DENVER, Colo. --- J.J. Elshere from Quinn, S.D., is on a roll – one that started at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo last December in Las Vegas.
Elshere won over $81,000 there and finished the 2009 season in third place in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) world saddle bronc standings. He entered the National Western Stock Show Rodeo with just $660 in 2010 earnings but the way he is riding here, that is likely to change.
He took the lead in the first round of competition with an 86-point effort on Wyoming’s Burns Rodeo’s Miller Time at the Sunday matinee performance. He had his second round competition at the evening performance where he scored 81 on another Wyoming bucking horse, Yellow Hair, owned by Burch Rodeo Company.
Elshere is now tied for first place in the second round with fellow South Dakotan Chad Ferley from Oelrichs. In fact, due to Ferley’s success here on Sunday, he moved Ferley into second place in the over-all standings.
In fact, three of the top five places in the saddle bronc riding standings here are held by South Dakota residents, two of which are former world champions. Jeffery Willert from Belvidere, S.D., is tied for third place here. He earned his gold buckle for being the best saddle bronc rider in the PRCA in 2005. The next year is was Ferley that got the championship.
Elshere would like nothing better than to add his name to the list of champions. In 2006 he won the average title at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo for having the highest total score on 10 rides there. That was the first of three times that he qualified for rodeo’s championship event.
A new set of cowboys will make their first appearance here on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. and will compete in the second round on Tuesday at 2 p.m. Monday night. Monday night’s performance starts at 6 p.m. and will feature the Martin Luther King African-American Heritage Rodeo of Champions.
DENVER, Colo. --- The following are results from the National Western Stock Show Rodeo, Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010.
Ninth Performance --
Bareback Riding: 1, Morgan Heaton, Brigham City, Utah, 80 points on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Grandview Vitalix. 2, Bud Munns, Snowville, Utah, 79. 3, Mac Erickson, Almo, Idaho, 76. 4, Chase Erickson, Helena, Mont., 75.
Steer Wrestling: 1, Curtis Cassidy, Donalda, Alberta, 3.7 seconds. 2, Jule Hazen, Ashland, kan., 4.1. 3 (tie), Ryan Swayze, Freedom, Okla., and Weston Taylor, Goodwell, Okla., 4.8.
Team Roping: 1, Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, and Patrick Smith, midland, Texas, 5.2 seconds. 2, Erich Rogers, Rond Rock, Ariz., and Monty Joe Petska, Turlock, Calif., 5.4. 3, Ty Blasingame, Ramah, Colo., and Cody Hintz, Spring Creek, Nev., 5.9. 4, Jay Mattson, Deadwood, S.D., and Coy Thompson, Whitewood, S.D., 11.5.
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1, J.J. Elshere, Quinn, S.D., 86 points on Burns Rodeo’s Miller Time. 2, James Willert, Kadoka, S.D., 76. 3, Casey Sisk, Corona, N.M., 75. 4, Louie Brunson, Interior, S.D., 74.
Tie-Down Roping: 1, Jake Pratt, Ellensburg, Wash., 9.8 seconds. 2, Jeff Chapman, Athens, Texas, 10.3. 3, Chase Johnston, Greeley, Colo., 10.6. 4, Charlety Russell, Shamrock, Texas, 11.8.
Women’s Barrel Race: 1, Jeanne Anderson, White City, Kan., 15.45. 2, Tana Poppino, Big Cabin, Okla., 15.66. 3, Brenda Seely, Lander, Wyo., 15.76. 4, Mandy Hagler, Platteville, Colo., 16.00.
Bull Riding: 1, Dusty Elkinton, Moundville, Mo., 86 points on Burns Rodeo’s Seminole Wind. 2, Clayton Williams, Carthage, Texas. 80. 3 (tie), Matt Pojanowski, Woodville, Wis., and Cole Hermanson, Mandan, N.D., 76.
Tenth Performance --
Bareback Riding: 1, Bud Munns, Snowville, Utah, 85 points on Burch Rodeo’s Angel Dust. 2, Teddy Athan, Livermore, Calif., 76. 3 (tie), chase Erickson, Helena, Mont., and Chris Harris, Itasca, Texas, 75.
Steer Wrestling: 1, Kyle Broce, La Junta, Colo., 5.7 seconds. 2, Curtis Cassidy, Donalda, Alberta, 5.9. 3 (tie), Cade Swor, Crafton, Texas, and Ryan Bothum, Hermiston, Ore., 6.6.
Team Roping: (two times) 1, Wade Kreutzer, La Veta, Colo., and Terry Selland, Berthoud Colo., 5.9. 2, Erich Rogers, Round Rock Ariz., and Monty Joe Petska, Turlock, Calif., 12.3.
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1, J.J. Elshere, Quinn, S.D., 81 points on Burch Rodeo’s Yellow Hair. 2, Dean Wadsworth, Ozona, Texas, 75. 3 (tie), Brody Bolton, Odessa, Texas, and Chuck Schmidt, Keldron, S.D., 74.
Tie-Down Roping: 1, Riley Pruitt, Gering, Neb., 8.5 seconds. 2, Clif cooper, Decatur, Texas, 9.1. 3, Jake Pratt, Ellensburg, Wash., 11.5. 4, Cole Bailey, Okmulgee, Okla., 13.6.
Women’s Barrel Race: 1, Lynn Hinds, Waller, Texas, 15.50. 2, Jeanne Anderson, White City, Kan., 15.69. 3, Carla Beckett, Laramie, Wyo., 15.73. 4, Brenda Seely, Lander, Wyo., 15.76.
Bull Riding: (one qualified ride) 1, Tate Stratton, Stanley, N.M., 77 points on David Bailey Rodeo’s Tar Baby.
