GET SOCIAL 
SHOP NOW AT:
WRANGLER.COM

Blake Knowles Captures Sisters Rodeo Victory

by Tracy Renck | Jun 14, 2015

SISTERS, Ore. – Consistency and great horsepower spelled success for veteran steer wrestler Blake Knowles at the Sisters Rodeo (June 12-14).

The Heppner, Ore., cowboy clocked a 9.4-second time on two head to win the average crown at the Sisters Rodeo grounds.

“It always nice to win first at any rodeo you go to,” said Knowles, 32. “Fortunately for me, Sisters was probably the biggest rodeo going on this weekend, so to get a win of that caliber makes it even better.”

Knowles was 20th in the June 8 Windham Weaponry High Performance PRCA World Standings with $15,920. He should inch closer to the top 15 after collecting $4,571 for his performance at Sisters – $2,599 of those winnings came via the average title.

“Trevor (Knowles, Blake’s cousin) and I rode Earl, who was runner-up for (2014) horse of the year,” Blake said of the key to his Sisters outing. “I really thought Earl couldn’t have worked any better. He allowed us to score and get starts that got our feet on the ground just as fast or faster than anybody. It took the pressure off us to try and create things, and instead we could just do what we knew how to do, which is bulldog.”

Trevor Knowles ($3,470 in tie-down roping and steer wrestling) won all-around cowboy honors at Sisters. Earl, who is owned by Trevor Knowles, placed in a tie for second in last year’s AQHA/PRCA steer wrestling Horse of the Year voting, with Say Rey Doc.

Blake set the tone for his himself at Sisters by placing in a tie for second in the first round with Matt Reeves, as both had 4.5-second runs.

Knowles followed that with a 4.9-second effort in the second round to propel himself to the average victory by two-tenths of a second over Luke Branquinho, the five-time and defending world champion steer wrestler.

“I had good steers, which always helps, but you couldn’t ask to ride an easier horse,” the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Knowles said. “It allows you to focus on the fundamentals of bulldogging.”

Blake Knowles is a two-time qualifier for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (2009, 2011), but he is eager to make a third trip. Blake finished 18th in the 2014 world standings.

“Any momentum right now is really big and I need to get it together and get back there (to the WNFR),” Blake said.

In addition to Blake and Trevor Knowles, two-time world champion saddle bronc rider Taos Muncy added another line to his impressive resume with an 88-point ride on Flying 5 Rodeo’s Spring Planting, the two-time saddle bronc horse of the year (2009, tie in 2013).

Other winners at the $145,930 rodeo were bareback riders David Peebles (83 points on Big Bend Rodeo’s Faded Dice), and Tyler Nelson (83 points on Big Bend Rodeo’s Holly Time), team ropers Garrett Rogers and Jake Minor (12.0 seconds on two head), tie-down roper Dane Kissack (18.3 seconds on two head), barrel racer Kali Parker (17.64 seconds) and bull rider Patrick Geipel (86 points on Corey & Lange Rodeo’s Fat Head).

Courtesy of PRCA

Related Content