Some Races Clearer, Some Muddier With One Round Remaining

Round nine of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is often pivotal in determining the champions that will be crowned twenty four hours later.

And tonight was no exception as several races became even more interesting.
In the bareback riding, four-time World Champion Kaycee Field rebounded from an off night in round 8 to take command once again. He won the round with an 82 score on the Cervi horse Control Freak and that keeps him in first place in the world standings with a $35,000 advantage over second place man Steven Peebles who finished out of the money but continues to lead the average (aggregate). Field is third in the average and if that holds after the final round the differential would be $24,000 which means Peebles has to earn at least $11,000 more than Feild in the final round to catch the Utah man.
Manitoba cowboy Orin Larsen was one half point out of the money with an 80 score and Cadogan’s Clint Laye posted a 77 score. Caleb Bennett of Tremonton, Utah managed a 79 but failed to place on Wayne Vold’s True Grit, Bareback Horse of the Year in Canada in 2013.

In the steer wrestling, two time Canadian champion, Tanner Milan of Cochrane cashed his fourth cheque of the week, this one for $2200 as he split sixth in the round with a 4.3 bringing his season earnings to over $116,000. More importantly, Milan maintained his hold on third in the average which if it holds through one more night would add $43,000 plus to Milan’s total.

Meanwhile at the top end, five men are still in the running for the title in one of the tightest races of all. Clayton Hass, KC Jones, Ty Erickson, 2013 champion, Hunter Cure and average leader Dakota Eldridge. Cure and Erickson sit 4th and 5th respectively in the average while neither Hass nor Jones are factors in the average.

In the team roping it was Trevor Brazile and Patrick Smith winning the round with a 4.0 on a night that saw Brazile go over the six million dollar mark in career earnings. What makes that mark so impressive is the fact that that the next highest earners are back at 3.5 million.
Derrick Begay and the veteran Clay O’Brien Cooper continue to lead the world standings but they sit 9th in the average in an event that won’t likely be decided until the last heel loop is thrown.

The first time tonight’s pen of bulls was seen, only one man , Clayton Foltyn, was the only man to ride meaning that he claimed $84,000 as his payday. Tonight Foltyn was once again top gun with an 88 on a bull called Brown Sugar from Dakota Rodeo. But this time the El Campo, Texas cowboy was joined by Wesley Silcox with an 83 and Shane Proctor with an 82. But the big story was at the top end as reigning champion Sage Kimsey was 84 to win second in the round and stay second in the average. And when Cody Teel bucked off, it wrapped up the title for Kimsey.

Big Stone Rodeo’s Sheep Creek continued to be impressive as he fired Brennon Eldred of Sulphur, Oklahoma before the eight seconds had elapsed.
In the Barrel Racing, Jana Bean collected her first go round win of the 2015 WNFR. The Fort Hancock, Texas cowgirl turned in a 13.71 to take home the $26,230 first place cheque. A third place finish for Lisa Lockhart moved her back into the lead in the world standings. But Callie duPerier leads the average and sits in the driver’s seat though both Lockhart and the Georgia cowgirl Sarah Rose McDonald both have a mathematical chance to capture the title.

And Trevor Brazile also moved into position to add to his gold buckle collection as he moved to the lead in the tie down roping with a 4/5 split in round 9 (7.4 seconds). The 23 time champion also sits second in the average and is poised to be a triple-crown winner in 2015, having already won the steer roping and All Around titles.

The bronc riding race became a little clearer on this night as Jacobs Crawley maintained his lead in the average despite finishing out of the money in the round. Crawley sits third in the world behind Rusty Wright and Cody Demoss but neither is a factor in the average giving Crawley the advantage heading to round ten.

Manitoba bronc rider, Tyrel Larsen scooped up an $11,000 cheque with his 4th place finish (79.5 points on Harry Vold Rodeo's Pilot Point) while Rusty Wright collected 5th place money of $6769 with his 79 point ride on the Calgary Stampede’s Shoshone Mountain.

