Wright Big Winner at 120th Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo
by Susan Kanode
for the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo
FORT WORTH, Texas – It’s not unusual to see a Wright brother at the top of the saddle bronc leaderboard, especially at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.
Cody Wright a two-time world champion has won this rodeo three times and holds the arena record of 91 points. This year it was younger brother Jake Wright that excelled in the Will Rogers Coliseum.
The saddle bronc riding saw the Milford, Utah, resident place in every round and earn over $16,000. In fact, he was the high money winner at this year’s rodeo by over $1,000. Wright had a total score of 251 points on three rides. He won first in the first round, tied for second in the second, and was second in the finals in route to the title.
Texas is known for producing great tie-down ropers, but at the championship round of the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, a Californian showed the Texans how it was done.
Ryle Smith, an all-around talent from Oakdale, claimed the tie-down title here after roping and tying three calves in 25.6 seconds. He earned $15,372 nearly half as much as he won all of last year in the tie-down roping. Smith, who also competes in steer wrestling, does have a pretty strong Texas connection. He got a bachelor’s degree from Stephenville’s Tarleton State University and represented them at the College National Finals Rodeo.
He has consistently been in the top 50 in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association World standings, but has never broken through to the top 15 who compete at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Starting off his season with a win here could change all of that.
Matt Reeves, from Cross Plains, Texas grew up coming here and actually showed livestock at the stock show before he started competing at the rodeo. Reeves earned his first steer wrestling championship in the Will Rogers Coliseum on Saturday night and checks for over $15,000.
Team ropers Clay Smith and Paul Eaves have been dominating their event. With Smith, from Broken Bow, Okla., heading and Eaves from Lonedell, Mo., heeling, they won the championship at the National Western Stock Show Rodeo in Denver just over two weeks ago. Now they have added a Fort Worth title to their resume. They roped three steers in 14.9 seconds to win $12,493 each.
Prior to the Fort Worth Rodeo, they were third in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association World Standings with $9,916 in earnings. They more than doubled that with their win here and are likely to move into the top spot when updates are released on Monday.
Other winners here include, bareback riding, Tim O’Connell, Zwingle, Iowa; barrel racing, Ivy Conrado, Hudson, Colo.; and bull riding, Riker Carter, Stone, Idaho.
Bareback Riding – Tim O’Connell, Zwingle, Iowa, 333 points, $12,070
Steer Wrestling – Matt Reeves, Cross Plains, Texas, 13.0 seconds, $15,207
Team Roping – Clay Smith, Broken Bow, Okla./Paul Eaves, Lonedell, Mo., 14.9 seconds, $12,493 each
Saddle Bronc Riding – Jake Wright, Milford, Utah, 251 points, $16,375
Tie-Down Roping – Ryle Smith, Oakdale, Calif., 25.6 seconds, $15,372
Barrel Racing – Ivy Conrado, Hudson, Colo., 50.04 seconds, $14,510
Bull Riding – Riker Carter, Stone, Idaho, 243.5 points, $9,882
The following are unofficial final results from the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.
Bareback Riding: Final Round – 1, Caleb Bennett, Tremonton, Utah, 87 points on Rafter G Rodeo’s Assault, $1,650. 2, Evan Jayne, Marseilles, France, 85.5, $1,250. 3, Clint Laye, Pocatello, Idaho, 84, $900. 4, Winn Ratliff, Leesville, La., 82, $600. 5, Mason Clements, Sandy, Utah, 81.5, $350. 6, Orin Larsen, Inglis, Manitoba, 81, $250. (total on four) 1, Tim O’Connell, Zwingle, Iowa, 333 points, $6,010. 2, Caleb Bennett, 332, $4,607. 3, Orin Larsen, 327, $3,406. 4, Winn Ratliff, 324.5, $2,204. 5, (tie) Evan Jayne and Mason Clements, 323, $1,202 each. 7, Clint Laye, 316,$801. 8, Caine Riddle, Vernon, Texas, $601.
Steer Wrestling: Final Round — 1, Matt Reeves, Cross Plains, Texas, 4.1 seconds, $2,036. 2, Jason Thomas, Benton, Ark., 4.2, $1,770. 3, Cody Cassidy, Donalda, Alberta, 4.8, $1,505. 4, (tie) Timmy Sparing, Helena, Mont., and Jake Rinehart, Highmore, S.D., 4.9, $1,106 each. 6, Ty Erickson, Helena, Mont., 5.0, $708. 7, Wade Sumpter, Fowler, Colo., 5.5, $443. 8, Brother Loud, Kaufman, Texas, 6.0, $177. (total on three) 1, Matt Reeves, 13.0, $8,574. 2, Jason Thomas, 14.4, $7,456. 3, Jake Rinehart, 14.7, $6,337. 4, Ty Erickson, 15.4, $5,219. 5, Brother Loud, 15.6, $4,101. 6, Timmy Sparing, 15.8, $2,982. 7, Joe Buffington, Wheatland, Wyo., 16.4, $1,864. 8, Wade Sumpter, Fowler, Colo., $745.
