Pro Rodeo Tournament Begins 18-Performance Run at Fort Worth

By: Johna Cravens

FORT WORTH, Texas –  After a year’s hiatus, the new era of rodeo at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo (FWSSR) continued Friday when the second FWSSR ProRodeo Tournament began. The event features 56 of the top rodeo athletes in North America each of eight events competing for more than $1 million dollars prize money.

In each event, seven groups of eight athletes will compete in two rodeo performances. The top two money winners from each group qualify for one of two semifinal rounds.

The third-highest money winner in each set will qualify for a berth in the wild card round. The other four competitors go into a non-qualifiers pool and the highest remaining money winner in each event from that pool also gets to move to the wild card round. The winner of that second-chance round moves on to the semifinals as well. Then, the top four from each semifinal move on to the finals on Saturday, February 8 when the champions will be crowned.

Australian cowboy Jamie Howlett earned the bareback riding win when he scored 86 points on Brookman Rodeos’ horse Famous Dex. Howlett qualified for his first National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in 2020 but finished out of the top 15 in 2021. He was barely in the Top 15 on September 2 but knew his injured body couldn’t continue to compete with the world’s best. Twenty-eight days before the season ended, he underwent a total knee reconstruction and surgery for a fractured shoulder. A good showing in Fort Worth could jump start his 2022 season.

Will Lummus of Byhalia, Mississippi, the 2021 reserve world champion, wrestled his steer in four seconds for the round win. The four-time NFR steer wrestler won nearly $160,000 at the NFR in December, including almost $70,000 for having the fastest total time on 10 steers. Second went to a virtual unknown – 24-year-old Laramie Warren of Adair, Oklahoma, who is in his sophomore season of pro rodeo–with a time of 4.4.

Breakaway roping became a crowd favorite after its introduction at the FWSSR Pro Rodeo Tournament in 2020. Morgan Orman of Anderson roped the round win with a time of 2.7 seconds. She and her husband Jake, a team roper, both compete in professional rodeo. Fort Worth was the first major rodeo to offer equal prize money to breakaway ropers and draws some of the best ropers in North America to the competition.

Two 88-point rides tied for first in the saddle bronc riding. First, Canadian Jake Watson rode Brookman Rodeos’ horse Satisfaction to take the lead. Then Ross Griffin of Tularosa, New Mexico made a showy ride on Korkow Rodeo’s Joker Poker to match Watson’s score. Either cowboy, or both, could earn a semifinals berth with another high school on Saturday.

Quade Hiatt of Canyon was the first tie-down roper at this year’s FWSSR to clock a time under eight seconds. The third-generation cowboy (his grandfather is former world champion Butch Myers) took first in the round with a time of 7.4 seconds.

Colby Lovell of Madisonville, who, like Howlett, qualified for his first NFR in 2020 and barely missed qualifying again in 2021, was forced to find another team roping partner while his regular heeler, two-time world champ Paul Eaves recovers from surgery. He found a good replacement in Matt Sherwood of Pima, Arizona, an eight-time NFR qualifier and two-time world champion header who has switched to the heeling side. The newly paired duo won the round with a time of five seconds.

Brittney Barnett, a native Californian who now lives in Stephenville, was the first barrel racer of the night and she set a pace that couldn’t be beaten. The 2020 NFR cowgirl took the win with a time of 16.44 seconds.

Ruger Piva of Challis, Idaho was fresh from his first NFR and a likely candidate to do well in the first round of bull riding. Tyler Taylor of Stephenville wasn’t. Taylor didn’t even qualify to make the field of 56 bull riders. Taylor was chosen as a fill-in rider when NFR veteran Jordan Spears was unable to compete.

Taylor made the most of his unexpected opportunity – riding Rafter G Rodeo’s bull Dragula for 86.5 points. Piva bested Rafter G’s bull Scarface and tied Taylor’s score to tie for first in the round.

The same field of cowboys and cowgirls return to Dickies Arena Saturday at 7:30 p.m. for their second round of competition which determines who moves on to the semifinal and wild card rounds.

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FORT WORTH. — The following are unofficial results from the first performance of the FWSSR ProRodeo Tournament at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, Friday, January 21, 2022.

Bareback riding: 1, Jamie Howlett, Roma, Queensland, Australia, 86 points on Brookman Rodeo’s Famous Dex, $1,760. 2, Caleb Bennett, Corvallis, Mont., 84.5, $1,320. 3, Logan Patterson, Kim, Colo., 82.5, $880. 4, Kody Lamb, Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, 80, $440.

Steer Wrestling: 1, Will Lummus, Byhalia, Miss., 4.0 seconds, $1,760. 2, Laramie Warren, Adair, Okla., 4.4, $1,320. 3, Riley Duvall, Checotah, Okla., 4.7, $880. 4, Ty Allred, Tooele, Utah, 4.8, $440.

Breakaway Roping: 1, Morgan Orman, Anderson, Texas, 2.7 seconds, $1,760. 2, Jenna Caldarola, Stephenville, Texas, 2.8, $1,320. 3, Sarah Verhelst, Pryor, Mont., 3.0, $880. 4, Jacey Fortier, Billings, 3.2, $440.

Saddle Bronc Riding: 1, (tie) Jake Watson, Hudsons Hope, Alberta, on Brookman Rodeo’s Satisfaction and Ross Griffin, Tularosa, N.M., on Krokow Rodeos’ Joker Poker, 88 points, $1,540 each. 3, Jacob Kammerer, Philip, S.D., 85.5, $880. 4, Rusty Wright, Milford, Utah, 83.5, $440.

Tie-down Roping: 1, Quade Hiatt, Canyon, Texas, 7.4 seconds, $1,760. 2, Tyler Milligan, Pawhuska, Okla., 7.9, $1,320. 3, Cooper Martin, Alma, Kansas, 9.5, $880. 4, Caleb Smidt, Bellville, Texas, 9.7, $440.

Team Roping: 1, Colby Lovell, Madisonville, Texas, and Matt Sherwood, Pima, Ariz., 5.0 seconds, $1,760 each. 2, Hayes Smith, Central Point, Ore., and Cullen Teller, Ault, Colo., 5.3, $1,320 each. 3, Nick Sartain, Bandera, Texas, and Reagan Ward, Edmond, Okla., 5.6, $880 each. 4, Coleman Proctor, Pryor, Okla., and Logan Medlin, Tatum, N.M, 7.1, $440 each.

Barrel Racing: 1, Brittney Barnett, Stephenville, Texas, 16.44 seconds, $1,760. 2, Stevi Hillman, Weatherford, Texas, 16.64, $1,320. 3, Shelley Morgan, Eustace, Texas, 16.64, $880. 4, (tie) Cheyenne Hattesen, Kerman, Calif., and Amanda Welsh, Sundance, Wyo., 16.82, $220 each.

Bull Riding: 1, (tie) Tyler Taylor, Stephenville, Texas, on Rafter G Rodeo’s Dragula and Ruger Piva, Challis, Idaho, on Rafter G’s Scarface, $1,540 each. 3, Trevor Kastner, Roff, Okla., 83.5, $880. 4, Jared Parsonage, Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, Canada, 66.5, $440.