Erickson Chasing Guymon Title
Ty Erickson wrestled his way into the Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo lead. On Friday, he scored a 4.0-second run to hold a 1.4-second lead over the No. 2 cowboy. He has earned $97,000 already this season. (JAMES PHIFER PHOTO)
GUYMON, Okla. – Ty Erickson is coming off the best regular season of his career, where he won $93,000.
He’s bettered that already in 2017, and it’s early May; there are still five months and dozens of lucrative rodeos ahead of him before the campaign closes Sept. 30.
“It’s been weird, honestly,” said Erickson, a three-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Helena, Mont. “I’ve been very fortunate, because I’ve done pretty well at every big rodeo we’ve gone to.”
As of Friday night, he had earned more than $97,000 wrestling steers in ProRodeo. That includes $1,529 he earned in the first round of the Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo. He’ll likely add to it by weekend’s end, thanks in large part to his third-round run on the opening performance of Guymon’s Hall of Fame rodeo.
Erickson wrestled his steer to the ground in 4.0 seconds; that, combined with his previous two runs, gives the Montana cowboy a three-run cumulative time of 13.0 seconds and a huge lead in the race to the average championship. He will now await the remaining three performances to see where he finishes his few days in the Oklahoma Panhandle.
“Any rodeo you can win – whether it’s Guymon, Oklahoma; Helena, Montana; or San Antonio, Texas – each one you can win is pretty special,” he said. “There are so many good bulldoggers in the PRCA that it’s hard to win a rodeo, much less a check at a ProRodeo.”
He got a little help from Outlaw, a horse owned by his traveling partner, Tyler Wageuspack, the reigning world champion steer wrestler.
“We’ve been riding him at a lot of places this summer, and he’s been working great everywhere,” Erickson said. “I rode him every round in Guymon. I think I’ll get a decent check in the average, but we’ll see; there are a lot of good bulldoggers yet to go.”
Still, he set a solid mark with his aggregate score.
“There are so many good guys that still have to go that can be just as fast, so you just have to go at every one of them,” he said.
Ty Erickson
One of those is Wageuspack, who is 9.0 seconds on two runs. After his race to the gold buckle last year, the Louisiana bulldogger sits second behind Erickson. The difference, however, is about $35,000. The tandem also travels with Clayton Hass, who finished the 2016 season as the reserve world champion all-around cowboy.
“Having a good group of guys that you travel with is really important,” Erickson said. “If a guy’s not doing as well that weekend, you’ve got the other two there picking him up. It helps a guy win, too, and it’s been a lot of fun.”
It’s been profitable, too.
Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo
May 2-7
Results through the first performance
Bareback riding leaders: 1. Clayton Biglow, 86.5 points on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Bar Code; 2. Jordan Petlon, 84; 3. Jake Brown, 82.5; 4. (tie) J.C. Hester Jr. and Tim O’Connell, 80; 6. Tilden Hooper, 78.5; 7. Nate McFadden, 78; 8. Devan Reilly, 75
Team roping: Third round leaders: 1. Luke Brown/Jake Long, 6.4 seconds; Tyler Wade/Clint Summers, 7.0; 3. Kellan Johnson/Jhett Johnson, 8.0; 4. Wade Kreutzer/Kyon Kreutzer, 9.3; 5. Manny Equsquiza Jr./Daniel Braman IV, 14.5; no other qualified times. Aggregate leaders: 1. Manny Equsquiza Jr./Daniel Braman IV, 28.9 seconds on three runs; 2. Luke Brown/Jake Long, 13.6 seconds on two runs; 3. Tyler Wade/Clint Summers, 13.8; 4. Trevor Brazile/Patrick Smith, 14.3; 5. Logan Olson/Will Woodfin, 14.4; 6. Matt Sherwood/Walt Woodard, 14.6; 7. (tie) Kellan Johnson/Jhett Johnson and Brit Ellerman/T.J. Watts, 15.0.
Steer wrestling: Third round leaders: 1. Jon Ragatz, 3.8 seconds; 2. (tie) Ty Erickson, Mike Bates Jr. and Jacob Talley, 4.0; 5. Trever Nelson, 4.7; 6. Del Ray Kraupie, 5.0; 7. Will Lummus, 5.1; 8. T.J. Hall, 5.6. Aggregate leaders: 1. Ty Erickson, 13.0 seconds on three runs; 2. Jon Ragatz, 14.4; 3. Will Lummus, 16.0; 4. Jacob Talley, 16.1; 5. Mike Bates Jr., 17.6; 6. T.J. Hall, 19.4; 7. Matt Reeves, 22.2; 8. Trever Nelson, 23.2.
Saddle bronc riding leaders: 1. CoBurn Bradshawm 84.5 points on Pete Carr’s Classic Pro Rodeo’s Big Tex; 2. Jake Wright, 82; 3. Shorty Garrett, 77; 4. Audy Reed, 76.5; 5. Jace Lane, 75.5; 6. Clay Elliott, 74; 7. Alex Wright, 70; 8. Ben Englelman, 68.
Tie-down roping: Third round leaders: 1. Shane Hancheym, 7.7 seconds; 2. Cimarron Boardman, 7.9; 3. Cory Solomon, 8.1; 4. (tie) Tyson Durfey and Sterling Smith, 8.2; 6. Cade Swor, 8.6; 7. Marcos Costa, 89.9; 7. Bart Brunson, 9.2. Aggregate leaders: 1. Shane Hanchey, 23.4 seconds on three runs; 2. Cory Solomon, 24.9; 3. Tyson Durfey, 25.9; 4. Sterling Smith, 25.9; 5. Cimarron Boardman, 26.5; 6. Cade Swor, 29.4; 7. Robert Mathis, 31.5; 8. Bart Brunson, 32.2.
Barrel racing: Second round leaders: 1. Hailey Kinsel, 17.20 seconds; 2. Stevi Hillman, 17.38; 3. Cayla Small, 17.49; 4. Lake Mehalic, 17.53; 5. Ari-Anna Flynn, 17.58; 6. (tie) Falon Jordan and Ali Armstrong, 17.60; 8. Taci Bettis, 17.62; 9. Cerei McCaffery, 17.65; 10. Sarah Kieckhefer, 17.66. Aggregate leaders: 1. Hailey Kinsel 35.02 seconds on two runs; 2. (tie) Lake Mehalic and Tammy Fischer, 35.25; 4. Jaime Barrow, 35.73; 5. Billie Ann Harmon, 35.74; 6. Fallon Jordan, 35.79; 7. Ali Armstrong, 35.99; 8. (tie) Shali Lord and Angela Mikles, 36.01; 10. Sara Bynum, 36.10.
Bull riding leaders: 1. Roscoe Jarbo, 84 points on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Apollo’s Gold; 2. Boudreaux Campbell, 83; 3. John Pitts, 80.5; 4. Joe Frost, 80; no other qualified rides.
Courtesy of twisTEDrodeo.com