Saddle Maker Brad Rudolf Takes Bronc Riding Lead

CHEYENNE, Wyo., (July 21, 2015) – The old adage of “if you want something done right, do it yourself,” applies pretty well to saddle bronc rider Brad Rudolf of Winnemucca, Nev.

Rudolf, who took the overall lead in the saddle bronc riding at the 119th Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo today with an 83-point score on Rocky Mountain Rodeo’s Angel Flight, builds custom bronc riding saddles for himself and other cowboys.

He grew up in Winterset, Iowa, and learned to work on saddles in his grandfather’s shop when he was a kid. Rudolf always dreamed of riding bucking horses and started doing so at age 13. He came through the ranks of rodeo from high school to college and now the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. He just tied for the win at the Snake River Stampede at Nampa, Idaho, with Cort Scheer.

In 2007 he started repairing the trees (frames) of bronc saddles and in 2010 he began building his own saddles, a process that takes 30 to 40 hours per saddle. Rudolf has built saddles for many other bronc riders, with more than 100 of his custom saddles now being used in rodeo competition.

Rudolf’s ride today is tied for the lead in the second round of bronc riding competition with Isaac Diaz of Desdemona, Texas, and gave him a two-point lead overall. He has 156 points and is looking good to be back here for the championship finals on Sunday. Diaz is in a tie for second place overall with Joe Lufkin from Sallisaw, Okla.

A couple of Colorado cowboys, Jay Tittel of Pueblo and T.J. Watts of Eads, took the overall lead in team roping with 18.0 seconds on two steers during slack (overflow) competition. But the fastest time of this year’s rodeo so far is a 6.8 by Texans Colby Lovell and 19-time National Finals Rodeo (NFR) roper Kory Koontz which happened at Tuesday’s rodeo. They now lead the second round.

Jared Thompson, originally from Iowa, moved to Oklahoma to attend Western Oklahoma State College and pursue his goal of being a champion steer wrestler. He is the new overall leader in steer wrestling with a total of 22.2 seconds after two rounds. He followed up yesterday’s 11.7 run with a 10.5 today.

Former Cheyenne and world champion barrel racer Mary Walker put herself in position to be back here on Sunday for the championship finals. Walker and her great horse Latte had a 17.67 on Tuesday to give them a total time of 35.40, currently in second place.

Competition on Wednesday will see all of the cowboys in the first round of competition. The barrel racers will be in the second round. Rodeo action gets underway at 12:15 p.m.

The following are current leaders at Cheyenne Frontier Days:

Bareback riding: (first round) 1, Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, Minn., 84 points on Stace Smith Pro Rodeo’s Mike Outhier. 2, George R. Gillespie IV, Hamilton, Mont., 82. 3, (tie) Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D., Richmond Champion, The Woodlands, Texas; Mason Clements, Sandy, Utah; Josi Young, Buhl, Idaho, and Caleb Bennett, Tremonton, Utah, 79. (second round) 1, Kaycee Field, Spanish Fork, Utah, 81 points on Smith, Harper & Morgan Rodeo’s Baby Doe. 2, Richmond Champion, The Woodlands, Texas, 80 points. 3, (tie) Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, Minn., and Jake Vold, Ponoka, Alberta, 79 each. 5, (tie) Jessy Davis, Power, Mont.; Wyatt Denny, Minden, Nev.; Clint Laye, Cadogan, Alberta; Justin Miller, Billings, Mont., and Caleb Bennett, Tremonton, Utah, 78. (total on two) 1, Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, Minn., 163 points. 2, Richmond Champion, The Woodlands, Texas, 159. 3, Caleb Bennett, Tremonton, Utah, 157. 4, Jessy Davis, Power, Mont., 156. 5, (tie) Mason Clements, Sandy, Utah; George R. Gillespie IV, Hamilton, Mont., and Clint Laye, Cadogan, Alberta, 155 each.

