Champions Crowned at Fort Worth Stock Show Rodeo

By Lauranne Smith
Posted Monday, February 9, 2009

FORT WORTH ---The 113th annual Fort Worth Stock Show Rodeo came to a close on Sunday night at the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum.

The big money winner is a big champion with a big heart. Jason Miller earned nearly $17,500 in the steer wrestling by dropping three steers to the turf in 11.3 seconds. Miller won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world title in 2007. He is truly a Wyoming Cowboy having been raised on a ranch near Lance Creek, then attending the University of Wyoming competing on the Cowboy’s rodeo team.

He qualified for his third Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in 2008 and is hoping to be back in Las Vegas this year to compete at rodeo’s championship event. He helped his cause immensely here. Prior to Fort Worth’s rodeo, Miller wasn’t ranked. The money he won here will move him clear to the top of the standings ahead of Lee Graves, from Calgary, Alberta who has won $15,436 in 2009 earnings.

Miller’s win here came aboard the steer wrestling horse of the year, Willie, owned by Curtis Cassidy from Donalda, Alberta. Willie took Miller to the world title in 2007, then in 2008 Luke Branquinho, from Los Alamos, Calif., earned his gold buckle on the equine athlete. Branquinho also qualified for the final round here. Cassidy was competing in San Antonio on Sunday afternoon and left Willie in Fort Worth for the two champions to ride.

“That horse is phenomenal,” Miller said. “When Curtis offered to leave him here, we didn’t hesitate to accept. He works awesome every time and is probably the most dependable horse I’ve ever been on.”

Miller’s win was an unusual one as his final competition actually happened during the tie-down roping. Steers are drawn for at random. The steer that Miller had drawn was standing in the chute shaking his head. In the interest of the steer’s welfare, he was withdrawn. The extra steer was loaded, but when the officials checked, it was a steer that Miller had already competed on. They then had to get a third steer for Miller and brought him back during the tie-down roping. Miller stopped the clock in 4.2 seconds.

There were three Texans that earned titles here. J.W. Harris, the reigning world champion bull rider rode David Bailey’s bull named Billionaire for 86 points. That gave Harris a total of 251 points on three-head to win $11,512. Turtle Powell, from Stephenville, won the team roping with a total time of 17.3 seconds. Powell did the heading for Travis Graves from Jay, Okla., and they each won $5,089.

In the barrel race it was Jordon Peterson, from Chilton, Texas, who earned $8,634 here. Peterson was a rookie last year, but is quickly making a name for herself. Prior to this rodeo, she was ranked third in the world standings. She is likely to move to the top of the leader board. Peterson is the daughter of four-time world champion Kristy Peterson.

This year’s rodeo paid $529,794. Many of the winners here are traveling to San Antonio hoping their winning ways continue there.

FORT WORTH --- The following are the championship round winners and the overall winners of the Fort Worth Stock Show Rodeo presented by the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show, Sunday, Feb. 08, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. Results are also available at Ufwssr.com/results.asp.

Final Round –

Bareback Riding: 1, Heath Ford, Greeley, Colo., 83 points on Andrews’ horse Phantom, $1,200. 2. Luke Creasy, Brownfield, Alberta, Can., 82, $900. 3, (tie) Kelly Timberman, Mills, Wyo., and Tilden Hooper, Carthage, Texas, 81, $450.

Steer Wrestling: 1, Spud Duvall, Checotah, Okla., 3.7 seconds, $1,443. 2, Jonathon Ferreira, Fort Jones, Calif., 3.8, $1,194. 3, Gorsuch, Gering, Neb., 3.9, $945. 4, Casey McMillen, Craig, Colo, 4.0, $697. 5, Jason Lahr, Stephenville, Texas, 4.1, $448. 6, (tie) Shawn Greenfield, Lakeview, Ore., and Jason Miller, Lance Creek, Wyo., 4.2, $124 each.

Team Roping: 1, Ty Blasingame, Olney Springs, Colo., and Bobby Baize, Anthony, N.M 5.0 seconds, $1,160 each. 2, Joel Bach, Millsap, Texas, and Allen Bach, Weatherford, Texas, 5.2, $870 each. 3, Turtle Powell, Stephenville, Texas, and Travis Graves, Jay, Okla., 5.5, $580. 4, Tommy Edens, Gatesville, Texas, and Wade Clayton, Needville, Texas, 5.7, $290.

Saddle Bronc Riding: 1, Bradley Harter, Weatherford, Texas, 88 points on Pete Carr’s Ginger Snap, $1,200. 2, (tie) Jesse Bail, Camp Crook, S.D., and Cody Taton, Newell, S.D., 80, $750 each. 4, JJ Elshere, Quinn, S.D., 79, $300.

Tie-Down Roping: 1, Adam Gray, Seymour, Texas, 8.1, $1,436. 2, Scott Kormos, Teague, Texas, 8.2, $1,188. 3, Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah, 8.8, $941. 4, (tie) Cash Meyers, Athens, Texas, and Durfey, Colbert, Wash., 8.9, $569 each. 6, Russell Wells, Lindsay, Okla., 9.2, $248.

Women’s Barrel Race: 1, Shawna Bourne, Chapel Hill, Tenn., 16.78 seconds, $2,558. 2, Annesa Self, Valley View, Texas, 16.81, $1,919. 3, Shelley Morgan, Eustace, Texas, 16.92, $1,279. 4, Brenda Mays, Terrebonne, Ore., 16.95, $640.

