DeMoss sets arena record at Cheyenne Frontier Days
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Louisiana saddle bronc rider Cody DeMoss missed more than half of the season after having reconstructive surgery on his right knee on Dec. 22 after his sixth Wrangler National Finals Rodeo appearance. DeMoss – who finished second in the PRCA World Standings in 2009 – returned to action in mid-June, and he sure is making up for lost time.
DeMoss won Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days on Aug. 1 and set an arena record en route to the victory at the “Daddy of ’em All,” scoring 254 points on three head and pocketing $13,119.
The crowd-pleaser was his 91-point record-setter in the finals on Harry Vold Rodeo’s Painted Valley to clinch his second Cheyenne title. DeMoss’ ride surpassed the previous record of 90 points shared by Ryan Mapston (2004) and Chet Johnson (2009).
Five-time World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider Billy Etbauer sealed his Cheyenne victory on the same paint stallion in the finals last year. The win by DeMoss catapulted him from 38th in the Aug. 2 world standings to 23rd.
“When you’ve got a horse like that, heck, anything’s a possibility,” DeMoss said. “You can come back from dead last and win something on him.
“I think I rode him last night about 100 times (in my head). He got tapped off and just hung in the air there a little at the end. You can’t dream it any better than that.”
Utah bull rider Wesley Silcox tied the Cheyenne arena record of 94 points in the final round with his ride that matched the mark set by Lynn Uptmore in 1999. The 2007 world champion, who won a total of $13,656, was the only cowboy to cover all three of his bulls.
Thirty-three years is how long team roper Bobby Harris has been trying to win a trophy saddle at Cheyenne Frontier Days. He was just 15 years old when he started competing at the “Daddy,” and three decades later had won nearly every major title in rodeo except Cheyenne until this year.
The 1991 world champion from Gillette, Wyo., (now living in Highmore, S.D.) teamed with header Britt Williams of Hammond, Mont., to rope their steer in 8.2 seconds in the finals and shared the overall title with Derrick Begay and Cesar de la Cruz, who also finished with a time of 27.4 seconds on three head.
“I wanted to make the (Wrangler NFR) again this year, so this is a dream come true,” said Harris, who celebrated by high-fiving not only Williams, Begay and de la Cruz, but also the pickup men in the arena. “And this is like my hometown rodeo – I have a lot of friends and family here.” Harris moved from 15th to seventh in the Aug. 2 PRCA World Standings.
While world champions and veterans are most likely to win in Cheyenne, PRCA rookie Cody Moore won the steer wrestling average by three seconds with his final-round run of 9.4. He also was the rodeo’s top money earner with $21,887.
“I don’t even know what to say,” said Moore, 29. “I was just happy to be in the short round.
“There are 185 great bulldoggers here, and to be part of this history for the rest of my life is awesome.”
Tie-down roper Clint Arave of Blackfoot, Idaho, barely held off six-time World Champion Cody Ohl to win his event by a tenth of a second and bank $13,873. Canadian timed-event hand Curtis Cassidy won his first-ever Cheyenne Frontier Days all-around title, based on his $12,946 in the second round of tie-down roping and steer wrestling.
Chance Kelton, a three-time Wrangler NFR header, won the steer roping average with his 17.2-second final run, worth a total of $19,499.
Barrel racer Lindsay Sears of Nanton, Alberta, won the average, just .15 seconds ahead of two-time World Champion Sherry Cervi to earn $15,806.
Cheyenne Frontier Days was a Gold stop on the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour presented by Justin Boots. The finals will be broadcast by In Country Television at 8 p.m. (ET) on Aug. 14, exclusively by DISH Network, Channel 230.
--Julie Mankin and Marvin Olberding contributed to this report.
Monte Vista, Colo., community helps improve facilities
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The San Luis Valley Ski-Hi Stampede wrapped up its 89th annual rodeo, July 30-Aug. 1, in Monte Vista, Colo., and the committee and community had plenty to celebrate.