Bareback riding: 1. Kaycee Feild, Spanish Fork, Utah, 82.0 points on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s RodeoHouston’s Control Freak, $26,231; 2. Seth Hardwick, Laramie, Wyo., 81.5, $20,731; 3. (tie) Austin Foss, Terrebonne, Ore., and Jake Brown, Hillsboro, Texas, 81.0, $13,327 each; 5. (tie) Bobby Mote, Stephenville, Texas, and Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas, 80.5, $5,500 each; 7. Orin Larsen, Inglis, Manitoba, 80.0; 8. Caleb Bennett, Tremonton, Utah, 79.0; 9. (tie) Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, Minn., and Steven Peebles, Redmond, Ore., 78.5; 11. Clint Laye, Cadogan, Alberta, 77.5; 12. Clint Cannon, Waller, Texas, 75.0; 13. Tim O’Connell, Zwingle, Iowa, 70.0; no other qualified rides. Average standings: 1. Steven Peebles, 749.0 points on nine head; 2. Seth Hardwick, 724.0; 3. Kaycee Feild, 715.5; 4. Tim O’Connell, 702.0; 5. Will Lowe, 698.5; 6. Tanner Aus, 683.5. World standings: 1. Kaycee Feild, $260,463; 2. Steven Peebles, $225,999; 3. Seth Hardwick, $172,293; 4. Tim O’Connell, $165,315; 5. Austin Foss, $160,145; 6. Jake Brown, $147,551; 7. Evan Jayne, $146,808; 8. Bobby Mote, $139,947; 9. Clint Laye, $133,461; 10. Tanner Aus, $132,045; 11. Will Lowe, $130,953; 12. Orin Larsen, $112,041; 13. Clint Cannon, $107,686; 14. Winn Ratliff, $103,524; 15. Caleb Bennett, $91,302.

Steer wrestling: 1. Casey Martin, Sulphur, La., 3.5 seconds, $26,231; 2. Trevor Knowles, Mount Vernon, Ore., 3.6, $20,731; 3. Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., 3.8, $15,654; 4. (tie) Hunter Cure, Holliday, Texas, and Baylor Roche, Tremonton, Utah, 4.2, $8,885 each; 6. (tie) Ty Erickson, Helena, Mont., and Tanner Milan, Cochrane, Alberta, 4.3, $2,115 each; 8. K.C. Jones, Decatur, Texas, 4.4; 9. Tyler Waguespack, Gonzales, La., 4.5; 10. Nick Guy, Sparta, Wis., 4.7; 11. Dakota Eldridge, Elko, Nev., 5.0; 12. Seth Brockman, Wheatland, Wyo., 5.1; 13. Kyle Irwin, Robertsdale, Ala., 5.4; 14. Clayton Hass, Terrell, Texas, 8.3; 15. Blake Knowles, Heppner, Ore., 13.7. Average standings: 1. Dakota Eldridge, 41.3 seconds on nine head; 2. Seth Brockman, 42.5; 3. Tanner Milan, 47.6; 4. Hunter Cure, 48.2; 5. Ty Erickson, 50.5; 6. Tyler Waguespack, 58.6. World standings: 1. Clayton Hass, $184,296; 2. K.C. Jones, $174,062; 3. Hunter Cure, $168,745; 4. Ty Erickson, $166,203; 5. Luke Branquinho, $151,557; 6. Dakota Eldridge, $144,399; 7. Trevor Knowles, $133,166; 8. Casey Martin, $131,425; 9. Seth Brockman, $126,828; 10. Kyle Irwin, $120,574; 11. Tyler Waguespack, $119,091; 12. Tanner Milan, $116,307; 13. Baylor Roche, $110,325; 14. Nick Guy, $109,929; 15. Blake Knowles, $92,304.

