Hometown Proud

^{By: Ruth Nicolaus}

Red Bluff cowboy takes the lead in the bareback riding; first performance of rodeo takes place

Red Bluff, Calif. – Faithful Red Bluff Round-Up fans braved the cool temperatures and off-and-on rain for the first performance of the 2022 Round-Up on Fri., April 15.

After three days of slack competition, the qualifying rounds for the rodeo, a full slate of rodeo event competition took place Friday night.

And a familiar name in Red Bluff took the lead in the bareback riding.

Red Bluff native Zack Brown scored 79.5 points on the Rosser Rodeo horse Yeti Rambler to be the top man in his event after the first night of the Round-Up.

The eight-year-old gelding usually performs in the saddle bronc riding, but tonight he was in the bareback riding. “He’s a really good bronc,” Brown said. “I was pretty excited to draw him. He stalled a little bit coming out of the bucking chute, but once we got going, it was fun.”

And it’s his hometown rodeo as well, with lots of family in attendance. His parents, wife, son, and mother-in-law, plus friends, were there, “so it’s a lot of support and it’s great.” Plus, he lives seven miles from the rodeo grounds, so the trip home is short. “It’s pretty nice to sleep in my own bed.”

At 31 years old, Brown has competed professionally for a decade and has won money at the Round-Up in the past. The “Red Bluff (Round-Up) has been good to me,” he said. He won reserve champion at the 2018 Round-Up, a half-point behind that year’s champion, Jamie Howlett. “That one still hangs with me a little bit,” he said

With two more rodeo performances, Brown knows he might be bumped from the top billing, but that’s ok. “It’s the first day, and there are a couple more performances to go,” he said. “But it would be good to catch a check out of here.”

In the saddle bronc riding, a Canadian cowboy paired up with a Canadian horse to be in the lead in his event.

Ben Anderson, Rocky Mountain, Alberta, scored 83 points on the Calgary Stampede horse named Waikiki Coconut to be at the top of the leaderboard.

The 22-year-old had seen the horse buck with his friend Brody Cress at the 2021 Calgary Stampede, when Cress made an 83 point ride.

The ride felt good, Anderson said. “I knew she could have some moves (out of the chute),” he said. “She bails back and forth and ducks. She’s a nice little horse.”

Anderson qualified for his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo last year, finishing fourteenth in the world standings. He’s ranked thirty-first in the world standings, but there’s plenty of rodeo season yet, and he’s on a roll. “I’m riding good right now, so I just want to keep it going. That’s all you can do.”

Other leaders after tonight’s performance are steer wrestler Caden Camp, Belgrade, Mont. (4.8 seconds); tie-down roper Brushton Minton, Witter Springs, Calif. (10.2 seconds); team ropers Zach Kilgus, Stephenville, Texas and Jake Edwards, Ft. Ann, N.Y. (5.3 seconds); breakaway ropers Josie Conner, Iowa, La. and Samantha Fulton, Miller, S.D. (3.3 seconds each); barrel racer Casey Mathis, Fallon, Nev. (17.80 seconds) and bull rider Brody Yeary, Morgan Mill, Texas (84.5 points).

The second of three performances of the Red Bluff Round-Up takes place Saturday, April 16. The rodeo parade kicks off at 10 am. The rodeo begins at 2:30 pm. Chancey Williams is in concert on Saturday night at 8 pm. For more information, visit the rodeo’s website at RedBluffRoundup.com. Tickets range in price from $20 to $40 and are available at the gate and online.

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Results from the first performance, Red Bluff Round-Up, April 15, 2022

Bareback riding

1. Zack Brown, Red Bluff, Calif. 79 points on Rosser Rodeo’s Yeti Rambler; 2. Garrett Shadbolt, Merriman, Neb. 78.5; 3. Bill Tutor, Huntsville, Texas 77.5; 4. Pascal Isabelle, Quebec 76.

Steer wrestling

1. Caden Camp, Belgrade, Mont. 4.8 seconds; 2. Trisyn Kalawai’a, Hilo, Hawaii 5.3; 3. Taz Olson, Prairie City, S.D. 5.4; 4. Grady Payne, Stephenville, Texas 6.0.

Tie-down roping

1. Brushton Minton, Witter Springs, Calif. 10.2 seconds; 2. Lucas Peres, Brazil 11.1; 3. Riley Wakefield, O’Neill, Neb. 11.2; 4. Trevor Thiel, Greeley, Colo. 13.5.

Saddle bronc riding

1. Ben Anderson, Rocky Mountain, Alb. 83 points on Calgary Stampede’s Waikiki Coconut; 2. Wade Stansfield, Spring City, Utah 82; 3. (tie) Corner McClure, Grass Valley, Calif. and Tegan Smith, Winterset, Iowa 81 each.

Team Roping

1. Zach Kilgus, Stephenville, Texas/Jake Edwards, Ft Ann, N.Y. 5.3 seconds; 2. Kaleb Driggers, Hoboken, Ga./Junior Nogueira, Presidente Pruedente, Brazil 6.3; 3. Braden Pirrung, Hartford, S.D./Coley Nicholls, Kinnear, Wyo. 6.5; 4. Hayes Smith, Central Point, Ore./Cullen Teller, Ault, Colo. 6.7.

Breakaway Roping

1. (tie) Josie Conner, Iowa, La. and Samantha Fulton, Miller, S.D. 3.3 seconds each; 3. Macey Cox, San Luis Obispo, Calif. 3.5; 4. Erin Johnson, Fowler, Colo. 4.3.

Barrel racing

1. Casey Mathis, Fallon, Nev. 17.80 seconds; 2. Taylor Johnson, Wichita Falls, Texas 17.83; 3. Hunter Morgan, Lincoln, Calif. 17.91; 4. Lexie Goss, Redmond, Ore. 18.14.

Bull riding

1. Brody Yeary, Morgan Mill, Texas 84.5 points on Ghetto Spread, Bridwell Pro Rodeo; 2. Ray Mayo, Clearlake, Calif. 84; 3. Conner McClure, Grass Valley, Calif. 81; 4. Lukasey Morris, Union City, Okla. 79.

** All results are unofficial. For more information, visit RedBluffRoundup.com.