Leaders --
Bareback Riding: (first round) 1, Tilden Hooper, Carthage, Texas, 88 points on Burch Rodeo’s Lyin Eyes. 2, Ryan Gray, Cheney, Wash., 86. 3, Joe Gunderson, Agar, S.D., 84. 4, Josh Luger, Fort Yates, N.D., 83. (second round) 1 (tie), Gray; Jared Keylon, Fort Scott, Kan.; and Bud Munns, Snowville, Utah; 85. 4, Gunderson, 84. (total on two) 1, Gray, 171. 2, Gunderson, 168. 3, Hooper, 167. 4, Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, Minn.,165.
Steer Wrestling: (first round) 1, Curtis Cassidy, Donalda, Alberta, 3.7 seconds. 2, Jule Hazen, Protection, Kan., 4.1. 3, Jeff Richardson, Fullerton, Nev., 4.2. 4, Dean Gorsuch, Gearing, Neb., 4.6. (second round) 1, Kyle Callaway, Gillette, Wyo., 3.9. 2 (tie), Clayton Morrison, Casper, Wyo.; Payden McIntyre, Douglas, Wyo., and Kody Woodward, DuPree, S.D., 4.1. (total on two) 1, Morrison, 9.0. 2, Woodward, 9.3. 3, Cassidy, 5.9. 4, K.C. Jones, Decatur, Texas, 9.9.
Team Roping: (first round) 1, Kaleb Driggers, Pageland, S.C., and Adam Plyler, Pageland, S.C., 4.0 seconds. 2, Jake Weddle, St. Joe, Ark., and Shawn Harris, Searcy, Ark., 4.3. 3, Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, and Patrick Smith, Midland, Texas, 5.2. Matt Sherwood, Pima, Ariz., and Allen Bach, Weatherford, Texas, 5.3. (second round) 1, Garrett Tonnozzi, Fruita, Colo., and Kinney Harrell, Marshall, Texas, 4.2. 2, Shane Philipp, Washington, Texas, and Britt Bockius, Claremore, Okla., 5.0. 3, Turtle Powell, Stephenville, Texas, and Cory Petska, Lexington, Okla., 5.1. 4, Jay McClain, Strasburg, Colo., and Bruce Reidhead, Taylor, Ariz., 5.2.(total on two) 1, Gurney and Curtis, 11.1. 2, Philipp and Bockius, 11.7. 3, Russ and Brian Sullivan, Peralta, N.M., 12.5. 4, Williams and Mayfield, 13.2.
Saddle Bronc Riding: (first round) 1, J.J. Elshere, Quinn, S.D., 86 points on Burns Rodeo’s Miller Time. 2, J.R. Berg, Marwayne, Alberta, 83. 3, (tie), Jesse Kruse, Great Falls, Mont., and Jace Garrett, Alliance, Neb., 81. (second round) 1 (tie), Chad Ferley, Oelrichs, S.D., on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Lakota’s Pet and J.J. Elshere, Quinn, S.D., on Burch Rodeo’s Yellow Hair, 81 points each. 3, (tie), Jacobs Crawley, College Station, Texas, and Aaron Lide, Odessa, Texas, 79. (total on two) 1, Elshere, 167. 2, Ferley, 161. 3, (tie), Jeff Willert, Belvidere, S.D.; Cody Martin, Eagle, Colo.; and Andrew Counts, Stephenville, Texas; 157.
Tie-Down Roping: (first round) 1, J.C. Malone, Roy, Utah, 8.5. Boe Brown, Harrold, S.D., 8.6. 3, (tie), Jerome Schneeberger, Ponca City, Okla., and Nate Baldwin, Blackfoot, Idaho, 9.0. (second round) 1, Cody Waldrop, San Angelo, Texas, 7.7. 2, Calvin Brevik, Durango, Colo., 7.8. 3, Justin Maass, Giddings, Texas, 7.9. 4, Jayce Johnson, Durant, Okla., 8.2. (total on two) 1, Johnson, 17.5. 2, Skyler Moore, Mount Vernon, Mo., 17.9. 3, J.C. Malone, Roy, Utah, 18.2. 4, (tie), Waldrop, and Lawrence McCullough, Prairie View, Texas, 18.9.
Women’s Barrel Race: (first round) 1, Sammi Bessert, Loma, Colo., 15.38 seconds. 2, Jeanne Anderson, White City, Kan., 15.45. 3 (tie), Nancy Hunter, Neola, Utah and Amanda Welsh, Cedar City, Utah, 15.50. (second round) 1, Shelly Morgan, Canton, Texas, 15.37. 2, Mary Burger, 15.41. 3 (tie), Shali Lord, Lamar, Colo., and Hunter, 15.46. (total on two) 1, Hunter, 30.96. 2, Burger, 31.01. 3, Trula Churchill, Valentine, Neb., 31.07. 4, Self, 31.09.
Bull Riding: (first round) 1, Will Farrell, Thermopolis, Wyo., 91 points on Cervi and Guidry’s Hot Diggity Damn. 2, Dusty Elkinton, Moundville, Mont., 87. 3, Wesley Silcox, Santquin, Utah, 83. 4, Clayton Williams, Carthage, Texas, 80. (second round) 1, Tyler Smith, Fruita, Colo., 86 points on David Bailey Rodeo Company’s Cotton Tail. 2, Tyler Johnston, Bridger, Mont., 85. 3, Corey Navarre, Weatherford, Okla., 83. 4, (tie) Tag Elliott, Thatcher, Utah and Carter Downing, Woodruff, Utah, 82. (total on two) 1, Navarre, and Tag Elliott, 156. 3, Bobby Welsh, Gillette, Wyo., 149. 4, Zack Elliott, Thatcher, Utah, 146.