Team roping: 1. Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas/Patrick Smith, Lipan, Texas, 4.0 seconds, $26,231 each; 2. Colby Lovell, Madisonville, Texas/Kory Koontz, Stephenville, Texas, 4.1, $20,731; 3. Derrick Begay, Seba Dalkai, Ariz./Clay O’Brien Cooper, Gardnerville, Nev., 4.2, $15,654; 4. Riley Minor, Ellensburg, Wash./Brady Minor, Ellensburg, Wash., 4.3, $11,000; 5. JoJo LeMond, Andrews, Texas/Junior Nogueira, Scottsdale, Ariz., 4.7, $6,769; 6. Luke Brown, Stephenville, Texas/Kollin VonAhn, Blanchard, Okla., 4.8, $4,231; 7. Jake Cooper, Monument, N.M./Russell Cardoza, Terrebonne, Ore., 5.0; 8. Chad Masters, Cedar Hill, Tenn./Travis Graves, Jay, Okla., 8.7; 9. Aaron Tsinigine, Tuba City, Ariz./Ryan Motes, Weatherford, Texas, 15.0; 10. Erich Rogers, Round Rock, Ariz./Cory Petska, Marana, Ariz., 19.4; 11. Nick Sartain, Dover, Okla./Rich Skelton, Llano, Texas, 19.8; 12. Coleman Proctor, Pryor, Okla./Jake Long, Coffeyville, Kan., 44.0; no other qualified times. Average standings: 1. JoJo LeMond/Junior Nogueira, 50.2 seconds on nine head; 2. Luke Brown/Kollin VonAhn, 55.7; 3. Coleman Proctor/Jake Long, 92.9; 4. Colby Lovell/Kory Koontz, 45.9 on eight; 5. Erich Rogers/Cory Petska, 52.0; 6. Aaron Tsinigine/Ryan Motes, 61.2. World standings (headers): 1. Derrick Begay, $196,464; 2. Colby Lovell, $176,830; 3. Trevor Brazile, $175,460; 4. Aaron Tsinigine, $169,710; 5. Clay Tryan, $169,266; 6. Luke Brown, $153,487; 7. Chad Masters, $150,889; 8. JoJo LeMond, $145,053; 9. Erich Rogers, $140,708; 10. Nick Sartain, $130,617; 11. Coleman Proctor, $124,764; 12. Clay Smith, $115,498; 13. Jake Cooper, $101,933; 14. Riley Minor, $88,592; 15. Matt Sherwood, $88,436. World standings (heelers): 1. Clay O’Brien Cooper, $197,584; 2. Kory Koontz, $176,468; 3. Patrick Smith, $175,460; 4. Jade Corkill, $169,266; 5. Ryan Motes, $168,579; 6. Kollin VonAhn, $160,101; 7. Junior Nogueira, $155,583; 8. Travis Graves, $143,496; 9. Cory Petska, $136,866; 10. Rich Skelton, $130,617; 11. Jake Long, $122,978; 12. Paul Eaves, $121,699; 13. Travis Woodard, $99,519; 14. Brady Minor, $87,263; 15. Russell Cardoza, $87,080.

Saddle bronc riding: 1. Taos Muncy, Corona, N.M., 83.0 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Let ’er Rip, $26,231; 2. Heith DeMoss, Heflin, La., 82.5, $20,731; 3. CoBurn Bradshaw, Beaver, Utah, 81.5, $15,654; 4. Tyrel Larsen, Inglis, Manitoba, 79.5, $11,000; 5. Rusty Wright, Milford, Utah, 79.0, $6,769; 6. Isaac Diaz, Desdemona, Texas, 78.5, $4,231; 7. (tie) Jacobs Crawley, Boerne, Texas; Jake Wright, Milford, Utah; and Zeke Thurston, Big Valley, Alberta, 76.0; 10. Chuck Schmidt, Keldron, S.D., 75.5; 11. Spencer Wright, Milford, Utah, 73.5; 12. Bradley Harter, Loranger, La., 73.0; no other qualified rides. Average standings: 1. Jacobs Crawley, 729.0 points on nine head; 2. CoBurn Bradshaw, 724.0; 3. Wade Sundell, 649.0 on eight; 4. Isaac Diaz, 646.0; 5. Zeke Thurston, 588.5; 6. Rusty Wright, 569.0 on seven. World standings: 1. Rusty Wright, $221,179; 2. Cody DeMoss, $210,628; 3. Jacobs Crawley, $208,977; 4. Wade Sundell, $203,680; 5. Isaac Diaz, $183,797; 6. CoBurn Bradshaw, $175,146; 7. Taos Muncy, $145,884; 8. Jake Wright, $136,462; 9. Cort Scheer, $135,122; 10. Heith DeMoss, $132,085; 11. Chuck Schmidt, $105,910; 12. Zeke Thurston, $103,009; 13. Tyrel Larsen, $97,826; 14. Spencer Wright, $84,338; 15. Bradley Harter, $81,310.

