PRCA News and Notes November 23, 2009

By Courtesy PRCA
Posted Monday, November 23, 2009

Remember Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Las Vegas, begins December 3rd

Mote leads ‘Pride’ to 1-2-3 sweep in Dodge Columbia River Circuit Finals Rodeo
REDMOND, Ore. – As a prelude to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, it could have been a lot worse.
Two-time World Champion Bareback Rider Bobby Mote and his traveling partners, known collectively as The Pride, finished 1-2-3 in the Nov. 20-22 Dodge Columbia River Circuit Finals Rodeo, presented by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company.

Mote, of Culver, Ore., won two rounds – including an 87-point ride on Big Bend Rodeo’s Faded Dice – on the way to claiming the average title with 258 points, followed by Columbia River year-end champion Ryan Gray and Jason Havens.

“It was fun,” Mote told the Bend Bulletin. “We got on good horses, and it’s always fun to ride in front of my home town. (Faded Dice) was a real good horse. It’s been to the NFR before. He just bucked hard, and it was a good chance.”

Mote is second in the PRCA World Standings heading into the Dec. 3-12 Wrangler NFR, with Gray third and Havens 15th. The fourth member of The Pride, Brian Bain, suffered a broken right wrist in the first round and will be sidelined for 4-6 weeks.

“It was a good way to get warmed up before next week,” Gray said.
Brad Goodrich, an eight-time year-end champion in tie-down roping, this time made his advance to the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Pocatello, Idaho, by winning the average title.

Under pressure after current year-end champion Tyson Durfey tied his calf in 7.8 seconds in the final round, Goodrich came through with an 8.0-second run to win the average by two-tenths of a second.

“I didn’t really expect to win the average,” Goodrich said. “Tyson made just a phenomenal run. I had a calf I liked early in the week, but she had a lot of run. I have maybe the best horse in the Northwest – maybe the best horse going – and he equalized things out and let me go fast.”

The other Dodge Columbia River Circuit Finals Rodeo champions were steer wrestler Erik Johnson (12.0 seconds on three head), team ropers Riley Minor and Brady Minor (17.0 seconds on three head), saddle bronc rider Roy Johnson (240 points on three head), barrel racer Brenda Mays (47.15 seconds on three runs) and bull rider Allen Helmuth (160 points on two head).

Egan dominates tie-down roping in Dodge California Circuit Finals Rodeo
NORCO, Calif. – Tie-down roper Jesse Egan put the finishing touches on his 11th year-end championship with a thoroughly dominating performance in the Nov. 20-21 Dodge California Circuit Finals Rodeo, presented by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company.

Egan, of Gridley, Calif., won the first round in 8.6 seconds and finished second in the other two rounds to easily claim the average title with a time of 26.1 seconds.

Chad Rava of Paso Robles, Calif., was the nearest challenger with a three-head time of 31.0 seconds.
Hemet, Calif., saddle bronc rider Scott Miller also swept the year-end and average titles. After failing to complete a qualified ride in the first round, Miller won the next two rounds, and his score of 158 points on two head stood up to edge Nick Laduke by four points.

The other Dodge California Circuit Finals Rodeo champions were bareback rider Tyson Thompson (236 points on three head), steer wrestler Billy Bugenig (14.2 seconds on three head), team ropers Mike Pivetti and Mike Christensen (21.5 seconds on three head), barrel racer Christina Richman (50.64 seconds on three runs) and bull rider Jacob Tyner (225 points on three head).

Bullet points from the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo

• Monty Lewis, the 2004 world champion tie-down roper from Hereford, Texas, tore the medial collateral ligament in his knee during a match roping in San Angelo, Texas, last month, and injured his left shoulder when his horse fell and rolled over on him last week. Will he turn out from the competition at the Thomas & Mack? Not a chance. He will compete wearing a knee brace.
• Tri-State area rodeo fans got together on Nov. 21 to give South Dakota’s half-dozen Wrangler NFR qualifiers a spirited sendoff at the Branding Iron Steakhouse and Saloon in Belle Fourche. “This is the region’s top professional sport,” said Scott Reder, chairman of the Black Hills Roundup, “and this celebrates their success and wishes them luck in Las Vegas.”
• Bull rider Kanin Asay, of Powell, Wyo., has an event coming up on his calendar even more significant than his third Wrangler NFR appearance. Asay is getting married Nov. 28 to Sydney Hayes.
• Six-time World Champion All-Around Cowboy Tom Ferguson is one of the 2010 nominees for the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.
• Jim Korkow, whose family has produced stock for each of the first 51 Wrangler NFRs, received the Family Business of the Year Award for Pierre, S.D., at the annual Chamber of Commerce banquet. Korkow is now a finalist for the state award, which will be determined in April 2010.
• The documentary film Born to Ride: Cody Wright and the Quest for a World Title will have a special free screening at 11 a.m., Dec. 8, at the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa. Wright and his former college coach Shawn Davis (a.k.a. the Wrangler NFR General Manager) will both attend the screening.
• Want to follow the progress of the Miss Rodeo America pageant and can’t be in Las Vegas? Just log on to www.missrodeoamericapageant.blogspot.com or the MRA’s main Web site, www.missrodeoamerica.com.