Bull Riding: 1, J.W. Harris, May, Texas, 86 points on David Bailey’s Billionare, $2,050. 2, (tie) Douglas Duncan, Alva, Texas, and Tate Stratton, Stanley, N.M., 84, $1,475 each’].

Overall --

Bareback Riding: (on four) 1, Bobby Mote, Culver, Utah, 321, $5,164. 2, (tie) Kaycee Feild, Elk Ridge, Utah, and Tilden Hooper, Carthage, Texas, 320, $3,442 each. 4, Kelly Timberman, Mills, Wyo., 319, $1,893. 5, (tie) Heath Ford, Greeley, Colo., and Wes Stevenson, Lubbock, Texas, 314, $1,033 each. 7, Dustin Mulrony, Polmeroy, Wash., $688. 7, (tie) Luke Creasy, Brownfield, Alberta, Can., and Clint Cannon, Waller, Texas, 310, $258 each.

Steer Wrestling: (on three) 1, Jason Miller, Lance Creek, Wyo., 11.3, $8,560. 2, (tie) Jonathon Ferreira, Fort Jones, Calif., and Casey McMillen, Craig, Colo., 11.9, $6,885 each. 4, (tie) Spud Duvall, Checotah, Okla., and Dean Gorsuch, Gering, Neb.,12.3, $4,652. 6, Todd Suhn, North Platte, Neb, 12.6, $2,977. 7, Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., 12.8, $1,861. 8, Jason Lahr, Stephenville, Texas, 13.0, $744.

Team Roping: (on three) 1, Turtle Powell, Stephenville, Texas, and Travis Graves, Jay, Okla., 17.3 seconds, $4,509 each. 2, Joel Bach, Millsap, Texas, and Allen Bach, Weatherford, Texas, 17.5, $3,921 each. 3, Ty Blasingame, Olney Springs, Colo., and Bobby Baize, Anthony, N.M., 17.6, $3,332 each. 4, Travis Tryan, Billings, Mont., and Cesar de la Cruz, Tucson, Ariz., 17.9, $2,744 each. 5, Tyler Magnus, Lampasas, Texas, and Mickey Gomez, Holland, Texas, 18.4, $2,156 each. 6, Tommy Edens, Gatesville, Texas, and Wade Clayton, Needville, Texas, 18.5, $1,568 each. 7, Colby Siddoway, Argyle, Texas, and Matt Zancanella, Aurora, S.D., 18.6, $980 each. 8, (on two) Chad Masters, Santo, Texas, and Michael Jones, Stephenville, Texas, 10.5, $392 each.

Saddle Bronc Riding: (on four) 1, JJ Elshere, Quinn, S.D., 332 points, $5,967. 2, Bradley Harter, Weatherford, Texas, 324, $4,575. 3, Jesse Bail, Camp Crook, S.D., 321, $3,381. 4, Jesse Kruse, Great Falls, Mont., 320, $2,188. 5, Cody Taton, Newell, S.D., 317, $1,392. 6, Scott Johnston, Weatherford, Texas, 315, $995. 7, Aaron Lide, Odessa, Texas, 310, $795. 8, Brody Bolton, Odessa, Texas, 308, $597.

Tie-Down Roping: (on three) 1, Tyson Durfey, Colbert, Wash., 26.0 seconds, $8,530. 2, Adam Gray, Seymour, Texas, 26.9, $7,418. 3, Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah, 27.1, $6,305 4, Scott Kormos, Teague, Texas, 27.5, $5,192. 5, Houston Hutto, Del Rio, Texas, 27.9, $4,080. 6, Cash Meyers, Athens, Texas, 28.1, $2,967. 7, Russell Wells, Lindsay, Okla., 28.7, $1,854. 8, Casey Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., 31.2, $742.

Women’s Barrel Race: (three runs) 1, Jordon Peterson, Chilton, Texas, 50.59 seconds, $5,180. 2, Annesa Self, Valley View, Texas, 50.82, $4,440. 3, Shawna Bourne, Chapel Hill, Tenn., 50.84, $3,700. 4, Savanah Reeves, Dublin, Texas, 50.88, $3,207. 5, Brenda Mays, Terrebonne, Ore., 50.91, $2,467. 6, Shelley Morgan, Eustace, Texas, 50.95, $1,973. 7, P.J. Burger, Pauls Valley, Okla., 51.04, $1,480. 8, Nellie Williams, Cottonwood, Calif., 51.05, $987. 9, Tiffany Fox, Fox, Okla., 51.10, $740. 10, Mary Burger, Pauls Valley, Okla., 51.32, $493.

Bull Riding: (total on three) 1, JW Harris, May, Texas, 251, $8,585. 2, Tate Stratton, Stanley, N.M., 246, $6,582. 3, Douglas Duncan, Alva, Texas, 236, $4,865. (on two) 4, Cody Whitney, Asher, Okla., 175, $3,148. 5, (tie) Robey Condra, Dayton, Texas and Dave Samsel, Haslet, Texas, 162, $1,717 each. 7, Chad Everett Denton, Berry Creek, Calif., 159, $1,145. 8, Bonner Bolton, Gardendale, Texas, $858.