News & Notes from the Rodeo Trail, May 9
Bull rider Cody Rostockyj, who made his debut at the 2016 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Polaris RANGER, finishing seventh in the WEATHER GUARD® PRCA World Standings, is sidelined for six weeks while recovering from a broken right (riding) wrist. Rostockyj suffered the injury April 25 when he was bucked off Dakota Rodeo’s Red Bone at the Xtreme Bulls Division 2 event in Wharton, Texas. Rostockyj had surgery on May 3. “I wish I had a cool story about getting stepped on or hurt somehow; but I got on the bull and he walked out, and when he did, I got up over him a little bit and he hop-skipped and jerked my wrist really hard. I had a fracture in my wrist and they put a screw in it during surgery to make sure it heals. I just need to get healthy and get back rolling again and get done as much as I can.”
Soren Anton “Tony” Wiese, a three-time qualifier for the National Finals Rodeo in steer wrestling (1979, 1983-84), passed away March 10 in Tulsa, Okla. He was 71. Wiese finished 12th in the world standings in ’79 and ’83 and was 15th in ’84. He finished a career-best ninth in the average at the ’83 NFR. That season, he also won a career-best $40,393. Anyone who would like to share a story or memory about Tony, or receive a card memorializing him, please send your contact information to his daughter Melissa Sizemore, P.O. Box 45, Ripley, OK 74062.
“Longmire” actors Robert Taylor (Walt Longmire) and Adam Bartley (Deputy Ferg) will be the grand marshals at the Cody (Wyo.) Stampede Parade on July 4. The Cody Stampede kicks off on June 30 with the Xtreme Bulls event, followed by the four-day long stampede rodeo. The author of the “Longmire” novels that the Netflix series is based on will also be a special guest at this year’s Cody Stampede. Craig Johnson is a resident of Ucross, Wyo., near where the “Longmire” series takes place in fictitious Absaroka County.
Children at the Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, got a rodeo experience of their own during Rodeo Corpus Christi as Miss Rodeo America Lisa Lageschaar, barrelman/rodeo clown Gizmo McCracken, bullfighters Blue Jeanes and Weston Rutkowski, and rodeo commissioner Bill Lathrop Jr. took time out of their busy schedules to help put smiles on the kids’ faces. The rodeo group paid a visit to the hospital on the morning of April 28 to sign autographs, cheer up the children and inspire them.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“We tried to brighten up their day. It was a lot of fun. Sometimes I wonder if it doesn’t encourage us more than it does the kids.”
– Barrelman/rodeo clown Gizmo McCracken said about the visit he made with a rodeo group to Driscoll Children’s Hospital on April 28.
Courtesy of PRCA