The committee, in conjunction with the City of Monte Vista, just completed Phase 2 of a $1.4 million multi-phase renovation project of Ski-Hi Park Complex. The first phase was completed in 2008 with the building of new Preifert bucking chutes, livestock holding pens, and a 120-plus seating capacity grandstand above the bucking chutes. That project started in January of 2008 and was completed in time for the 2008 Ski Hi Stampede.
Phase 2 was started in September 2009 and was completed this July. The project consisted of building a 2,450-plus seating capacity grandstand. More facility projects are planned to improve the entire complex.
“This project could not have been completed without the excellent financial and in-kind support from local community businesses and individuals,” said Karla Shriver, a committee member.
A large part of the funding came from grants awarded through Great Outdoors Colorado and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.
Top event overall winners at the SLV Ski-Hi Stampede were Will Lowe (bareback riding), Kyle Hughes (steer wrestling), Brooks Dahozy and Bobby Baize (team roping), Alex Wright and Jesse Wright (tie-saddle bronc riding), Justin Maass (tie-down roping) Savanah Reeves (barrel racing) and J.W. Harris (bull riding).
Visit ProRodeo.com to see photos of the facilities and results from rodeos. In addition, several Colorado rodeos will be highlighted in a special feature “Rodeos in the Rockies,” in the Aug. 20 ProRodeo Sports News, THE Voice of ProRodeo!
PSN staff writer Marvin Olberding visited several of the rodeos, which are part of the All American ProRodeo Series. To subscribe to the PSN, call
Gunnison, Colo., committee reaches half million in TETWP fundraising
Gunnison, Colo., may be a community of about 5,000, but the people there raise money like a big city. The Cattlemen’s Days committee and its community has raised more than $500,000 in the past five years for the Tough Enough To Wear Pink program.
The committee pushed past the mark during the 110th annual Cattlemen’s Days celebration, which was held July 9-18. The rodeo was held July 15-17.
The committee was honored for its efforts to fight breast cancer at the 2008 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, where they received a matching funds check from Wrangler for $210,000.
Colorado bullfighter of the Year gets street named in his honor
Cory Wall, the reigning PRCA Bullfighter of the Year, takes a lot of pride in helping put on a first-class rodeo in his hometown of Burlington, Colo. The Kit Carson County Fair & Rodeo committee and the community showed their pride and appreciation for Wall by surprising him with an announcement that a Burlington street will be named in his honor – Cory Wall Way. In addition, signs will be placed on the outside of town saying “Home of 2009 Bullfighter of the Year Cory Wall.”
Wall, and wife, Nikki, recently took over the reins at the Burlington rodeo and feel blessed to have so much support.
“It meant the world to me that people recognize how much work we’re doing, and not to pat us on the back, but that we’re doing it for the community,” Wall told the PSN.
Organizers also announced that a savings bond was being arranged for Wall and Nikki’s new baby. Saylor was born on July 12 during festivities for the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo Days in Colorado Springs, Colo., where Wall was a bullfighter and Nikki worked in public relations.
McFarland injured again, out 4-5 months
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Tom McFarland’s remarkable comeback from what many thought might be a career-ending arm injury in 2009 has been put on hold, just as he was mounting a charge to return to the Wrangler NFR.
His win at Salt Lake City July 24 paid $4,161 and moved him from 17th to 15th in the PRCA World Standings, but he suffered a ruptured biceps tendon in his right arm during that ride, an injury that will end his season.
McFarland underwent surgery on July 26 and is expected to be sidelined for four or five months. McFarland was out for nearly six months in 2008 after he suffered 26 fractures in his right wrist and arm in June when a bucking horse flipped over on him in the chute at the West of the Pecos Rodeo in Pecos, Texas.
