Contestants Use Last Ditch Effort to Qualify for San Antonio Rodeo Finals
By Susan Kanode
Clay Smith of Broken Bow, Okla., and Jade Corkill, from Fallon, Nev., were the first team ropers to compete on Thursday. They set the pace at 4.1 seconds to win the second round of Semifinals 2. The $5,000 that they won was enough to get them qualified for the Finals with $8,500 in total earnings, . San Antonio Rodeo photo by Robbie Freeman.
SAN ANTONIO – Several contestants at the San Antonio Stock Show Rodeo their last opportunity to qualify for Saturday night’s championship Finals during Semifinals 2.
No where was it more evident than in the team roping. Clay Smith, of Broken Bow, and Jade Corkill, from Fallon, Nevada, didn’t expect to be among the competitors here in the Semifinals. They finished fifth in their bracket and the top four advanced. Then when a team withdrew because one of them was injured, Smith and Corkill got the call.
They had earned less money than any other team that advanced and had a lot of ground to make up. During the first round on Wednesday night, ,they picked up a fourth place check for $1,500. That helped, but still wasn’t enough to see them roping for the championship in the AT&T Center on Saturday night.
They were the first team ropers to swing their loops on Thursday night and made it stick at 4.1 seconds. The other nine teams that followed them couldn’t get the job done any faster. Smith and Corkill added $5,000 to their checking accounts and now will start Saturday’s competition with $8,500 in earnings.
Bull rider Travor Kastner, from Roff, Oklahoma found himself in a similar situation. He also was fifth in his bracket and got the call when another bull rider was on the injured list. Kastner was one of the nine riders that hit the dirt on Wednesday night, so he had to ride eight-seconds on Thursday or be the one rider during Friday night’s Wildcard round with the high score to advance.
Kastner rode 4L and Diamond S Rodeo’s bull named Ferdinand for 86 points and the win. With the $5,000 he won on Thursday, he has total earnings of $7,750 to start the Championship Finals. Kastner will also be competing at the Xtreme Bulls performance Saturday afternoon.
The bareback, saddle bronc and bull riders who finished in the bottom five spots in each of the Semifinals here have one more opportunity to qualify for the Championship Finals at the Wildcard on Friday night. A new group of timed-event contestants will ride into the AT&T Center for the first time for that performance. In the steer wrestling, tie-down roping, team roping and barrel racing, it is the top 10 finishers from San Antonio’s qualifiers who will have the opportunity.
In all the events it will come down to one ride or one run to have a chance to compete for the big money on Saturday. Friday night’s Wildcard round starts at 7 p.m.
The following are unofficial results from the San Antonio Stock Show Rodeo, the 14-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Large Indoor Rodeo of the Year. Complete results are at www.sarodeo.com.
Semifinals 2 Round 2 followed by Championship Finals qualifiers –
Bareback Riding: 1, Richmond Champion, The Woodlands, Texas, 89 points on Powder River Rodeo’s Two Buck Chuck, $5,000. 2, Jamie Howlett, Rapid City, S.D., 88.5, $4,000. 3, Shane O’Connell, Rapid City, S.D., 86.5, $2,500. 4, Tim O’Connell, Zwingle, Iowa, 85.5, $1,500. (Finals qualifiers) 1, Howlett, $11,250. 2, Vold, $9,500. 3, Shane O’Connell, $9,250. 4, Champion, $8,750. 5, Dantan Bertsch, Eastend, Saskatchewan, $7,625.
Steer Wrestling: 1, Curtis Cassidy, Donalda, Alberta, 3.7 seconds, $5,000. 2, Jule Hazen, Ashland, Kan., 4.4, $4,000. 3, Tanner Bruner, Ramona, Kan., 4.7, $2,500. 4, Jace Melvin, Fort Pierre, S.D., 5.7, $1,500. (Finals qualifiers) 1, Hazen, $13,000. 2, Bruner, $9,500. 3, Cassidy, $9,375. 4, Blake Knowles, Heppner, Ore., $8,500. 5, Melvin, $5,000.
Team Roping: 1, Clay Smith, Broken Bow, Okla., and Jade Corkill, Fallon, Nev., 4.1 seconds, $5,000. 2, Coleman Proctor, Pryor, Okla., and Ryan Motes, Weatherford, 4.2, $4,000. 3, (tie) Billy Bob Brown, Carbon, Texas, and Tanner Braden, Dewey, Okla.; and Erich Rogers, Round Rockc, Ariz., and Paden Bray, Stephenville, Texas, 4.6, $2,000 each. (Finals qualifiers) 1, Brown and Braden, $9,000. 2, (tie) Smith and Corkill; and Proctor and Motes, $8,500. 4, Matt Sherwood, Pima, Ariz., and Trey Yates, Pueblo, Colo., $7,000. 5, Tanner Baldwin, Vail, Ariz., and Nano Garza, Las Cruces, N.M., $6,000.
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1, Allen Boore, Axtell, Utah, 86.5 points on Stace Smith Pro Rodeo’s Grab your Guns, $5,000. 2, Lefty Holman, Visalia, Calif., 86, $4,000. 3, Ryder Wright, Milford, Utah, 85.5, $2,500. 4, Tegan Smith, Winterset, Iowa, 83.5, $1,500. (Finals qualifiers) 1, Boore, $11,250. 2, Holman, $8,375. 3, Joe Harper, Paradise Valley, Nev., 79, $8,000. 4, Smith, $7,500. 5, Wright, $6,250.
Tie-Down Roping: 1, Timber Moore, Aubrey, Texas, 6.9 seconds, $5,000. 2, Cody Huber, Albia, Iowa, 7.1, $4,000. 3, Ryan Jarrett, Comanche, Okla., and Shad Mayfield, Clovis, N.M., 7.3 and $2,000 each. (Finals round) 1, Catfish Brown, Collinsville, Texas, $10,750. 2, (tie) Moore and Mayfield, $9,500. 4, Chance Oftedahl, Pemberton, Minn., 8.2, $7,875. 5, Huber, $7,250.
Women’s Barrel Race: 1, Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, Lampasas, Texas, 13.91 seconds, $5,000. 2, Cindy Smith, Lovington, N.M., 13.97, $4,000. 3, (tie) Hailey Lockwood, Cotulla, Texas, and Shali Lord, Lamar, Colo., 14.06, $2,000. (Finals qualifiers) 1, Ryann Pedone, Sunset, Texas, $11,500. 2, Tonozzi, $10,000. 3, Wilson, $9,750. 4, Lockwood, $7,750. 5, Smith, $6,750.
Bull Riding: (three rides) 1, Trevor Kastner, Roff, Okla., 86 points on Four L & Diamond S Rodeo’s Ferdinand, $5,500. 2, Colten Fritzlan, Rifle, Colo., 85.5, $4,500. 3, Denton Fugate, Niangua, Mo., 81, $3,000. (Finals qualifiers) 1, Ruger Piva, Challis, Idaho, $16,222. 2, Fritzlan, $9,472. 3, Kastner, $7,750. 4, Fugate, $6,500. 5, Tyler Bingham, Huneyville, Utah, $4,250.