Etbauer steals show at Cheyenne Frontier Days
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Who knew? Billy Etbauer actually had a gap in his trophy case.
A five-time world champion saddle bronc rider and 20-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier, Etbauer had never won a buckle and saddle at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo until he captured the three-head average July 26 with 251 points.
His thrilling 89-point ride on Vold Rodeo Company’s Painted Valley in the finale lifted him from a tie for second place with Heith DeMoss from Heflin, La., and past Wade Sundell, from Boxholm, Iowa, who had led after two rounds with 165 points.
“It’s unreal,” Etbauer said. “I’ve been blessed and done so well here in the past that I could never complain. But it’s just unreal to have finally won it. This is a cowboy’s rodeo, a big arena, great fans and it’s one that you always come to Cheyenne just hoping to do well.”
Having several members of his family in attendance made the achievement even sweeter for Etbauer. His parents made the trip from South Dakota. His brother, Dan Etbauer, was one of the pick-up men in the arena and his nephew, Trell Etbauer, competed in the saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping and steer wrestling.
Certainly, Etbauer’s timing couldn’t have been much better. Prior to the 113th edition of the “Daddy of ‘em All,” Etbauer was ranked 19th in the PRCA World Standings. With the $14,718 he won at Cheyenne, he moved up to 14th and is well on his way to a record-extending 21st consecutive Wrangler NFR qualification.
“Really, you’re not any older than you act,” said Etbauer, 46. “Every day’s a blessing, so (I just take it) horse by horse, day by day and jump by jump. We’ll just see what happens.”
Etbauer overcame a charge by three-time Wrangler NFR qualifier Chet Johnson, who tied the arena record with a 90-point ride on Barnes PRCA Rodeo’s Cat Power and finished second in the average, two points behind Etbauer.
One of the biggest men among the 1,499 competitors at Cheyenne also turned out to be the biggest money winner. South Dakota cowboy Jake Rinehart, who is 6-foot-7 and 265 pounds, placed in every round of the steer wrestling and had a total time of 22.9 seconds to win $23,413.
Rinehart’s big week allowed him to take over first place in the PRCA World Standings with $81,134, just $859 ahead of Curtis Cassidy.
Right behind Rinehart was five-time World Champion Tie-Down Roper Cody Ohl who netted $21,441. Ohl, from Hico, Texas, had a time of 36.7 seconds on three head for the championship. It was his third tie-down roping title at Cheyenne, and he has also won the CFD all-around championship twice.
This year’s all-around champion came from the roughstock end of the arena. Clayton Foltyn, from El Campo, Texas, won $9,277 in bareback riding and bull riding. Foltyn is a third-generation rodeo contestant who qualified for the Wrangler NFR in bull riding in 2004. Since then he has struggled with injuries that have prevented him from getting on bareback horses and limited his bull riding appearances. The bareback horse he got on in Cheyenne July 24 was only the third horse he had been on this year.
“There were probably 20 better cowboys here than me,” Foltyn told The Associated Press, “but I drew well and I won. It’s (a matter of) just which guy is having his week.”
Scott Snedecor, the two-time and reigning steer roping world champion, earned $17,759 by winning at Cheyenne and moved ahead of Rocky Patterson into first place in the PRCA World Standings. That was the only other change atop the leader board, apart from Rinehart.
CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS RODEO CHAMPIONS
All-around – Clayton Foltyn, El Campo, Texas, $9,277, bareback riding and bull riding Bareback riding – Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas, 259 points, $15,128
Steer wrestling – Jake Rinehart, Highmore, S.D., 22.9 seconds, $23,413
Team roping – Chad Masters, Clarksville, Tenn./Jade Corkill, Fallon, Nev., 27.7 seconds, $12,204 each
Saddle bronc riding – Billy Etbauer, Edmond, Okla., 251 points, $14,718
Tie-down roping – Cody Ohl, Hico, Texas, 36.7 seconds, $21,441
Women’s barrel racing – Tiffany Fox, Fox, Okla., 52.50 seconds, $16,964
Bull riding – Brad Pierce, Baird, Texas, 256 points, $14,910
Steer roping – Scott Snedecor, Uvalde, Texas, 41.8 seconds, $17,759
Rookie saddle bronc riding – Wayne Kogianes, Provo, Utah, 211 points, $4,225
Friends raise $30,000 for injured McFarland
About $30,000 was raised at a benefit auction for PRCA bareback rider Tom McFarland, July 24 at the Buckin-A Saloon in Cheyenne, Wyo.