• Injury updates: Bareback rider Kaycee Feild had the cast removed from his broken arm three weeks ago and spent two weeks working with physical therapist Keith Klevin in Las Vegas to accelerate the healing process. Klevin has worked with Tiger Woods and other top athletes; he taught Feild techniques to not only strengthen his arm, but also his core. Feild will return to PRCA competition Aug. 13-14 at rodeos in Hermiston, Ore., and Logan, Utah. “I’m craving it like crazy,” he said. Feild was second in the world standings at the time of the injury in Livermore, Calif., last June, and has only dropped to fifth with earnings of $64,626 … Idaho bull rider Mason Michaelis, younger brother of 2007 Wrangler NFR qualifier Marcus Michaelis, is sidelined for at least 30 days after suffering a dislocation of his right shoulder at Nampa, Idaho … Fellow bull rider Nathan Klassen had a groin strain and a concussion at Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days and is out indefinitely … Bareback rider Jared Keylon suffered a fractured clavicle and fractured fibula in addition to a concussion after a wreck during the July 31 performance. Bull rider Shawn Harris suffered a broken nose, fractured orbital bone and a concussion as the result of a wreck, and Friday Wright II also sustained a concussion. Steer wrestlers Matt Cupp (right shoulder) and Riley Johnson (concussion) are also out for an indefinite period.
Next Up
Aug. 2 Big Wind Round Up, Riverton, Wyo., begins
Aug. 2 Jayhawker Roundup Rodeo, Hill City, Kan., begins
Aug. 3 High Prairie (Alberta) Elks Pro Rodeo begins
Aug. 3 Big Sky ProRodeo Roundup, Great Falls, Mont., begins
Aug. 3 Iowa’s Championship Rodeo, Sidney, Iowa, begins
Aug. 4 Caribou County Fair & Rodeo, Grace, Idaho, begins
Aug. 4 *Lea County Fair & PRCA Rodeo, Lovington, N.M., begins
Aug. 4 *Dodge City (Kan.) Roundup Rodeo begins
Aug. 4 Gerry (N.Y.) Volunteer Fireman’s Rodeo begins
Aug. 5 Cobleskill (N.Y.) ProRodeo
Aug. 5 Lyon County Fair PRCA Rodeo, Marshall, Minn., begins
Aug. 5 Richland County Fair & Rodeo, Sidney, Mont., begins
Aug. 5 Logan County Fair & Rodeo, Sterling, Colo., begins
Aug. 5 Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo, Abilene, Kan., begins
Aug. 5 Carson (Iowa) Community Rodeo begins
Aug. 5 XIT Rodeo & Reunion, Dalhart, Texas, begins
Aug. 5 Jerome County (Idaho) County Fair & Rodeo begins
Aug. 5 Kansas’ Biggest Rodeo, Phillipsburg, Kan., begins
Aug. 6 Painted Pony Championship Rodeo, Lake Luzerne, N.Y.
Aug. 6 Lincoln County Fair Rodeo, Afton, Wyo., begins
Aug. 6 Athens (Texas) MDA Benefit Pro-Rodeo begins
Aug. 6 Energy Town ProRodeo, Gillette, Wyo., begins
Aug. 6 Mountain Valley Stampede, Heber City, Utah, begins
Aug. 6 Klamath Falls (Ore.) Great Northwest PRCA Rodeo begins
Aug. 6 Thunder Mountain ProRodeo, Longview, Wash., begins
Aug. 6 Mesquite (Texas) Championship Rodeo begins
Aug. 6 Steamboat Springs (Colo.) ProRodeo Series begins
Aug. 6 4L Ranch Rodeo, Summerville, Ga., begins
Aug. 6 Douglas County Fair & Rodeo, Castle Rock, Colo., begins
Aug. 6 Santa Barbara (Calif.) Old Spanish Days Stock Horse Show & Rodeo begins
Aug. 7 Cowtown Rodeo, Woodstown Pilesgrove, N.J.
Aug. 7 Ashley (N.D.) Rodeo begins
Aug. 7 North Peace Stampede, Grimshaw, Alberta, begins
Aug. 7 Kimball County (Neb.) Fair & Rodeo begins
Aug. 7 Northeast Montana Fair & Rodeo, Glasgow, Mont.
