Texas theatrics: Wrangler Tour ends in Dallas with rodeo to crown event champions

By Courtesy PRCA
Posted Tuesday, November 6, 2007

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The stars will shine in Texas as total of 16 world champions with a combined 52 world titles highlight the 79-contestant field for the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Championship presented by Texas Stampede, the culminating event on the 2007 Wrangler ProRodeo Tour. Dallas also marks the final event that counts prize money toward the 2007 Crusher Rentals PRCA World Standings and qualification to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

Just as in past years, the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Championship will be a major determining factor in the race for world titles. Big paydays in Dallas could lead to even bigger conquests in Las Vegas in December. The Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Championship, the concluding rodeo of the four-leg Ariat Playoff Series, which doled out $1.62 million in prize money.

Competitors in Dallas will compete for a share of the $550,000 purse when the three-day event starts Nov. 9 at the American Airlines Center. Action from Dallas will be televised on Fox Sports Net, with three separate one-hour telecasts beginning the week of Nov. 16. In addition, CBS Sports will air highlights from the final round either before or after – depending on the market – the network’s coverage of the NFL on Dec. 2.

Action takes place at 7:30 p.m. (CT) the first two nights. All 10 contestants in each event compete the first two nights. The semifinals, which will feature the top eight competitors in each event after two rounds, get under way at 2 p.m. Nov. 11, with the four-person final round immediately following.

Four-time and reigning World Champion All-Around Cowboy Trevor Brazile highlights the field. He is joined by three other reigning world champions in attendance – bareback rider Will Lowe of Canyon, Texas; team roping heeler Allen Bach of Weatherford, Texas; and saddle bronc rider Chad Ferley of Oehrichs, S.D.

Lowe, a three-time world champion, and Ferley lead a group of six defending champions from the 2006 Dallas event, a group that includes team ropers Speed Williams and Clay O’Brien Cooper, tie-down roper Blair Burk and two-time world champion barrel racer Sherry Cervi.

Another champion to watch for in Dallas is Cody Ohl, the reigning and five-time world titlist in tie-down roping and 2001 Dallas champion. Ohl, of Hico, Texas, is making his comeback after missing the previous three months following rotator cuff surgery.

Josh Peek of Pueblo, Colo., who is chasing Brazile in the all-around race, is the event’s lone two-event cowboy, having qualified for Dallas in both steer wrestling and tie-down roping.

Despite qualifying for Dallas by finishing the 21-stop Wrangler ProRodeo Tour and three subsequent Ariat Playoff Series rodeos in the top 10 in their respective standings, four cowboys and one cowgirl opted instead to compete in the Canadian Finals Rodeo, Nov. 7-11 in Edmonton, Alberta.

It wasn’t an easy choice, however.
“It was a real tough decision because both are great rodeos,” said tie-down roper Matt Shiozawa of Chubbuck, Idaho, who won the Wrangler NFR tie-down roping average title in 2006 and is headed back for his third consecutive Wrangler NFR when the event starts Dec. 6 in Las Vegas. “I’ve made such an effort to go north this year and I have so much invested in it. That makes it hard not to go to Edmonton. They’ve got a good rodeo up there, and Dallas can definitely help you in the long run. I guess with hindsight, I’ll look back in a couple of weeks and see if it was a good decision.”

Steer wrestler Lee Graves of Calgary, Alberta, the 2005 world champion, also elected to bypass Dallas to shoot for a sixth Canadian bulldogging championship that would tie the record held by Bud Butterfield.

Legendary saddle bronc rider Rod Hay, the owner of a record eight Canadian crowns, chose Edmonton over Dallas, as did bareback rider Heath Ford of Greeley, Colo., and barrel racer Lindsay Sears, who leaped into world-title contention after winning $22,500 at the Ariat Playoff Series rodeo in Omaha, Neb. Despite having a chance to close the gap – which presently stands at some $30,000 – in Dallas, Sears, of Nanton, Alberta, will compete in front of her home-province fans at the CFR.

The Playoffs started in Caldwell, Idaho, with the top 35 contestants from the 21-city Wrangler ProRodeo Tour and each event champion from the 2007 Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo. After Caldwell, the field was whittled to the top 22 from the cumulative Tour standings, the Caldwell playoff champs, plus DNCFR titlists, as the top athletes headed for the second Ariat Playoff rodeo, the Puyallup (Wash.) Pro Rodeo.

