Laughlin River Stampede plays host to next stop on Wrangler ProRodeo Tour
In just one decade, the Laughlin River Stampede has become one of the most lucrative early-season events in ProRodeo.
The Laughlin River Stampede, the featured event of the Laughlin Rodeo Days, is a stop on the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour, the seventh of 26 in the 2008 edition. It has been a Tour stop every year except one since the Tour’s inception in 2000. The four-day event starts March 27, with the rodeo’s final round scheduled for March 30. Each round begins at 1:30 p.m. (PT).
The rodeo, held at Laughlin Arena, features nearly 600 contestants and pays nearly $200,000 in total prize money. Laughlin is located 90 miles southeast of Las Vegas. It starts a run of seven of the next nine Wrangler ProRodeo Tour events to take place in either Nevada or California. Following Laughlin, cowboys and cowgirls head to the Grand National Rodeo in San Francisco, then later to the Clark County Fair and Rodeo in Logandale, Nev.
In 2007, bareback rider Jessy Davis of Payson, Utah, claimed the title in Laughlin en route to his second consecutive Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualification. He rode Brookman Rodeo’s Sooner for 88 points, good for a first-place check worth $5,807.
Other average winners in Laughlin were steer wrestlers and 2006 World Champion Dean Gorsuch of Gering, Neb., team ropers Shain Sproul of Benson, Ariz./Dennis Gatz of Fort Lupton, Colo.; saddle bronc rider Brad Harter of Weatherford, Texas; tie-down roper Tyson Durfey of Colbert, Wash.; bull rider Cooper Kanngiesser of Zenda, Kan.; and barrel racer Abby Davis of Adrian, Ore.
Houston reshapes world standings
Last year, B.J. Schumacher’s victory and a $56,000 payday at RodeoHouston propelled him to the top spot in the Crusher Rentals PRCA World Standings for the remainder of the regular season. However, he faltered at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and lost the lead when it mattered the most.
So, Schumacher, of Hillsboro, Wis., won’t mind too much when he won’t find his name at the top of the standings this week despite defending his RodeoHouston title with a $55,000 windfall. He’s just glad he turned his season around after earning just $8,699 heading into Houston, the PRCA’s richest regular-season rodeo with a $1.3 million purse.
“I wasn’t riding very well before I came here, and since I’ve been here I ended up second in Austin and won a little bit in Montgomery (Ala.), and that’s all been this week, so it’s finally turned around,” Schumacher said. “Hopefully it keeps clicking throughout the year like this.”
Schumacher rode Cervi and Guidry Rodeo’s Hot Diggity Damn for 92 points in the sudden-death Shootout Round at Reliant Stadium on March 22 to finish a single point ahead of Richard Echols and Dave Samsel and successfully defend his title.
Chance Smart, who also made the Shootout Round, maintained his overall lead, the only non-Houston champion to hold the top spot.
The rest of the winners from RodeoHouston vaulted to No. 1 – some from close range, like steer wrestler Wade Sumpter’s 10-to-1 jump, and others, such as tie-down roper Josh Peek, went from 50th to 1st and also leaped into first in the all-around race. And team roper and reigning World Champion Header Chad Masters wasn’t even ranked in the top 50, thanks in part to a knee injury suffered earlier this year in Fort Worth, Texas. Now, Masters and partner Jade Corkill (also not ranked in the top 50 heading into Houston) sit atop their respective disciplines.
Masters can no doubt use the money, especially since he will undergo surgery to repair a torn ACL and will be out of action until June. Corkill will rope with another partner until Masters returns.
Every RodeoHouston champion qualified for the Wrangler NFR in 2007, and that should stay true to form this year as well. Bareback rider Steven Dent, who made his Thomas & Mack Center debut last year, will return for the 50th event, which starts Dec. 4 in Las Vegas. While Dent builds his streak, saddle bronc rider and five-time world champion Billy Etbauer was RodeoHouston’s $50,000 champion, and the 45-year-old legend certainly will stretch his record run to 20 later this year.
