HAY STILL IN THE HUNT FOR WORLD TITLE

By Darell Hartlen Editor Canadian Rodeo News
Posted Thursday, December 7, 2006

The saddle bronc riders had a rough go-round this evening in Las Vegas. They were matched up against the semi-eliminator pen at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, with five of the 15 cowboys getting bucked off.
Three of those who hit the dirt were: Rusty Allen (Lehi, Utah) on Kesler Championship Rodeo’s Bonus Alley; Glen O’Neill (Didsbury, Alta.) on Kesler Rodeo Co.’s Take a Break; and Rod Hay (Wildwood, Alta.) on Rafter G Rodeo Co.’s Black Bart.
Hay, who was leading the average coming into the go-round, got bumped down to second place. JJ Elshere (Quinn, S.D.), the only bronc rider to ride all seven of his horses, takes the No. 1 spot.
Hay, who’s fifth in the world standings, is $45,783 behind Cody DeMoss (Heflin, La.). DeMoss won the round tonight with an 87.5-point ride on Beutler and Son’s Night Moves.
It was enough to move DeMoss back into the top spot in the world standings.
“It doesn’t mean a thing right now,” said DeMoss. “I have to just focus on winning every round from here out.”
With $16,022 being awarded for first place in each round and $33,335 being the payout for second place in the average, Hay is still in the hunt for his first world championship.
Dan Mortensen (Billings, Mont.) worked out 77.5 points with Franklin Rodeo Co.’s Leaning Tower.
Elshere rode Kesler Championship Rodeo’s Royal Visit for 78 points and fifth place in the round.
In the bareback riding, Kelly Timberman (Mills, Wyo.) rode Calgary Stampede’s chestnut mare Gorgeous Connie for 76 points, out of the money.
Lee Graves (Calgary, Alta.), the reigning world champion steer wrestler, isn’t having the finals that he wanted to. Last night he was virtually eliminated from capturing his second title. But, he’s smart enough to know that there is still a pile of money to be won between now and the final round on Saturday.
“I’m on the last quarter and I’m just going to go out there and try and win as much as I can,” said Graves. “Every night’s a one-header.
“There’s lots of money to be won.”
Graves twisted his steer in 4.4 seconds, splitting fourth place.
“Tonight I got a real good start,” he explained. “They hadn’t done a whole lot on that steer. I could have made it a little quicker maybe, I felt like the horse didn’t run real hard for some reason. But, yeah, I won some money and I feel good.”
He made $5,427 in the seventh round tonight, has made $17,400 at the WNFR, which pushes his annual total to $92,403.
Barrel racer Lindsay Sears (Nanton, Alta.) continued her unfortunate streak of bad luck at her first trip to the WNFR. She knocked over the first and third barrels tonight, running a 23.79-second pattern.
Notables: Tomorrow night is Canada Night at the WNFR.
Bobby Mote won the bareback riding with an 84.5-point ride on Bar T Rodeo’s Oakey Robin.
Steer wrestler Luke Branquinho (Los Alamos, Calif.) finished first for the fourth time at the WNFR, this time with a 3.9-second battle. He moves into first place in the world standings with $152,529 in his account. He’s also made more money than any other bulldogger in Las Vegas.
Nick Sartain (Alva, Okla.) and Shannon Frascht (Alva, Okla.) won the team roping with their 4.1-second run.
Matt Shiozawa (Chubbock, Ida.) won his second round in as many nights. He roped his calf in 6.9 seconds, the fastest time of the week.
Denise Adams (Lufkin, Tex.) won the barrel racing with a speedy 13.67 run.
B.J. Schumacher (Hillsboro, Wis.) won the bull riding with an 84-point ride on Sankey Rodeo’s Shock-N-Awe. It was his third win of the WNFR.