Field Set for Reno Rodeo Finals
RENO, Nev. – It took eight performances and countless hours of slack, but the field for the PRCA Pro Rodeo Tour Championship of the 2019 Reno Rodeo is set.
The top 12 contestants in bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, women’s barrel racing and bull riding have advanced for a chance to compete for the prestigious Silver Spurs as well as the lion’s share of nearly half a million in prize money.
Kody Lamb of Sherwood, Alberta started strong with an 83-point ride on Rosser Rodeo’s Jesse James on day one of the PRCA competition. He’d share the win that night with Nevada rider Trenton Montero of Winnemucca and would go on to set the bar with an 86-point ride on his second round on Flying U Rodeo’s Lil Bit. His combined score of 169 guaranteed his spot in the finals. No riders were able to beat that score, but Clayton Biglow of Clements, Calif. and Steven Dent of Mullen, Neb. would match it. Biglow rode for 86 on Monday on Flying 5 Rodeo’s Desert Sun and Dent pulled it out last night on Big Bend Rodeo’s Major Rodeo. While the pros took the high scores in the rounds, rookie Leighton Berry of Weatherford, Texas is taking the top spot with a combined 169.5 points, just barely inching ahead of Lamb. Berry is sitting at No. 6 in the Resistol Rookie of the Year standings. Neither of the Denny brothers made the cut for their hometown rodeo.
In steer wrestling, Olin Hannum, Malad, Idaho, and Don Payne, Stephenville, Texas, had the fastest throws this week at 4.2 seconds each. Hannum won the coveted Silver Spurs in Reno in 2016 with 12.5 on three head and that year’s fastest time at 3.5 seconds but a 9.2 on his second go this year put him out of contention for the finals. Quick and consistent put J.D Struxness of Milan, Minn. in the top spot for the average. He had a 4.5 and a 4.3 with 8.8 seconds on two head. Nipping at his heels are Cameron Morman of Glen Ullin, N.D. with 9.4 on two and Tucker Allen of Oakview, Calif., with 9.5.
It’s a tight race into the finals for team roping. Brenton Hall, Stephenville, Texas, and Chase Tryan, Helena, Mont., who did not make the short round in 2018, are in the top spot with Chad Masters, Cedar Hill, Tenn., and Joseph Harrison, Overbrook, Okla., leading the average with an impressive 11 seconds. Young header, Hall, who is 19 and heeler Tryan had a lightning fast 4.5 on Monday. Only a fraction of a second behind is David Key, Stephenville, Texas and Rich Skelton, Llano, Texas who are 11.3 on two and Bubba Buckaloo, Kingston, Okla. and Shay Dixon Carrol, La Junta, Colo. with 11.5 on two. On Tuesday nine-time WNFR header Key and seven-time champ of the world, Skelton clinched their finals position with a 5.7.
This week’s saddle bronc saw some high scores with six of the top 10 within six points of one another. Joe Lufkin of Sallisaw, Okla. – who set a new arena record on Monday night with a 91.5 on Flying 5 Rodeo’s Spring Planting – shares the top qualifying position with Allen Boore of Axtell, Utah with a score of 170 on two. Lefty Holman of Visalia, Calif. secured the top 12 with a 166 average and Taos Muncy, Corona, N.M., Chase Brooks, Deer Lodge, Mont., and Sterling Crawley, Stephenville, Texas, go into tonight with 164 points each. Many of these cowboys are familiar faces on the Reno short round list but are looking for their first-ever win here. It’s Muncy with the most impressive resume. The two-time world title holder is back after securing his position last night with an 81.5 on Flying 5’s Spring Cleaning.
In tie-down roping, Marcos Costa of Childress, Texas (by way of Parana, Brazil) had the fastest time with 7.9 seconds but his 10.5 on the second go puts him in third place with an 18.4 on two head behind Tanner Green of Cotulla, Texas with 17.0 seconds and Shad Mayfield of Clovis, N.M. with an 18.2.
Barrel racer Ivy Hurst of Springer, Okla., had the crowd cheering on the first night with her impressive 17.14 run, which set the precedent for the fastest ride of the week until the sixth night of competition when Sabra O’Quinn of Ocala, Fla., matched her time. However, Hurst’s second go during slack placed her at the top of the leaderboard by an eighth of a second with a 34.47 on two. Sara Cheeney of Pinedale, Wyo. and Shali Lord of Lamar, Colo., are tied for third with a combined 34.59, and reigning Reno Rodeo Barrel Racing champion for 2017 and 2018, Nellie Miller of Cottonwood, Ga. is sitting in the number four spot with her combined 34.61.
Topping the leaderboard for bull riding are the No. 1 and No. 2 riders in the world. Trevor Kastner of Roff, Okla. has topped the Reno Rodeo leaderboard since the second performance with his 86.5 ride on Rosser Rodeo’s Black Kat. The reigning world champion Sage Steele Kimzey secured his spot right behind Kastner with his 85.5 ride on Flying 5’s Bombs Away in the fifth performance. Ponoka, Alberta’s, Jordan Hansen, secured the third spot with an 84.5 ride on day five on Big Bend Rodeo’s Black Betty. 2017 Reno Co-Champion Bull Rider Brennon Eldred of Sulphur, Okla. had an 83 ride during the eighth performance also on Flying 5’s Bombs Away, putting him in fourth place going into the night.
Saturday night’s championship finals start at 7. p.m.