Each DNCFR champion tastes glory for first time
Titles were doled out March 22 at the 22nd Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo, presented by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, in Pocatello, Idaho. And in each event, the last contestant standing tasted national glory for the first time. Some, such as tie-down roper Matt Shiozawa of nearby Chubbuck, came from quite literally right around the corner. Bareback rider Chris Harris of Itasca, Texas, highlighted a group of athletes who traveled a bit farther but came away with coveted titles and part of the nearly $375,000 purse.
The DNCFR is the crowning event of the PRCA’s circuit system of regional competition. National champions are determined at the elimination-style event. Contestants competed in two preliminary rounds that are split into four performances.
On Saturday, the champions ranged from a world champion (saddle bronc rider Chad Ferley, the Oelrichs, S.D., cowboy who claimed the gold buckle in 2006) to a handful of cowboys, such as Shiozawa, Harris and steer wrestler K.C. Jones of Decatur, Texas, who all certainly benefited from their Wrangler National Finals Rodeo experience to earn titles in Pocatello’s Holt Arena.
That range extended to a quartet who proved their moxie despite a previous void from the national stage. Barrel racer Shelley Murphy of Billings, Mont.; bull rider Poncho Limas of Weatherford, Okla.; and California team ropers Justin Spence of Modesto and Evan Arnold of Santa Margarita joined the other “seasoned” veterans in the elite club of national champions.
Not only does each DNCFR champion get the keys to a Dodge truck for the next year, but also a “Wild Card” berth into the first two legs of the Ariat Playoffs series in Caldwell, Idaho, in August and the Puyallup (Wash.) Rodeo in early September.
Shiozawa’s title helped the Wilderness Circuit to the overall title with $98,344. Meanwhile, Murphy honored her late father, Scott Perrigo, killed in an automobile accident just the day before the final round, by winning the championship in record fashion with a run of 14.84 seconds.
“I know my dad was here watching over me,” Murphy said. “Rachael (Myllymaki) had a 14.97 run just ahead of me, so all I could do was pray and try to go as fast as I could.”
Moore wins Houston Xtreme Bulls
Mike Moore, a three-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier, made the only qualified ride during final-round competition March 18 at the Houston stop on the Dodge Xtreme Bulls Tour, presented by B&W Trailer Hitches. In doing so, the native of Kankakee, Ill., won the two-head average title and checks worth $18,936.
Moore, who rode two bulls for 173.5 points, nearly didn’t make either ride.
“I could have bucked off both if I would have slacked up a little,” Moore, 34, said. “I just had to hang on and hope to make it to the whistle. I didn’t know the bulls, so I just got on and rode off instinct and reactions. I was kind of behind and in trouble both times, but just bearing down and trying got me to the whistle.”
Moore placed fifth in the first round after an 86.5-point ride aboard D&H Cattle’s Keep Wishin’ and scored 87 points on Classic Pro Rodeo’s Night Moves in the 12-man final round.
The bulls won 11 of the final-round encounters, but not with Moore, who said he’s putting off plans to return to substitute teaching in Illinois to continue riding.
“I planned on going back to school to teach after San Antonio,” Moore said. “I won quite a bit there ($26,465 between the rodeo and two Dodge Xtreme Bulls Tour stops) and got myself into the top 5 in the world standings. I know I’m not going to be doing this much longer, and my family encouraged me to get back on the road and get things turned around. I’m glad I did. It’s not just me. When I do well, my family does well, too.”
Chance Smart earned the top score in the first round, scoring 90.5 points on Cervi and Guidry Rodeo’s Hot Damn, good for $7,191. He rode last in the final round, and Moore expected Smart to make another ride and defend his Houston Xtreme Bulls title.
“I was ready to take second, and that would have been OK,” Moore said. “I figured Chance would ride and win both rounds, but things worked in m
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