DeMoss Wins Consecutive Saddle Bronc Titles at Reno Rodeo
By Susan Kanode
For the Reno Rodeo
RENO, Nev. – A sold-out crowd of over 8,600 got to see the Reno Rodeo Champions crowned on Saturday night.
There was one repeat champion from last year, saddle bronc rider Heith DeMoss. The Heflin, La., cowboy came into Saturday night’s championship finals in second place but had an outstanding 83-point ride to overtake leader Taos Muncy from Corona, N.M. DeMoss had a total score of 247 points and won $8,328. Two-time world champion Muncy finished second with 242.
Hunter Herrin was the big money winner at this year’s rodeo. The Apache, Okla., resident had a narrow lead in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association World Standings of less than $1,500 prior to the rodeo here. Now, his margin will be significantly better thanks to the $13,767 that will be added to it. Herrin placed in both preliminary rounds of competition and had command of the lead coming into the final round.
He never wavered and made a solid 9.2-second run. That gave him a total of 25.3 seconds on three runs. Riley Pruitt, a second generation rodeo cowboy from Gering, Neb., finished second with 26.2 seconds.
Clayton Biglow had the ride of his life to win the bareback riding title. Biglow entered the final round in first place and sealed the deal with an 89.5-point ride on Flying U Rodeo’s Lil Red Hawk. That was the highest-marked ride of the 20-year-old’s career. He ended up winning the title with a total score of 253.5 points.
Biglow, from Clements, Calif., got the spurs for a total of 253.5 points. Ty Breuer, from Mandan, N.D., finished in second with 242. The money they each got was critical for them. Biglow has set goals of winning the rookie-of-the-year title, qualifying for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) and winning a world title. He just finished as reserve champion at the College National Finals Rodeo last week.
He came into the Reno Rodeo leading the rookie standings and 11th in the world standings. The $10,277 he won here will move him well inside the top 10. Breuer was 22nd prior to Reno and needed the win to give him an opportunity to qualify for his second NFR.
Olin Hannum became the third member of his family to earn a pair of spurs this year. He finished first in the steer wrestling with a total time of 12.5 seconds and won $10,916. His younger brother Jake has a set of spurs for winning the all-around title in 2007. His father, the late Jack Hannum won the steer wrestling in 1983. The tradition of the championship spurs goes back to the 1950s and they are some of the most sought after awards in rodeo.
“I’ve wanted to win this rodeo and get these spurs for a long time,” Hannum said. “My brother and dad each have a pair and I’ve always wanted a pair too.”
Other winners here were team ropers, Garrett Tonozzi from Fruita, Colo., and Wyatt Cox from Aroyo Grande, Calif., Stevi Hillman, Weatherford, Texas in the barrel race and Nevada native Markus Mariluch who now lives in Daingerfield, Texas, in the bull riding.
The Reno Rodeo is traditionally the start of all the summer rodeos. It marks the beginning of “Cowboy Christmas” over the Fourth-of-July where there is more money up for grabs than any other week of the season. Winning at the Reno Rodeo often builds momentum for contestants as they start Cowboy Christmas. This year’s total payoff here was $488,939.
2016 Reno Rodeo Champions
Bareback Riding – Clayton Biglow, Clements, Calif., 253 points, $10,277
Steer Wrestling – Olin Hannum, Malad, Idaho, 12.5 seconds, $10,916
Team Roping – (header) Garret Tonozzi, Fruita, Colo., 16.7 seconds, $8,783
(heeler) Wyatt Cox, Arroyo Grande, Calif., $8,783
Saddle Bronc Riding – Heith DeMoss, Heflin, La., 247 points, $8,328
Tie-Down Roping – Hunter Herrin, Apache, Okla., 25.3 seconds, $13,767
Barrel Racing – Stevi Hillman, Weatherford, Texas, 51.84 seconds, $10,025
Bull Riding – Markus Mariluch, 158.5 points, $7,499
All-Around – Seth Hall, Albuquerque, $4,340 in tie-down and team roping
The following are final results results from the Reno Rodeo
Bareback riding: (final round winners) 1, Clayton Biglow, Clements, Calif., 89.5 points on Flying U Rodeo’s Lil Red Hawk, $1,650. 2, Richmond Champion, The Woodlands, Texas, 84, $1,250. 3, Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D., 80.5, $900. 4, Winn Ratliff, Leesville, La., 80, $600. 5, Ty Fast Taypotat, Regina, Saskatchewan, 79.5, $350. 6, Tyler Scales, Severance, Colo., 78.5, $250. (overall winners – on two) 1, Biglow, 253.5, $5,318. 2, Breuer, 242, $4,077. 3, Champion, 241, $3,014. 4, Taypotat, 240.5, $1,950. 5, (tie) Scales and Tyler Nelson, Victor, Idaho, 239.5 and $1,063 each. 8, Ratliff, 236, $531.
Steer wrestling: (final round winners) 1, Trevor Knowles, Mount Vernon, Ore., 4.1 seconds, $1,407. 2, (tie) Josh Clark, Belgrade, Mont., and Jule Hazen, Ashland, Kan., 4.4, $1,043. 4, Olin Hanum, Malad, Idaho, 4.5, $679. 5, Ty Erickson, Helena, Mont., 4.6, $436. 6, Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo., 5.2, $243. (overall winners – on three) 1, Hannum, 12.5, $6,142. 2, Knowles, 12.7, $5,341. 3, Ty Erickson, Helena, Mont., 13.0, $4,540. 4, Jule Hazen, Ashland, Kan., 13.2, $3,739. 5, Clark, 13.5, $2,937. 6, Peek, 13.6, $2,135. 7, Nick Guy, Sparta, Wis., 17.0, $1,335. 8, Jack Vanderlans, Temecula, Calif., 17.1, $534.