* Wrangler Million Dollar Tour Silver rodeos
Rodeo News and Notes
Playing with numbers … PRCA money leaders by age
The minimum age to join the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association is 18, but there is no retirement age. Just ask Mel Potter about that. Potter, a tie-down roping qualifier at the first NFR in 1959, is now 75 and still competing at PRCA rodeos throughout the Midwest. He is on the verge of qualifying for the Dodge Great Lake Circuit Finals again; he made it two years ago, competing with his grandson.
Steer roper Dan Fisher, 59, was 15th in the July 26 PRCA World Standings, and Ralph Williams, 52, was 10th. Ivan Teigen, 51, is leading the Badlands Circuit steer wrestling standings, and Joe Bell Sr., 55, just won a PRCA rodeo last week and is sixth among First Frontier bulldoggers.
Tennis has long made a point of calling itself “The Sport for a Lifetime,” and while the sometimes violent nature of rodeo would seem to say otherwise, there is a case to be made for the sport of cowboys making that same claim. Once it gets in your blood, it seems almost impossible to walk away from it.
What follows is a list of top money earners by age in a snapshot as of July 26 from 18 to 48. The best age to maximize your earnings? The glib answer is, ‘Whatever age Trevor Brazile is this year.” The truer answer would be 30. Or 23. Or maybe 24.
There are six PRCA cowboys of those ages who have earned more than $50,000 so far this year. Age 30 may get a slight edge, because there are also two cowboys within $1,000 or so of that milestone. Or you could give the edge to the 24-year-olds, because the average earnings of the top six were higher ($69,691) than the others.
The biggest earner in the 40-and-over set is tie-down roper Stran Smith, 40, who had $79,768, just $2,075 ahead of 41-year-old saddle bronc rider Rod Hay. The biggest surprise in that age group is that Billy Etbauer is not the top-earning 47-year-old, ceding that distinction to team roper Bobby Harris ($37,087 to $17,128).
18 – Jacob O’Mara, Prairieville, La. (BR) $29,830
19 – Kaden Richard, Roosevelt, Utah (TR) $14,907
20 – Tuf Cooper, Decatur, Texas (TD) $68,900
21 – Steven Peebles, Redmond, Ore. (BB) $50,140
22 – Jade Corkill, Fallon, Nev. (TR) $79,009
23 – Tyler Smith, Fruita, Colo. (BR) $66,997
24 – Shawn Hogg, Odessa, Texas (BR) $101,064
25 – Wade Sundell, Boxholm, Iowa (SB) $78,323
26 – Ryan Jarrett, Summerville, Ga. (SW/TD) $86,058
27 – Ryan Gray, Cheney, Wash. (BB) $111,109
28 – Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah (SW/TD) $61,009
29 – Chad Masters, Clarksville, Tenn. (TR) $79,009
30 – Cory Petska, Lexington, Okla. (TR) $93,412
31 – Clay Tryan, Billings, Mont., (TR) $65,996
32 – Chad Denton, Berry Creek, Calif. (BR) $72,680
33 – Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas (TR/TD/SR) $163,847
34 – Bobby Mote, Culver, Ore. (BB) $68,410
35 – Luke Brown, Stephenville, Texas (TR) $50,219
36 – D.V. Fennell, Neosho, Mo. (BB) $47,742
37 – Turtle Powell, Stephenville, Texas (TR) $88,231
38 – Justin Blaine Davis, Bartonville, Texas (SW) $42,771
39 – Kory Kontz, Sudan, Texas (TR) $50,552
40 – Stran Smith, Childress, Texas (TD) $79,768
41 – Rod Hay, Wildwood, Alberta (SB) $77,693
42 – Fred Whitfield, Hockley, Texas (TD) $59,915
43 – Steve Purcella, Hereford, Texas (TR) $26,191
44 – Rocky Patterson, Pratt, Kan. (SR) $36,787
45 – Tommy Cook, McAlester, Okla. (SW) $17,295
46 – Rod Hartness, Pawhuska, Okla. (SR) $25,221
47 – Bobby Harris, Highmore, S.D. (TR) $37,087
48 – Monty Joe Petska, Turlock, Calif. (TR) $27,687
–Jim Bainbridge
New home for Dodge Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo
The Dodge Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo has a new home.
