Crawley Brothers Dominating San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The 2017 San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo has been a personal playground – so far – for saddle bronc riding brothers Jacobs Crawley and Sterling Crawley.
In Bracket 1, Jacobs captured the first round (86 points on Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Ole Flame) and second round (81 points on Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Four Aces) wins and finished tied for second in the third round with Layton Green.
Jacobs has already earned $5,988 at the SAR, and is thrilled so far with his results heading into the semifinal round.
“It’s really great to do well at a big rodeo, especially this one, because it’s about as close to being a hometown rodeo as it gets for me,” said Jacobs, who lives in Boerne, Texas, 40 minutes from San Antonio. “We have a lot of friends who go down and watch the rodeo, and it was really neat to do well with so many of my friends there. I have been on both those horses before, and they both were really good.”
Sterling has been just as good as his older brother in San Antonio while competing in Bracket 2. He captured titles in the first round (88 points on Calgary Stampede’s Stampede Warrior) and second round (81 points on Four Star Rodeo’s Boogie). Sterling will compete in the third round tonight.
“This rodeo has been great to me this year,” Sterling said. “Last year, I didn’t do that well here, and it’s great to have things going my way again. Calgary Stampede’s Stampede Warrior is an NFR horse, and I’ve been on him two times before, and he bucked me off. This time, I feel like I’m riding better than I ever have, and I knew what to expect going into it and he had a really good day. It’s great when you can do well at San Antonio because it gives you a head start and takes some strain off your mind.”
Jacobs, the 2015 bareback riding world champion, acknowledged he didn’t put any added pressure on his brother, a three-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier (2012-13, 2016).
“We don’t have to put pressure on one another, we put it on ourselves,” Jacobs said. “Whenever he’s making money, I’m happy about it, and I’m just glad we’re both making money.”
The San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo also has been a great experience for reigning Bareback Riding World Champion Tim O’Connell. The Zwingle, Iowa, cowboy won the first and second rounds in Bracket 1 with an 85-point ride on Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Choctaw Ridge and an 87-point ride on Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Nutrena’s Rage. He also was second in round three. O’Connell has already earned $6,273 in San Antonio, heading into the SAR semifinals. He is trying to enter prestigious company by adding San Antonio to wins at the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show in Fort Worth, Texas, and the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver. O’Connell could joins the ranks of such all-time greats as Joe Alexander, Marvin Garrett and Will Lowe – who have won titles at all three rodeos. Alexander has multiple titles at Denver (1974, 1981, 1983), Fort Worth (1973, 1974, 1976) and San Antonio (1974, 1976).
Courtesy of PRCA