Team roping: (final round winners) 1, Garrett Tonozzi, Fruita, Colo., and Wyatt Cox, Arroyo Grande, Calif., 5.2 seconds, $1,370. 2, Clay Smith, Broken Bow, Okla., and Paul Eaves, Lonedell, Mo., 5.3, $1,134. 3, Jaguar Terrill, Craig, Colo., and Jason Warner, Rigby, Idaho, 5.5, $897. 4, Caleb Mitchell, Mason, Texas, and Matt Kasner, Cody, Neb., 6.1, $661. 5, Aaron Tsinigine, Tuba City, Ariz., and Kinney Harrell, Marshall, Texas, 6.2. 6, Barak and Asher Freeman, Elko, Nev., 6.8, $236. (overall winners – on three) 1. Tonozzi and Cox, 16.7, $6,730. 2, Smith and Eaves, 17.2, $5,852. 3, Tsinigine and Harrell, 17.4, $4,975. 4, Terrill and Warner, 18.0, $4,097. 5, Caleb Mitchell, Mason, Texas, and Matt Kasner, Cody, Neb., 19.3, $3,219. 6, Rhen Richard, Roosevelt, Utah and Cole Davison, Stephenville, Texas, 19.6, $2,340. 7, Barak and Asher Freeman, Elko, Nev., 20.3, $1,463. 8, Kaleb Driggers, Albany, Ga., and Junior Nogueira, Burleson, Texas, 23.0, $585.
Saddle bronc riding: (final round winners) 1, (tie) Sterling Crawley, Stephenville, Texas, on Flying U Rodeo’s Last Call, and Heith Allan DeMoss, Heflin, La., on Big Bend Rodeo’s Broken Camp, 83 points and $1,450 each. 3, (tie) Clay Elliott, Nanton, Alberta and Ryder Wright, Milford, Utah, 80.5, $750. 5, Taos Muncy, Corona, N.M., $350. 6, Ryan Mackenzie, Homedale, Idadho, 75, $240. (overall winners – on three) 1, DeMoss, 247, $5,074. 2, Muncy, 242, $3,890. 3, Wright, 240, $2,875. 4, Crawley, 238.5, $1,860. 5, Mackenzie, 237, $1,184. 6, Elliott, 234.5, $846. 7, Charlie Kogianes, Provo, Utah, 223, $676. 8, (tie – on two) Allen Boore, Axtell, Utah and Joe Lufkin, Sallisaw, Okla., 159.5, $254.
Tie-down roping: (final round winners) 1, Caleb Smidt, Bellville, Texas, 8.0, $1,407. 2, Tyler Prcin, Alvord, Texas, 8.7, $1,164. 3, Riley Pruitt, Gering, Neb., 8.8, $922. 4, Hunter Herrin, apache, Okla., 9.2, $679. 5, Matt Shiozawa, Chubbock, Idaho, 9.3, $437. 6, Jerrad Hofstetter, Shallow Water, Texas, 9.7, $242. (overall winners – on three) 1, Herrin, 25.3, $6,592. 2, Pruitt, 26.2, $5,732. 3, Smidt, 26.9, $4,872. 4, Prcin, 27.3, $4,012. 5, Shiozawa, 27.5, $3,153. 6, Hofstetter, 28.6, $2,293. 7, Cole Robinson, Moorcroft, Wyo., 29.0, $1,433. 8, Dane Kissack, Spearfish, S.D., 31.4, $573.
Barrel racing: (final round winners) 1, Stevi Hillman, Weatherford, Texas, 17.08 seconds, $2,397. 2, (tie)Pamela Capper, Cheney, Wash., and Amber Leigh Moore, Salem, Ore., 17.17, $1,498. 4, Kimmie Wall, Roosevelt, Utah, 17.19, $599. (overall winners – on three) 1, Hillman, 51.84, $4,854. 2, Wall, 51.89, $4,161. 3, Moore, 51.96, $3,467. 4, Capper, 52.13, $3,005. 5, Kris Gadbois, Escondido, Calif., 52.21, $2,312. 6, Sammi Bessert, Grand Junction, Colo., 52.30, $1,849. 7, Katelyn McLeod, Whitesboro, Texas, 52.36, $1,387. 8, Taylor Jacob, Carmine, Texas, 53.78, $925. 9, Christine Laughlin, Pueblo, Colo., 56.56, $693. 1-. Jane Melby, Burneyville, Okla., 57.80, $462.
Bull riding: (first round winners) 1, Ty Wallace, Collbran, Colo., 85 points on Flying Five Rodeo’s Sammy’s Fineline, $5,849. 2, Jeston Mead, Ashland, Kan., 83.5, $4,484. 3, Shawn Proctor, Tooele, Utah, 83, $3,314. 4, (tie) Sage Kimzey, Strong City, Okla. and Bryce Barrios, Bluff Dale, Texas; 81.5 and $1,495 each. 7, (tie) Zeb Lanham, Sweet, Idaho, and Nate Perry, Elk City, Okla., 81, $682. (final round) Markus Mariluch, Daingerfield, Texas, 80 points on Rosser Rodeo’s Heartbreak. (total on two) 1, Mariluch, 158.5, $5,849. (on one) 2, Wallace, 85 $4,484. 3, Mead, 83.5, $3,314. 4, Proctor, 83, $2,145. 5, (tie) Kimzey and Barrios, 81.4, $1,170. 7, (tie) Perry and Lanham, 81, $682.
Courtesy of PRCA