McFarland sustained 26 fractures in his (riding) right wrist and arm when a bucking horse flipped over on him in the chute June 25 at the West of the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo.
The Wickenburg, Ariz., cowboy is expected to be out of competition for the rest of the season. Members of McFarland’s traveling group, the “Wolfpack,” their spouses and PRCA stock contractors helped organize the event. Harry Vold and Royce Ford were the auctioneers.
“It blew us away to know that everybody cared that much,” McFarland said. “I just can’t thank everybody enough, from the people who bought (items) to the people who donated. Rodeo is the way I make a living, and a person can’t live without money, that’s for sure. The family that rodeo is…is just unbelievable.”
Donations were made by Wrangler, Dodge Rodeo, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, Triple V Rodeo Company, Harry Vold Rodeo Company, Carr Pro Rodeo, Stace Smith Pro Rodeos, Four L Rodeo, Diamond S Rodeo and Mosbrucker Rodeos
Among the big-ticket items were Will Lowe’s 2007 Wrangler NFR Round 9 buckle, a five-day guided elk hunting trip, Kenny Chesney concert tickets, a cowboy bronze, four Dan Hubbell photos, bull semen, a filly or colt from Harry Vold Rodeo Company prize stud Painted Valley, guided pheasant and hog hunts, Wes Stevenson’s bareback riding rigging (signed by 2005 NFR qualifiers), the first bronc riding saddle of 2007 World Champion Taos Muncy and one of Muncy’s bronc riding protective vests.
“Tom has three little girls, and things were a little tight even before he got hurt,” Wolfpack member Stevenson said. “He was going hard, trying to win some money and make things happen. This is what we do for a living. Tom ran into some bad luck, and we don’t want him to have to sell his place. We want him to take time to get well and take care of his kids.”
Anyone interested in contributing to the Tom McFarland injury fund can contact the Guaranty Bank & Trust Company, 930 11th Avenue, Greeley, CO 80631 (www.guarantybank.com)
- Johnna Espinoza
Upcoming PRCA Rodeos
July 26 Cecil County Fair Pro Rodeo, Fairhill, Md., ongoing
July 27 Field of Dreams Stampede, La Crete, Alberta, begins
July 27 Big Wind Round Up, Riverton, Wyo., begins
July 27 Jayhawker Roundup Rodeo, Hill City, Kan., begins
July 28 High Prairie (Alberta) Elks Pro Rodeo, begins
July 28 Big Sky Pro Rodeo Round Up, Great Falls, Mont., begins
July 28 Iowa’s Championship Rodeo, Sidney, Iowa, begins
July 29 31 Painted Pony Championship Rodeo, Lake Luzerne, N.Y.
July 29 Crossett (Ark.) Riding Club Rodeo begins
July 29 Eagle County Fair & Rodeo, Eagle, Colo., begins
July 29 Dodge City (Kan.) Roundup Rodeo begins
July 30 Santiam Canyon Stampede, Sublimity, Ore., begins
July 30 Dodge Truck Seneca County Fair Pro Rodeo, Tiffin, Ohio, begins
July 30 Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo, Abilene, Kan., begins
July 30 Carson (Iowa) Community Rodeo begins
July 30 Desert View Pro Rodeo, Castle Dale, Utah, begins
July 30 Kansas’ Biggest Rodeo, Phillipsburg, Kan., begins
July 30 That Famous Preston (Idaho) Night Rodeo begins
July 30 Deep South PRCA Rodeo, Winnsboro, La., begins
July 30 Strathmore (Alberta) Stampede begins
July 31 Energy Town Pro Rodeo, Gillette, Wyo., begins
July 31 Lake County Fair PRCA Rodeo, Grayslake, Ill., begins
July 31 Mountain Valley Stampede, Heber City, Utah, begins
July 31 Thunder Mountain Pro Rodeo, Longview, Wash., begins
July 31 Mesquite (Texas) Championship Rodeo begins
July 31 Coos County Fair & Rodeo, Myrtle Point, Ore., begins
July 31 Steamboat Springs (Colo.) Pro Rodeo Series begins
July 31 Mighty Fraser Rodeo, Abbotsford, British Columbia, begins
Aug. 1 Sheridan Saddle Club Rodeo, Plentywood, Mont., begins
Aug. 1 Cowtown Rodeo, Woodstown Pilesgrove, N.J., begins
Aug. 1 North Peace Stampede, Grimshaw, Alberta, begins
Aug. 1 Upper Peninsula Championship Rodeo, Iron River, Mich., begins
Aug. 2 Larimer County Fair & Rodeo, Loveland, Colo., begins
Rodeo News and Notes
Straight Talk with the Commissioner now available at ProRodeo.com
Commissioner Karl Stressman will be doing regular video reports on Prorodeo.com, called Straight Talk with the Commissioner, as part of his ongoing effort to improve communication with members and fans.
