, 82; 10. Bobby Mote, 79; 11. Ryan Gray, 72; 12. Cimmaron Gerke, 64. Average: 1. Steven Dent, 169 points on two head, $3,750; 2. (tie) Chris Harris and Tim Shirley, 168, $2,344 each; 4. (tie) Royce Ford, Will Lowe and Kelly Timberman, 167, $313 each; 7. Justin McDaniel, 166; 8. Bobby Mote, 165; 9. Kaycee Feild, 163; 10. (tie) Ryan Gray and Josi Young, 158; 12. Cimmaron Gerke, 146.

Steer wrestling: Second round: 1. Les Shepperson, 3.3 seconds, $3,750; 2. Luke Branquinho, 3.5, $2,813; 3. (tie) Wade Sumpter and Gabe Ledoux, 3.7, $1,406 each; 5. Stockton Graves, 4.1; 6. Dean Gorsuch, 4.4; 7. Cash Myers, 4.8; 8. Beau Franzen, 4.9; 9. Ken Lewis, 9.0; 10. (tie) Curtis Cassidy, Jason Miller and Trevor Knowles, NT. Average: 1. Wade Sumpter, 7.5 seconds on two heads, $3,750; 2. Luke Branquinho, 7.9, $2,813; 3. Dean Gorsuch, 8.5, $1,875; 4. Beau Franzen, 8.9, $938; 5. Cash Myers, 9.3; 6. Stockton Graves, 9.4; 7. Ken Lewis, 12.8; 8. Gabe Ledoux, 18.10; 9. Les Shepperson, 3.3 on one head; 10. Curtis Cassidy, 3.8; 11. Trevor Knowles, 4.2; 12. Jason Miller, 5.5.

Team roping: Second round: 1. (tie) Speed Williams/Michael Jones and Travis Tryan/Walt Woodard, 4.2 seconds, $3,281 each; 3. (tie) Matt Sherwood/Randon Adams and Colter Todd/Cesar de la Cruz, 4.4, $1,406 each; 5. JoJo Lemond/Martin Lucero, 4.5; 6. Riley Minor/Brady Minor, 4.6; 7. Jake Stanley/Marty Becker, 5.9; 8. Matt Funk/Cory Petska, 13.0; 9. Jake Barnes/Clay O'Brien Cooper, 25.5; 10. Logan Olson/Broc Cresta, Turtle Powell/Travis Graves and Garrett Tonozzi/Kinney Harrell, NT. Average: 1. Riley Minor/Brady Minor, 9.1 seconds on two head, $3,750 each; 2. JoJo LeMond/Martin Lucero, 9.4, $2,813; 3. Colter Todd/Cesar de la Cruz, 10.7, $1,875; 4. Jake Stanley/Marty Becker, 11.1, $938; 5. Speed Williams/Michael Jones, 17.0; 6. Matt Funk/Cory Petska, 18.3; 7. Matt Sherwood/Randon Adams, 20.9; 8. Jake Barnes/Clay O'Brien Cooper, 30.3; 9. Travis Tryan/Walt Woodard, 4.2 on one head; 10. Turtle Powell/Travis Graves, 5.3; 11. Logan Olson/Broc Cresta, 13.9; 12. Garrett Tonozzi/Kinney Harrell, 22.9.

Saddle bronc riding: Second round: 1. Jesse Kruse, 86 points on Barnes PRCA Rodeo's Chain of Command, $3,750; 2. Anthony Bello, 85, $2,813; 3. (tie) Justin Arnold and J.J. Elshere, 84, $1,406 each; 5. Billy Etbauer, 83; 6. Chad Ferley, 81; 7. Cody Taton, 75; 8. Benjamin Morrow, 72; 9. Jess Martin, 71; 10. Rod Hay, 70; 11. Cody Wright, 68; 12. Chet Johnson, NS. Average: 1. Chad Ferley, 169 points on two head, $3,750; 2. Justin Arnold, 168, $2,813; 3. Jesse Kruse, 167, $1,875; 4. Anthony Bello, Oakley, Utah, 166, $938; 5. J.J. Elshere, 161; 6. Billy Etbauer, 152; 7. Benjamin Morrow, 150; 8. Cody Wright, Milford, Utah, 148; 9. Chet Johnson, 80 on one head; 10. Cody Taton, 75; 11. Jess Martin, 71; 12. Rod Hay, Wildwood, Alberta, 70.

Tie-down roping: Second round: 1. Josh Peek, 7.3 seconds, $3,750; 2. (tie) Doug Pharr and Tuf Cooper, 8.1, $2,344 each; 4. Mike Johnson, 9.0, $938; 5. Ryan Jarrett, 9.2; 6. Hunter Herrin, 17.2; 7. Fred Whitfield, 17.3; 8. (tie) Jeff Chapman, Seth Childers, Jerrad Hofstetter, Stran Smith and Trevor Brazile, NT. Average: 1. (tie) Tuf Cooper and Mike Johnson, 18.4 seconds on two head, $3,281 each; 3. Josh Peek, 18.5, $1,875; 4. Doug Pharr, 19.1, $938; 5. Ryan Jarrett, 19.6; 6. Hunter Herrin, 25.0; 7. Fred Whitfield, 27.3; 8. Jeff Chapman, 8.0 on one head; 9. Stran Smith, 8.8; 10. Trevor Brazile, 11.2; 11. (tie) Seth Childers and Jerrad Hofstetter, NT.

Barrel racing: Second round: 1. Lindsay Sears, 13.75 seconds, $3,750; 2. Brenda Mays, 13.79, $2,813; 3. Annesa Self, 13.93, $1,875; 4. Jill Moody, 13.97, $938; 5. Brittany Pozzi-Pharr, 14.00; 6. Cassie Moseley, 14.04; 7. Christina Richman, 14.11; 8. Maegan Reichert, 14.20; 9. Terra Bynum, 14.32; 10. Mary Burger, 18.90; 11. Shelley Murphy, 19.02; 12. Tiffany Fox, 24.23. Average: 1. Jill Moody, 27.95 seconds on two runs, $3,750; 2. Brenda Mays, 27.96, $2,813; 3. Annesa Self, 28.06, $1,875; 4. Brittany Pozzi-Pharr, 28.10, $938; 5. Christina Richman, 28.24; 6. Terra Bynum, 28.51; 7. Maegan Reichert, 29.02; 8. Lindsay Sears, 32.51; 9. Mary Burger, 32.79; 10. Cassie Moseley, 32.85; 11. Shelley Murphy, 38.31; 12. Tiffany Fox, 38.43.

Bull riding: Second round: 1. B.J. Schumacher, 88 points on Powder River Rodeo's Hot Stuff, $3,750; 2. (tie) Kanin Asay and Stormy Wing, 84, $2,344 each; 4. (tie) Cory McFadden, Shawn Proctor, J.W. Harris, Brian Curtis, Jake Wade, Chance Smart,

Steve Woolsey, Howdy Cloud and Fred Boettcher, NS. Average: 1. B.J. Schumacher, 177 points on two head, $3,750; 2. Stormy Wing, 169, $2,813; 3. J.W. Harris, 91 on one head, $1,875; 4. Shawn Proctor, 87, $938; 5. Kanin Asay, 84; 6. Steve Woolsey, 83; 7. Jake Wade, 77; 8. (tie) Cory McFadden, Brian Curtis, Chance Smart, Howdy Cloud, Fred Boettcher, NS.