Tie-down roping: 1. Hunter Herrin, Apache, Okla., 6.6 seconds, $26,231; 2. Matt Shiozawa, Chubbuck, Idaho, 7.0, $20,731; 3. Caleb Smidt, Bellville, Texas, 7.3, $15,654; 4. (tie) Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, and Monty Lewis, Hereford, Texas, 7.4, $8,885 each; 6. Cory Solomon, Prairie View, Texas, 7.6, $4,231; 7. Tyson Durfey, Savannah, Mo., 7.9; 8. (tie) Timber Moore, Aubrey, Texas, and Sterling Smith, Stephenville, Texas, 8.1; 10. Shane Hanchey, Sulphur, La., 8.2; 11. Marty Yates, Stephenville, Texas, 9.3; 12. Cade Swor, Winnie, Texas, 10.8; 13. Tuf Cooper, Decatur, Texas, 16.6; 14. Marcos Costa, Childress, Texas, 16.9; no other qualified times. Average standings: 1. Caleb Smidt, 72.8 seconds on nine head; 2. Trevor Brazile, 73.5; 3. Monty Lewis, 74.0; 4. Matt Shiozawa, 75.0; 5. Marty Yates, 83.4; 6. Marcos Costa, 84.0. World standings: 1. Trevor Brazile, $196,324; 2. Tuf Cooper, $187,976; 3. Hunter Herrin, $181,024; 4. Matt Shiozawa, $173,681; 5. Caleb Smidt, $172,969; 6. Marty Yates, $169,781; 7. Timber Moore, $149,452; 8. Cory Solomon, $141,136; 9. Monty Lewis, $135,211; 10. Sterling Smith, $134,547; 11. Tyson Durfey, $130,502; 12. Cade Swor, $126,796; 13. Marcos Costa, $125,227; 14. Ryan Jarrett, $113,736; 15. Shane Hanchey, $102,668.

Barrel racing: 1. Jana Bean, Fort Hancock, Texas, 13.71 seconds, $26,231; 2. Michele McLeod, Whitesboro, Texas, 13.85, $20,731; 3. Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D., 13.86, $15,654; 4. Vickie Carter, Richfield, Utah, 13.88, $11,000; 5. Cassidy Kruse, Gillette, Wyo., 13.91, $6,769; 6. Fallon Taylor, Whitesboro, Texas, 13.96, $4,231; 7. Jackie Ganter, Abilene, Texas, 13.97; 8. Sherry Cervi, Marana, Ariz., 14.00; 9. Carley Richardson, Pampa, Texas, 14.21; 10. Callie duPerier, Boerne, Texas, 14.32; 11. Deb Guelly, Okotoks, Alberta, 14.36; 12. Sarah Rose McDonald, Brunswick, Ga., 18.81; 13. Mary Walker, Ennis, Texas, 19.13; 14. Nancy Hunter, Neola, Utah, 19.45; 15. Taylor Jacob, Carmine, Texas, 25.45. Average standings: 1. Callie duPerier, 126.29 seconds on nine runs; 2. Jackie Ganter, 127.22; 3. Cassidy Kruse, 130.76; 4. Michele McLeod, 131.12; 5. Sherry Cervi, 132.49; 6. Lisa Lockhart, 134.66. World standings: 1. Lisa Lockhart, $262,636; 2. Sarah Rose McDonald, $247,196; 3. Callie duPerier, $236,577; 4. Michele McLeod, $187,013; 5. Fallon Taylor, $180,809; 6. Taylor Jacob, $177,874; 7. Cassidy Kruse, $170,038; 8. Nancy Hunter, $147,301; 9. Mary Walker, $135,759; 10. Sherry Cervi, $114,744; 11. Jana Bean, $111,624; 12. Carley Richardson, $101,147; 13. Jackie Ganter, $94,550; 14. Vickie Carter, $83,768; 15. Deb Guelly, $74,000.

Bull riding: 1. Clayton Foltyn, Winnie, Texas, 88.0 points on Dakota Rodeo’s Brown Sugar, $26,231; 2. Sage Kimzey, Strong City, Okla., 84.0, $20,731; 3. Wesley Silcox, Santaquin, Utah, 83.0, $15,654; 4. Shane Proctor, Grand Coulee, Wash., 82.5, $11,000; no other qualified rides. Average standings: 1. Cody Teel, 574.0 points on seven head; 2. Sage Kimzey, 494.0 on six; 3. Clayton Foltyn, 404.5 on five; 4. Shane Proctor, 327.0 on four; 5. Brett Stall, 324.5; 6. Joe Frost, 323.5. World standings: 1. Sage Kimzey, $261,601; 2. Cody Teel, $207,249; 3. Parker Breding, $176,247; 4. Wesley Silcox, $157,663; 5. Clayton Foltyn, $156,669; 6. Joe Frost, $150,504; 7. Brett Stall, $139,820; 8. Shane Proctor, $138,514; 9. Ty Wallace, $122,982; 10. Brennon Eldred, $120,041; 11. Caleb Sanderson, $113,614; 12. Chandler Bownds, $100,557; 13. Reid Barker, $89,501; 14. Kody DeShon, $85,960; 15. Dustin Bowen, $75,250.