Tie-down roping: (first round) 1, Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah, 10.4 seconds. 2, (tie) Justin Macha, Needville, Texas and Chris Demasas, Boyd, Texas, 10.5 each. 4, Riley Pruitt, Gering, Neb., 10.8. 5, Chris Neal, Muldrow, Okla., 10.9. 6, Jake Hannum, Plain City, Utah, 11.0 (second round) 1, Riley Pruitt, Gering, Neb., 10.2. 2, Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo., 10.6. 3, Garrett Hale, Snyder, Texas, 10.9. 4, Marcos Costa, Childress, Texas, 11.5. 5, Don Coffell, Iredell, Texas, 11.6. 6, Bradley Bynum, Sterling City, Texas, 11.8. (total on two) 1, Riley Pruitt, Gering, Neb., 21.0. 2, Justin Macha, Needville, Texas, 22.6. 3, Ryan Jarrett, Commanche, Okla., 23.3. 4, (tie) Marcos Costa, Childress, Texas, and Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah, 23.6 each. 6, Robert Mathis, Mart, Texas, 23.9.

Saddle bronc riding: (first round) 1, Justin Caylor, Sulphur Springs, Texas, 79 points on Summit Pro Rodeo’s Ridiculousness. 2, Allen Boore, Axtell, Utah, 78. 3, Audy Reed, Spearman, Texas, 77. 4, (tie) Andy Clarys, Riverton, Wyo, and Chanse Darling, Hyattville, Wyo., 76 each. 6, Joe Lufkin, Sallisaw, Okla., 75. (second round) 1, (tie) Isaac Diaz, Desdemona, Texas, on Andrews Rodeo’s Tiger Touch and Brad Rudolf, Winnemucca, Nev., on Rocky Mountain Rodeo’s Angel Flight, 83 points each. 3, Tyrel Larsen, Inglis, Manitoba, 81. 4. Joe Lufkin, Sallisaw, Okla., 79. 5, Samuel Kelts, Millarville, Alberta, 78. 6, (tie) Rusty Wright, Milford, Utah; Cody Taton, Corona, N.M., and Tyrell Smith, Great Falls, Mont., 77 each. (total on two) 1, Brad Rudolf, Winnemucca, Nev., 156 points. 2, (tie) Joe Lufkin, Sallisaw, Okla., and Isaac Diaz, Desdemona, Texas, 154. 4, Allen Boore, Axtell, Utah, 152. 5, Audy Reed, Spearman, Texas, 151. 6, Samuel Kelts, Millarville, Alberta, 150.

Steer wrestling: (first round) 1, J.D. Struxness, Appleton, Wisc., 7.0 seconds. 2, Stockton Graves, Alva, Okla., 9.7. 3, Jake Rinehart, Highmore, S.D., 9.8. 4. Tommy Cook, McAlester, Okla., 10.4. 5, (tie) Jon Ragatz, Beetown, Wis., and Billy Bolden, Oglala, S.D., 10.6. (second round) 1, Kyle Whitaker, Chambers, Neb., 8.0 seconds. 2, Jacob D. Edler, State Center, Iowa, 9.5. 3, Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo, 9.6. 4, Sean Mulligan, Coleman, Okla., 10.0. 5, Chris Berry, Valley View, Texas, 10.6. 6, Chris Berry, Valley View, Texas, 10.6. (total on two) 1, Jared Thompson, Alva, Okla., 22.2. 2, Baylor Roche, Tremonton, Utah, 23.4. 3, Sean Mulligan, Coleman, Okla., 23.5. 4, Jacob D. Edler, State Center, Iowa, 23.5. 6, Mitchell Gardner, Dover, Okla., 25.3.

Rookie saddle bronc riding: (first round) 1, Tayte Augustus Clark, Meadow, S.D., 69 points. 2, Jake Finlay, Goodwell, Okla., 66. 3, Josh Davison, Miles City, Mont., 65. 4, Jace Lane, Morse, Texas, 48. 4, Garrett Buckley, Craig, Colo., 47 points. (second round) 1,Christian Stremler, Winnemucca, Nev., 67. 2, Mitch Pollock, Winnemucca, Nev., 65 3, (tie) Hawkins Shane Boyce, Malad, Idaho, and Nick Shenold, Glencoe, Okla., 64 points each. (total on two) ) 1, Tayte Augustus Clark, Meadow, S.D., 131. 2, Jace Lane, Morse, Texas, 106. 3, Christian Stremler, Wimmemucca, Nev., 67 (on one). 4, Jake Finlay, Goodwell, Okla., 66 (on one)

