Cooper Big Winner at San Antonio Rodeo through Semifinals 1
By Susan Kanode
Tie-down roper Tuf Cooper has won a check every time he has thrown a rope at this year’s San Antonio Stock Show Rodeo. He finished second on Tuesday night with a 7.2-second run. Through the bracket and the Semifinals, he has accumulated $15,500 in earnings. PRCA photo by Robbie Freeman
SAN ANTONIO – To say that the San Antonio Stock Show Rodeo has been good to tie-down roper Tuf Cooper in 2020 might be an understatement.
Cooper, from Decatur, Texas, is the big money winner here so far at $15,500 and is a favorite to win this year’s championship in the AT&T Center. He has been the most consistent and the fastest at this year’s rodeo. His slowest time was in round 1 of the Semifinals where he still finished in a tie for first place with an 8.0 second run. All of his other runs were just over seven seconds.
He stopped the clock in 7.2 seconds on Tuesday night to finish second behind Caddo Lewallen of Morrison, Oklahoma who had a 7.1. Cooper earned $4,000 compared to Lewallen’s $5,000. Lewallen had to get the win to advance to the finals. He finished in second place in the earnings category with $7,000.
Cooper’s first round win here during Bracket 5 was aboard his great mare Topaz. His second-round win was on Topaz’s full sister Jewel who is having her first “big rodeo” experience. He rode Topaz on Monday night and was on Jewel on Tuesday during the Semifinals. These mares are very similar in looks and demeanor and have worked so well in the AT&T Center arena that Cooper will have a big decision to make on Saturday night as to which horse he will ride. He is hoping that his success continues and that he leaves the Alamo City with a new San Antonio Rodeo buckle.
Last year’s San Antonio Stock Show Rodeo bull riding champion, J.W. Harris of Goldthwaite, Texas, is poised to win again in 2020. Harris was one of two men to get scores on Tuesday night. He rode Four L and Diamond S Rodeo’s Rustler’s Roost for 83.5 points and has earned $14,750 in the AT&T Center so far this year. PRCA photo by Robbie Freeman.
J.W. Harris from Goldthwaite, Texas, earned one of those buckles last year in the bull riding and is poised to get back-to-back wins here after his success in Semifinals 1. Harris was one of two men to make it to the eight-second mark on Tuesday night and got a healthy bonus for that. Dustin Boquet, from Bourg, Louisiana had the high score at 86.5 points. His ride on Four L and Flying S Rodeo’s Space Unicorn got him $5,000 for first place. Harris got $4,000 and he and Boquet split the remaining prize money of $4,000. Harris enters Saturday night’s Championship Finals with $14,750 earned here so far. Boquet is in second place with $9,750.
Semifinals 2 will have their first of two rounds of competition starting Wednesday 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 1, Round 2 followed by Finals qualifiers –
Bareback Riding: 1, Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, Minn., 90.5 points on Picket Pro Rodeo’s Night Flight, $5,000. 2, Leighton Berry, Weatherford, Texas, 87.5, $4,000. 3, Taylor Broussard, Estherwood, La., 84.5, $2,500. 4, Mason Clements, Draper, Utah, 84, $1,500. (Finals qualifiers) 1, Aus, $10,250. 2, (tie) Berry and Clements, $8,500. 4, Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D., $7,500. 5, Broussard, $6,625.
Steer Wrestling: 1, Clayton Hass, Weatherford, Texas, 3.2, $5,000. 2, (tie) Tyler Waguespack, Gonzales, La., and Aaron Vosler, Laramie, Wyo., 3.8 and $3,250 each. 4, Hunter Cure, Holliday, Texas, 4.3, $1,500. (Finals qualifiers) 1, (tie) Wagusapck and Vosler, $8,250 each. 3, Bridger Anderson, Carrington, N.D., $8,125. 4, Jacob Edler, State Center, Iowa, $8,000. 5, Hass, $7,875.
Team Roping: 1, (tie) Dustin Egusquiza, Marianna, Fla., and Travis Graves, Jay, Okla.; and Luke Brown, Rock Hill, S.C., and Patrick Smith, Midland, Texas, 4.0 seconds and $4,500 each. 3, Cody Snow, Los Olivos, Calif., and Paul Eaves, Lonedell, MO., 4.2, $2,500. 4, Levi Simpson, Ponoka, Alberta and Shay Carroll, La Junta, Colo., 4.4, $1,500. (finals qualifiers) 1, Egusquiza and Graves, $10,500. 2, Snow and Eaves, $9,500. 3, Charly Crawford, Stephenville, Texas, and Logan Medlin, Tatum, N.M., $8,875. 4, Brown and Smith, $8,625. 5, Jeff Flenniken, Caldwell, Idaho and Tyler Worley, Berryville, Ark., $6,500.
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1, Layton Green, Meeting Creek, Alberta, 90 points on Andrews Rodeo’s Firelane, $5,000. 2, Wyatt Casper, Pampa, Texas, 85, $4,000. 3, Hardy Braden, Welch, Okla., 84, $2,500. 4, Brody Cress, Hillsdale, Wyo., 83.5, $1,500. (Finals qualifiers) 1, Casper, $11,750. 2, Stetson Wright, Milford, Utah, $9,750. 3, Green, $9,000. 4, Shorty Garrett, Eagle Butte, S.D., $7,417. 5, Braden, $7,000.
Tie-Down Roping: 1, Caddo Lewallen, Morrison, Okla., 7.1 seconds, $5,000. 2, Tuf Cooper, Decatur, Texas, 7.2, $4,000. 3, Riley Pruitt, Gering, Neb., 7.5, $2,500. 4, (tie) Cory Solomon, Prairie View, Texas; Tyler Miligan, Pawhuska, Okla., and Caleb Smidt, Bellville, Texas, 7.8 and $500 each. (Finals qualifiers) 1, Cooper, $15,500. 2, Lewallen, $7,000. 3, Monty Lewis, Hereford, Texas, $6,500. 4, Smidt, $5,624. 5, Solomon, $5,500.
Women’s Barrel Race: 1, Brooke Wills, Kamloops, British Columbia, 13.94 seconds, $5,000. 2, Jessica Routier, Buffalo, S.D., 14.07, $4,000. 3, Brittney Barnett, Stephenville, Texas, 14.11, $2,500. 4, Carly Taylor, Andersonville, Tenn., 14.17, $1,500. (Finals qualfiers) 1, (tie) Barnett, Taylor and Kathy Grimes, Medical Lake, Wash., $8,500 each. 4, Wills, $7,500. 5, Jimmie Smith, McDade, Texas, $6,875.
Bull Riding: (two rides) 1, Dustin Boquet, Bourg, La., 86.5 points on Four L and Diamond S Rodeo’s Space Unicorn, $7,000. 2, J.W. Harris, Goldthwaite, Texas, 83, $6,000. (Finals qualifiers) 1, Harris, $14,750. 2, Boquet, $9,750. 3, (tie) Jordan Hansen, Ponoka, Alberta and J.T. Moore, Alvin, Texas, $7,750 each. 5, Roscoe Jarboe, New Plymouth, Idaho, $5,500.