COMPETITION HEATS UP AT LAST WRANGLER TOUR STOP BEFORE FINALS
August 16, 2010

It was a fight to the finish in the roughstock events at the 88th annual Dawson Creek Exhibition & Stampede, as rodeo contestants tried to secure enough points to qualify for the upcoming Wrangler Canadian Professional Rodeo Tour Finals. The three-day rodeo in Dawson Creek, B.C. is the final stop of 10 on the Wrangler Tour circuit, and the last chance to earn the points needed to make the cut for the Tour Finals, scheduled for September 1 to 5 in Armstrong, B.C.

Justin Berg (Marwayne, Alta.) and Shaun Stroh (Dickinson, ND) split first place in the saddle bronc riding with 87-point rides, worth $2,526 a piece, while Dusty LaValley (Bezanson, Alta.) and Michael Solberg (Sunnynook, Alta.) shared an 84 for first, worth $2,102 each in the bareback riding.

In the bull riding, reigning Canadian champion Brett Thompson (Medicine Hat, Alta.) scored an 87 during the second performance, matching the 87 scored the day before by rookie Ty Pozzobon (Merritt, B.C.). The score held the lead through Sunday’s closing performance, and they each received $2,678 for the first place split.

Another talented rookie, Nanton, Alta.’s Beau Brooks, placed third in the bull riding with an 84.5 point ride on Kesler Championship Rodeo’s Commando, who rode like a dream for the 20-year-old cowboy.

“The bull just went out to the right and back to the left, and then I just kind of stuck him.”

He earned $1,806 for it, and an additional $1,200 in day money sent him down the road just five dollars shy of matching Pozzobon for the biggest bull riding cheque from the northern British Columbia rodeo. It also helped secure Brooks a spot at the Tour Finals, where $18,000 is available to be won in each event.

“It’ll be my first Tour Finals; it’ll be really interesting,” he grinned.

“The first goal I made this year was to make 20 grand, which I did at Dawson Creek, and the next goal was to be making those Finals, and then the Canadian Finals.”

Brooks is currently in second place in the rookie race, and is sixth in the Canadian bull riding standings.

The race was also on at the timed event end of the arena. Tuf Cooper of Decatur, Texas won first place with an 8.8 in the tie-down roping, but was hotly pursued by Chad Johnson (Del Bonita, Alta.) and Clayton Moore (Pouce Coupe, B.C.), who split second with runs of nine-seconds flat. In the steer wrestling, the 10 money winners all scored in 4.9 seconds or less, while event winner Chad Kurtz, from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., tackled his steer in a rapid 3.8.

Barrel racer Joleen Seitz from Savona, B.C. cashed in for first place with a time of 17.95 seconds. The win added 105 points to her Wrangler Tour standings, putting her to just inside the top 15 and securing her a place at the Tour Finals.

Team ropers Murray Linthicum (Glentworth, Sask.) and Dustin Bird (Cut Bank, MT) stopped the clock in 5.3 seconds for the fastest time in their event. The added 105 Tour points moved Linthicum into first place and Bird into second place going into the Finals.