Team Roping: Final Round – 1, Zac Small, Welch, Okla., and Wesley Thorp, Stephenville, Texas, 4.2 seconds, $1,479 each. 2, Blaine Vick, Dublin, Texas, and Dakota Kirchenschlager, Morgan Mill, Texas, 5.1, $1,224 each. 3, Rowdy Rieken, Arp, Texas, and Justin Price, La Veta, Colo., 5.2, $969 each. 4, Matt Sherwood, Pima, Ariz., and Quinn Kesler, Holden, Utah, 5.3, $714 each. 5, Clay Smith, Broken Bow, Okla., and Paul Eaves, Lonedell, Mo., 5.5, $459 each. 6, Casey Gattis, Junction,Texas, and Kirt, Joes, Hobbs, N.M., $255 each, (total on three) 1, Clay Smith and Paul Eaves, 14.9 seconds, $7,220 each. 2, Zac Small and Wesley Thorp, 15.1, $6,278 each. 3, Blaine Vick and Dakota Kirchenschlager, 15.2, $5,357 each. 4, Matt Sherwood and Quinn Kesler, 15.8, $4,395 each. 5, Rowdy Rieken and Justin Price, 16.2, $3,453 each. 6, Casey Gattis and Kirt Jomes, 16.4, $2,511 each. 7, Ty Blasingame, Ramah, Colo., and Josh Fillmore, Penrose, Colo., 16.9, $1,570 each. 8, Dylan Gordon, Comanche, Okla., and Austin Rogers, Crescent, Okla., 20.2, $628.
Saddle Bronc Riding: Final Performance – 1, Dalton Davis, Holcomb, Kan., 86 points on Rafter G Rodeo’s Charlie’s Angel, $1,650. 2, Jake Wright, Milford, Utah, 84.5, $1,250. 3, Tyrel Larsen, Inglis, Manitoba, 83.5, $900, 4, (tie) Troy Crowser, Whitewood, S.D., and Joey Sonnier III, New Iberia, La., 79.5, $475 each. 6, CoBurn Bradshaw, Beaver, Utah, 79, $250. (total on three) 1, Jake Wright, 251, $7,165. 2, Dalton Davis, 248, $5,493. 3, Tyrel Larsen, 243, $4,060. 4, Joey Sonnier III, 241.5, $2,627. 5, Troy Crowser, 239, $1,672. 6, CoBurn Bradshaw, 237.5, $1,194. 7, Brady Nicholes, Hoytsville, Utah, 235, $955. 8, Sterling Crawley, Stephenville, Texas, 233, $716.
Tie-Down Roping: Final Round – 1, Ryle Smith, Oakdale, Calif., 7.5 seconds, $1,829. 2, Cody McCartney, Ottawa Lake, Mich., 8.5, $1,590. 3, Ryan Watkins, Morgan Mill, Texas, 8.6, $1,351. 4, Bryson Sechrist, Apache, Okla., 9.7, $1,113. 5, Justin Macha, Needville, Texas, 9.9, $875. 6, Herrad Hofstetter, Shallow Water, Texas, 11.5, $636. 7, Reese Riemer, Stinnett, Texas, 12.1, $398. 8, Bradley Bynum, Big Lake, Texas, 12.7, $159. (total on three) 1, Ryle Smith, 25.6, $8,816. 2, Cody McCartney, 27.0, $7,666. 3, Ryan Watkins, 27.1, $6,516. 4, Justin Macha, 27.7, $5,366. 5, Bryson Sechrist, 28.4, $4,216. 6, Jerrad Hofstetter, Shallow Water, Texas, 29.7, $3,066. 7, Reese Riemer, 30.2, $1,916. 8, Bradley Bynum, 31.1, $767.
Barrel Racing: Final Round – 1, Kellie Collier, Hereford, Texas, 16.64 seconds, $3,811. 2, (tie) Kelly Tovar, Rockdale, Texas, and Ivy Conrado, Hudson, Colo., 16.65, $2,382 each. 4, Andrea Busby, Brock, Texas, 16.76, $953. (total on three) 1, Ivy Conrado, 50.04, $7,718. 2, Kelly Tovar, 50.23, $6.615. 3, Kellie Collier, 50.29, $5,513. 4, Andrea Busby, 50.32, $4,778. 5, Tiany Schuster, Krum, Texas, 50.44, $3,675. 6, Kimmie Wall, Roosevelt, Utah, 50.53, $2,940. 7, Taylor Jacob, Carmine, Texas, 50.66, $2,205. 8, Shelly Anzick, Shepherd, Mont., 55.16, $1,470. 9, Michele McLeod, Whitesboro, Texas, 55.21, $1,103. 10, Paxton, Segelke, 60.71, $735.
Bull Riding: Final Round — (four rides) 1, Chase Robbins, Marsing, Idaho, 86 points, on Rafter G Rodeo’s Lazy, $1,800. 2, Riker Carter, Stone, Idaho, 84.5, $1,400. 3, Joe Frost, Randlett, Utah, $1,050. 4, Sage Kimzey, Strong City, Okla., 71, $750. (total on three) 1, Riker Carter, 243.5 points, $8,632. 2, Chase Robbins, 240, $6,618. 3, Joe Frost, 232.5, $4,892. 4, Sage Kimsey, 227, $3,165. 5, Ednei Caminhas, Denton, Texas, 168.5 on two, $2,014. 6, Trevor Kastner, Ardmore, Okla., 164 on two, $1,437. 7, Freeman Yoder, Zearing, Idaho, $1,151. 8, Shad Keiner, Morgan, Utah, 161.5, $863.
Courtesy of PRCA