From there, the top 11 in the Tour standings and each event’s overall champion in Puyallup advanced to Omaha. The top 10 following Omaha qualified for Dallas.

Proceeds from the event benefit Children’s Medical Center, the only Dallas healthcare facility that deals exclusively with a variety of diseases and disorders among children, and the pediatric programs at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, which is among the top medical centers in the nation for educating health professionals and conducting significant medical research.

For more information on the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour and the Ariat Playoffs, visit www.prorodeo.com.

Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Championship Contestants
The following is the list of contestants for the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour Championship, presented by Texas Stampede, in Dallas, which runs Nov. 9-11. The list is current as of Nov. 5, 2007:

Bareback riding
Royce Ford, Briggsdale, Colo.
Ryan Gray, Cheney, Wash.
Chris Harris, Itasca, Texas
Jason Havens, Prineville, Ore.
Jason Jeter, Mansfield, Texas
Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas
Justin McDaniel, Porum, Okla.
Tom McFarland, Wickenburg, Ariz.
Bobby Mote, Culver, Ore.
Kelly Timberman, Mills, Wyo.

Steer wrestling
Joey Bell Jr., Malakoff, Texas
Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif.
Billy Bugenig, Ferndale, Calif.
Stockton Graves, Newkirk, Okla.
Shawn Greenfield, Lakeview, Ore.
Casey McMillen, Craig, Colo.
Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo.
Matt Reeves, Pampa, Texas
Todd Suhn, North Platte, Neb.
Wade Sumpter, Fowler, Colo.

Team roping (Heading)
Jake Barnes, Scottsdale, Ariz.
Keven Daniel, Altha, Fla.
Jimmy Edens, Gatesville, Texas
Tommy Edens, Gatesville, Texas
David Key, Caldwell, Texas
Chad Masters, Clarksville, Tenn.
Coleman Proctor, Miami, Okla.
Colter Todd, Marana, Ariz.
Clay Tryan, Billings, Mont.
Speed Williams, Prineville, Ore.

Team roping (Heeling)
Allen Bach, Weatherford, Texas
Clay O’Brien Cooper, Morgan Mill, Texas
Cesar de la Cruz, Tucson, Ariz.
Jhett Johnson, Casper, Wyo.
Coby Jones, Gatesville, Texas
Kory Koontz, Sudan, Texas
Jake Long, Nowata, Okla.
Ryan Motes, Weatherford, Texas
Dean Tuftin, Prineville, Ore.
Walt Woodard, Stockton, Calif.

Saddle bronc riding
Anthony Bello, Oakley, Utah
Cody DeMoss, Heflin, La.
Isaac Diaz, Stephenville, Texas
Billy Etbauer, Edmond, Okla.
Chad Ferley, Oelrichs, S.D.
Bradley Harter, Weatherford, Texas
Ryan Mapston, Belt, Mont.
Taos Muncy, Corona, N.M.
Jeff Willert, Belvidere, S.D.
Cody Wright, Milford, Utah

Tie-down roping
Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas
Barry Burk, Ponca City, Okla.
Blair Burk, Durant, Okla.
Trent Creager, Stillwater, Okla.
Jake Hannum, Ogden, Utah
Hunter Herrin, Apache, Okla.
Mike Johnson, Henryetta, Okla.
Cody Ohl, Hico, Texas
Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo.
Joseph Parsons, Marana, Ariz.

Barrel racing
Terra Bynum, Colorado City, Texas
Sherry Cervi, Marana, Ariz.
Brandie Halls, Carpenter, Wyo.
Sherrylynn Johnson, Henryetta, Okla.
Brenda Mays, Terrebonne, Ore.
Jill Moody, Letcher, S.D.
Tana Poppino, Big Cabin, Okla.
Molly Powell, Stephenville, Texas
Brittany Pozzi-Pharr, Victoria, Texas
Vickie Solmonsen, Riverton, Utah

Bull riding
Ted Bert, Modesto, Calif.
Cody Buller, Glendive, Mont.
Richard Echols, Frierson, La.
J.W. Harris, May, Texas
Cooper Kanngiesser, Zenda, Kan.
Colin McTaggart, Brentwood, Calif.
Brad Pierce, Snyder, Texas
Dave Samsel, Haslet, Texas
Wes Silcox, Payson, Utah
Steve Woolsey, Payson, Utah

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