Marty Yates Wins Second Tie-Down Roping Title in Cheyenne
Marty Yates during the Performance 9 of Cheyenne Frontier Days in Cheyenne, WY on 8.1.2021. Photo by Christopher Thompson
Tie-down roper Marty Yates, a seven-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier (2014-2020), is starting to catch fire at the right time.
He took it a step further on Sunday afternoon at the Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days Rodeo.
Yates was the first cowboy to go in the championship round and set the tone. He clocked a 10.3-second run, which eventually earned him his second title at the “Daddy of ’em All”. Yates also won in Cheyenne in 2015.
“It was a great run for me, when it comes down to these one-run finals it can always go either way,” said Yates, 27. “You can either put the pressure on them or make a so-so run and get beat. It worked out great for me today, I’m just glad to finally have another good horse under me and be back headed in the right direction this season.”
Coming into the finals at Cheyenne, Yates was sitting 16th in the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $54,838. The $10,993 payday this weekend will most likely bump him up in the standings. He credits a lot of that to the horse he’s been getting on the past few rodeos.
“The first part of the summer this year has been really rough, I hadn’t won a lot,” Yates said. “I’ve been riding a green horse up until this point, I wasn’t able to find much consistency. It seemed like I was riding a different horse just about every other rodeo there for a while. Just recently I bought a horse (Jag) from Shad Mayfield (the reigning PRCA Tie-Down Roping World Champion) and things are clicking pretty good between us right now.”
Yates and Jag have been to the pay window three times in the past seven days. He hopes the train will keep chugging on through December.
“I sure hope I can get back to Las Vegas and the ball keeps rolling,” Yates said. “That way I can continue climbing those standings and go into the NFR as high as I can in the standings.”
Other winners at Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo were all-around cowboy Stetson Wright (saddle bronc riding and bull riding); bareback rider Tim O’Connell (89 points on Sankey Pro Rodeo’s MLW’s Irish Eyes); steer wrestler Newt Novich (5.1 seconds); team ropers Clay Smith/Jade Corkill (10.2 seconds); saddle bronc rider Stetson Wright (90 points on Championship Pro Rodeo’s Feather Fluffer); breakaway roper Sawyer Gilbert (4.4 seconds); barrel racer Hailey Kinsel (17.30 seconds); steer roper Cole Patterson (12.2 seconds) and bull rider Ky Hamilton (89 points on Stace Smith Pro Rodeos’ 546).
Courtesy of PRCA