The annual championship rodeo for PRCA members in Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma will be held at Hartman Arena in Wichita, Kan., Oct. 29-30, with a performance Friday night and two performances on Saturday.
“The very first circuit final was held at the Kansas Coliseum,” said Circuit President Bronc Rumford. “Basically, the finals are moving back home to where they originated. The Hartman Arena is a beautiful complex, and we’re really pleased. The staff is super to work with.”
The Dodge Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo is the regional championship where the top 12 contestants in each event seek to qualify for a spot in the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo, held annually in Pocatello, Idaho.
“We have all the ingredients to be successful,” Rumford said. “I think it will build and work into a good home. I know it can work here, because it has worked here before.”
Prior to Wichita, the rodeo was held in conjunction with the American Royal at Kemper Arena in Kansas City.
Iraqi students attend “Daddy of ‘em All”
Twenty-five Iraqi students attended the July 24 performance of the Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days Rodeo as part of the World Learning exchange program, an experience medical student Kayth described as “a dream come true.”
“I really want to see America and mix with U.S. culture,” Kayth told the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. “I want to someday make my country better.”
He said that he and his fellow students in the program have found the Americans they have encountered in Washington, D.C., Fort Collins, Colo., and Wyoming as helpful, friendly and kind.
“They’re always smiling in our faces,” Kayth said with a laugh. “It’s very cool.”
The students have created a Facebook page as a means to spread their message – that Americans aren’t “the worst people in the world.”
News and notes from the rodeo trail …
Former Rodeo Cowboys Association bull rider Steve Giddings died in Phoenix, Ariz., July 12 after a lengthy illness. He was 66. The Two Harbors, Minn., native joined the RCA at 17 and placed in the Grand National Rodeo in San Francisco as a rookie … ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee Tee Woolman and his wife, Jacque, have just opened the Cherry Creek Equestrian Center in Mont Belvieu, Texas, where they will teach roping, barrel racing and basic equestrian skills, along with providing private horse training. The facility has 48 stalls to accommodate full-service boarding, a 150x250-foot covered arena and 250 acres of wooded trails. Woolman, who was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2004, had a record 42 National Finals Rodeo qualifications (19 in steer roping and 23 in team roping); Jacque also was an NFR qualifier as a barrel racer … Saddle bronc rider Howard Hunter, who qualified for the National Finals Rodeo three times (1976, 1979-80) was honored in the arena July 31 at the Deadwood (S.D.) Days of ’76 Rodeo. Hunter, a Sioux who grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation, will be the first in a series of bronc riders to be immortalized with a Tony Chytka statue at the new Deadwood Days of ’76 Museum … The Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up is marking a Let ‘Er Buck Cologne and, no, it is not a fragrance you would expect to find out in the pens. Troy LeGore, the licensing committee chairman of the rodeo, says that instead of dust, sweat and manure, the $69-a-bottle cologne will smell more like “white amber, sensuous musk and warm sandalwood.” … Last weekend’s 53rd annual Deep South PRCA Rodeo was dedicated to the memory of James Marvin “Daddy Bo” Fletcher, who played a pivotal role in bringing the rodeo to Winnsboro, La. Fletcher died Dec. 31, 2009, at the age of 69 … Each of the pickup men at the Cowtown Rodeo won an event on Saturday night held at Woodstown Pilesgrove, N.J. Clay Harp won the steer wrestling (5.1 seconds) and David Rubel won the saddle bronc riding (70 points on Cowtown Rodeo’s Hang ’em High) … The Star of Texas Fair & Rodeo’s 2010 Scholarship Reception Ceremony has been scheduled for Aug. 12 at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin. Rodeo Austin is distributing a record $372,000 in scholarships this year, bringing its total to $4.5 million.
