Mote highlights circuit finals champs

Posted Monday, November 19, 2007

Bobby Mote, the 2002 World Champion Bareback Rider who has the inside track to the 2007 crown next month at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, added another accolade to his list of accomplishments by winning the three-head average title at the Dodge Columbia River Circuit Finals Rodeo, held Nov. 16-18 in Redmond, Ore.

Mote, of Culver, Ore., won two rounds en route to the title (246 points on three head), which gave him an automatic berth to the 2008 Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, Idaho.

Joining Mote as Dodge Columbia River Circuit Finals Rodeo average champion were steer wrestler Shawn Greenfield of Lakeview, Ore., 13.1 seconds on three head; team ropers Brandon Beers of Powell Butte, Ore./Dean Tuftin of Prineville, Ore., 15.0 seconds on three head; saddle bronc rider Ben Londo of Pendleton, Ore.; Shane Erickson of Terrebonne, Ore.; steer roper Joe Bartlett of Eugene, Ore., 21.7 seconds on two head; barrel racer Brenda Mays of Terrebonne, Ore., 47.93 seconds on three runs; and bull rider Dustin Smith of St. Paul, Ore., 155 points on two head.

Meanwhile, down the West Coast in Norco, Calif., the state’s top contestants competed for DNCFR berths at the Dodge California Circuit Finals Rodeo, with Wrangler NFR-bound saddle bronc rider Justin Arnold (236 points on three head) among the average champions who punched their tickets to Pocatello.

Besides Arnold, seven other contestants earned the title of circuit finals average champion: bareback rider Marv Hurley of Bakersfield, Calif., 237 points on three head; steer wrestler Matt Deskovick of Ramona, Calif., 20.7 seconds on three head; team ropers Daniel Green of Oakdale, Calif./Todd Hampton of Chowchilla, Calif., 20.1 seconds on three head; tie-down roper Wes Lockard of Susanville, Calif., 26.4 seconds on three head; barrel racer Stacy Dial of Vista, Calif., 50.07 seconds on three head; and bull rider Thomas Bert of Modesto, Calif., 249 points on three head.

In Denver, the Dodge Mountain States Circuit Finals Rodeo was held from Nov. 15-17. All-around cowboy Josh Peek of Pueblo, Colo., who’s headed to his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo next month, claimed the tie-down roping average title with a total time of 25.5 seconds on three head.

Other average champions from Denver were bareback rider Tim Shirley of Bailey, Colo., 246 points on three head; saddle bronc riders Seth Glause of Rock Springs, Wyo., and Colin Stalley of Riverton, Wyo., 238 points on three head; bull rider Kanin Asay of Powell, Wyo., 263 points on three head; steer wrestler Kyle Callaway of Gillette, Wyo., 14.9 seconds on three head; team ropers Paul Beckett of Laramie, Wyo./Chad Wahlert of Fort Morgan, Colo., 17.7 seconds on three head; and barrel racer Diann Bukowski of Falcon, Colo., 50.02 seconds on three runs.