The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, held in the Thomas and Mack Centre in Las Vegas, Nev., hit the half way mark this evening as the fifth performance came to a close.
This evening was also the third annual Tough Enough To Wear Pink night in support of breast cancer awareness. During the rodeo, Wrangler presented a cheque for $1 million dollars to the TETWP campaign.
In the saddle bronc riding, Glen O’Neill (Didsbury, Alta.) still had a re-ride to take from last night to officially end the fourth go-round. He was matched up against Gold Buckle Rodeo’s Lounge Lizard Plus. Things didn’t work out for him quite as well as he would have liked, as they awarded him 71 points, out of the money.
But, when the fifth round got going, things picked up a little bit for the 2002 world champion as he was 85.5 points on Frontier Rodeo Co.’s Paint Brush. He split fifth place in the fifth round, worth $3,359, his first cheque of the week.
Billy Etbauer (Edmond, Okla.) worked out an 86.5-point ride on Kesler Rodeos Co.’s Toll Free, good enough for third place this evening.
But, the real story in the bronc riding this evening was eight-time Canadian champion Rod Hay (Wildwood, Alta.). Hay was 87 points on Stace Smith Pro Rodeo’s Big Jet, splitting first place in the round with Chad Ferley (Oelrichs, S.D.).
It marked the first time in his 17 appearances at the WNFR that he’s placed in four consecutive go-rounds.
Hay has taken a page from Lee Graves’ approach to the WNFR and isn’t concerning himself with where he’s at in the world standings. He’s just taking things one day at a time.
“I don’t think I’m going to worry too much about all the other stuff,” he said. “I’m just pretty excited about the way I feel, the way I’m riding, the way that I’m drawing and everything like that. It just feels so darn good. We’ll count the money when this thing’s over.”
For those who are keeping track, he trails Ferley in the world standings by $35,102. If someone was to win first place in the last five go-rounds and win the average, they would pocket $121,196. So, it’s safe to say that Hay certainly has a legitimate shot at a world title this week.
Steer wrestler Lee Graves (Calgary, Alta.) had a rough go of it in the fifth round. After a technical error by the chute help, Graves found himself ahead of his steer, breaking the barrier.
“It’s not my fault, it’s not the horse’s fault. It’s just circumstances due to the situation,” explained Graves. “What occurred was the people watching the steer’s head were asleep and not paying attention to their job. We’re on our toes, we’re on go, but they’re not.”
Earlier this week Linn Churchill (Valentine, Neb.) fell victim to the same circumstances.
Graves did manage to wrestle his way to a time, which could prove important when the average pays out on the final day.
“I got a time, so I’m still in the average,” said the reigning world champ. “That’s better than taking a no time.”
By the time the steer finally came out of the chute, Graves was well out of position, on the right side of the large, black steer.
“I was on the wrong side, and I just turned around and grabbed him by the nose. That’s bulldoggin’ there, not steer wrestling,” he chuckled, speaking of the brute force required to take his steer down from the right-hand side. “I just took a run at him because I was out of position and he was going to get away, so I just kind of put the half-nelson on him and just run at him and dozed him down.”
Graves, the eternal optimist is still happy with how his WNFR is going so far.
“By no means am I having a bad finals at all,” he said. He’s made $11,973 this week and is eighth in the world standings.
Once again there were three Canadian horses out in the bareback this evening.
Kelly Timberman (Mills, Wyo.) rode Kesler Championship Rodeo’s Alley Trail for 85.5 points, fourth place and $6,719.
Cimmaron Gerke (Brighton, Colo.) and Calgary Stampede’s Grated Coconut teamed up for 85 points, a split of fifth and $3,359.
Tom McFarland (Wickenburg, Ariz.) finished out of the money after an 82.5-point ride on Grated Coconut’s mom, Coconut Roll.
Barrel racer Lindsay Sears (Nanton, Alta.) finally ran a clean run, but was out of the money this evening. Her 14.37-second run landed her in tenth in the round.
Notables: For the third night in a row, Canyon, Tex. cowboy Will Lowe finished on top of the bareback pile. He was joined this evening by Jess Davis (Payson, Utah). Their matching 87-point scores were worth $14,342 apiece. Lowe has made $62,407 over the first five performances and leads the world standings with $214,331.
Gering, Neb.’s Dean Gorsuch won the steer wrestling with a 3.9-second effort.
The team roping ended in a split as well, with Speed Williams (De Leon, Tex) & Clay O’Brien Cooper (Morgan Mill, Tex.) and Nick Sartain (Alva, Okla.) & Shannon Frascht (Alva, Okla.) receiving matching 4.0 second times.
Kelly Maben (Spur, Tex.) won he third round in four nights with a speedy 13.77-second pattern.
Bull riders J.C. Bean (Goldendale, Wash.) and Jarrod Craig (Hillsboro, Tex.) split the round with 86 point rides. |
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