The video is accessible on the PRCA’s home page, and each report will be saved and remain readily available on RodeoUp.Com – the official video site of ProRodeo. The reports are being produced by PRCA Properties.
The first report, which went online today, features video of the new Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Exhibit in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame, the July 11 induction ceremony, the new Mobile Merchandise initiative, the ProRodeo FanZone and much more.
Straight Talk with the Commissioner is soliciting questions from members, media and fans through a new e-mail address dedicated to this project:
TalktoKarl@prorodeo.com
Chapman, Walls recovering from shoulder surgeries
Texas tie-down ropers Jeff Chapman of Athens and Trent Walls of Stephenville are both rehabilitating their shoulders after undergoing surgeries on July 15. Dr. Tandy Freeman of Dallas performed surgery on the cowboys to repair torn labrums and other structural damage. Chapman, a five-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier, is expected to miss the rest of the season as he rehabilitates his right shoulder. The surgery also repaired a torn biceps muscle in Chapman’s right arm.
Walls, a two-time Wrangler NFR tie-down roper (1998, 2002), had a torn labrum and joint damage in his left shoulder and opted for surgery after trying to rope with the pain for months. He expects to miss three to four months and said he could possibly return for some October rodeos.
Friends step forward to help injured bull rider Littlejohn
Four-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier Chris Littlejohn is undergoing treatment at the Missouri Rehabilitation Center in Mt. Vernon, Mo., to recover from a severely bruised spine suffered during a bull-riding event June 20 in Odessa, Mo.
Doctors performed surgery to fuse three vertebrae in Littlejohn’s neck. Though the injury produced some paralysis, the 36-year-old Tulsa, Okla., cowboy is reporting some progress through the rehab process and has some feeling in his lower extremities.
Friends have banded together to create a fund that will be used for the tremendous costs of his recovery – one Littlejohn hopes enables him to return to the sport he loves. While a permanent site is being established, a temporary address to send contributions is the Chris Littlejohn Medical Fund, P.O. Box 663, Maryville, MO 64468.
MRI shows Fulton has no tumor regrowth
A July 22 MRI revealed that PRCA all-around hand Brian Fulton of Valentine, Neb., has had no tumor re-growth and is ahead of schedule in his recovery from a second surgery to remove cancerous growths from his brain.
Fulton, 46, was paralyzed on his left side from head to toe after the second surgery on Jan. 22, but his family is reporting that he now has about 65 percent use of his left side. Fulton is going to therapy two or three times a week, and doctors are projecting another six months before his brain fully heals.
Fulton is a 12-time Badlands Circuit all-around champion (1984, 1986-90, 1993-95, 1997-99) who qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo as a tie-down roper in 1991 and as a steer wrestler in 1996, when he finished second in the world standings.
Rodeo Austin presents $352,000 in college scholarships
The Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo in Austin has awarded $352,000 in college scholarships to 44 Texas students this year through the University of Texas, Texas State University, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University and Austin Community College. Scholarships are open to students of all majors and are awarded based on academic achievement, financial need and community involvement.
Since the scholarship program began in 1983, Rodeo Austin has awarded more than $4.2 million in scholarships to more than 2,000 Texas students.
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