Team roping: (first round) 1, J.B. Lord and Levi Lord, Sturgis, S.D., 8.3 seconds. 2, Paul David Tierney, Oral, S.D., and Levi Tyan, Wallace, Neb., 8.8. 3, Travis Bounds, Grand Junction, Colo., and Joe Roderick, Loma, Colo., 9.2. 4, David Key and Martin Lucero, Stephenville, Texas, 9.3. 5, Shawn Bird, Cut Bank, Mont., and Justin Viles, Cody, Wyo., 9.4. 6, Jay Tittel, Pueblo, Colo., and T.J. Watts, Eads, Colo., 9.5. (second round) 1, Colby Lovell, Madisonville, Texas, and Kory Koontz, Stephenville, Texas, 6.8 seconds. 2, Tyrell Moody, Edgemont, S.D., and Rory Brown, Edgemont, S.D., 7.3. 3, Rhett Anderson, Anabella, Utah, and Cole Wilson, Lake Shore, Utah, 7.6 seconds. 4, Chris Francis, Las Vegas, N.M., and Cade Passig, Las Vegas, N.M., 8.0. 5, Paul Beckett, Laramie, Wyo., and Cole Cooper, Loma, Colo., 8.1. 6, Delon Parker, Worden, Mont., and Ryan Zurcher, Torrington, Wyo., 8.3. (total on two) 1, Jay Tittel, Pueblo, Colo., and T.J. Watts, Eads, Colo., 18.0 seconds. 2, Chris Francis, Las Vegas, N.M., and Cade Passign, Las Vegas, N.M., 18.3. 3, Luke Brown, Stephenville, Texas, and Kollin Von Ahn, Blanchard, Okla., 18.6. 4, Travis Warren, Mullin, Neb., and Ty Reynolds, Tribune, Kan., 19.6. 5, Monty Wood, Quanah, Texas, and Boogie Ray, Mabank, Texas. 6, Logan Olson, Flandreau, S.D., and Jordan Olson, Surprise, Ariz., 20.6.

Barrel Racing: (second round leaders) 1, Brittany Pozzi, Victoria, Texas, 17.45 seconds. 2, Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D., 17.48. 3, (tie) Megan Swint, Lithia, Fla., 17.52 and Jana Bean, Fort Hancock, Texas, 17.52 each. 5, Rachel Dice, Livermore, Calif., 17.65. 6, Mary Walker, Ennis, Texas, 17.67. (total on two leaders) 1, Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D., 34.96 seconds. 2, Mary Walker, Ennis, Texas, 36.40. 3, Brittany Pozzi, Victoria, Texas, 35.49. 4, Jana Bean, Fort Hancock, Texas, 35.54. 5, Rachel Dice, Livermore, Calif., 35.60. 6, Megan Swint, Lithia, Fla., 35.62.

Bull riding: (first round) 1, Aaron Pass, Dallas, Texas, 83 points on Smith, Harper & Morgan Rodeo’s Jukebox Hero. 2, Jeff Bertus, Avon, S.D., 82. 3, Wesley Silcox, Santaquin, Utah, 81. 4, (tie) Ty Wallace, Collbran, Colo., and Rocky McDonald, Colonia Juarez, Mexico, 79. 6, Tate Stratton, Kellyville, Okla., 77. (second round) 1, Aaron Pass, Dallas, Texas, 83 points on Smith, Harper & Morgan Rodeo’s Tom Thumb. 2, Bobby Welsh, Gillette, Wyo., 80. 3, Newt Brasfield, Lane, Okla., 78. 4, Kody Pierce, Keenesburg, Colo., 77. 5, Corey Atwell, Moravian Falls, N.C., 74. 6, John Young, Orient, Iowa, 73. (total on two leaders) 1, Aaron Pass, Dallas, Texas, 166 points. 2, (tie) Newt Brasfield, Lane, Okla., and Kody Pierce, Keenesburg, Colo., 152. 4, Ty Wallace, Collbran, Colo., 146. 5, Caleb Sanderson, Hallettsville, Texas, 139. 6, Jeff Bertus, Avon, S.D., 82 (on one).

Wild horse race: 1, Tanner Buntin, $591. 2, Team Nozie, $443. 3, ABC Seemless, $295. 4, Daniel Gilbert, $147.78.