Solomon Snags Tie-Down Lead

By: Ted Harbin

LOVINGTON, N.M. – Being raised by a man who hauls calves to rodeos was the perfect training ground for Cory Solomon.

One of his jobs in the family business was to break in fresh calves, animals right out of the pasture that had never been roped. Most competitions prefer a few runs on their cattle, but not all.

His schooling came in quite handy Friday during the third day of the Lea County Fair and Rodeo. He roped and tied two calves – 9.1 in the first round (to sit fourth) and 9.0 in the second round – to take the tie-down roping aggregate lead heading into the final night of Lovington’s rodeo.

“It’s probably because they have fresh cattle,” said Solomon, 33, a nine-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Prairie View, Texas. “I roped a lot of them growing up, because my dad hauled cattle and we rotated them a lot, so I was always breaking in fresh cattle.”

That helped him develop a really fast game on the ground, the work of flanking the animal and tying three legs together. He’s well known for being one of the top cowboys in tie-down roping when he’s got his hands on the animal.

“This is a good time to turn things around,” he said of having success in Lea County.

Solomon is 14^th in the world standings, which is a good thing. Only the top 15 at the conclusion of the regular season advance to the NFR, but he’d like to give himself a little more breathing room before the campaign closes Sept. 30. Doing well in southeast New Mexico would be beneficial.

It helped before. He won inside Jake McClure Arena in 2017, advanced to the NFR and finished seventh in the final world standings. He hopes to utilize that momentum again as he heads into the final few weeks. He knew after his first-round run that he just needed to be solid during Friday’s performance.

“The guys that missed in the first round didn’t have anything to worry about and could just go for broke,” Solomon said. “The cattle are also in a set, and most of those top five or six times weren’t today. We have to work with what we have as far as the cattle.

“We have 7.2 (second) winning (the second round) and 8.0 up there, so my mind frame was to lock the average down. Where I’m at in the standings, I wanted that average check because it’s going to be the biggest one. I didn’t need to be too fast. I just wanted to run a couple calves just to get in the groove.”

He may have found his groove, and just like he did six seasons ago, he’s hoping a Lovington title leads to better things later this year.

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Lea County Fair and Rodeo
Lovington, N.M.
Aug. 9-12

Bareback riding leaders: 1. Richmond Champion, 88.5 points on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Uncapped; 2. Tim O’Connell, 85.5; 3. (tie) Sam Petersen and Jacob Lees, 84; 5. Chad Rutherford, 83.5; 6. (tie) Mason Clements and Jayco Roper, 83; 8. Kade Sonnier, 82.5.

Steer wrestling: First round leaders: 1. Riley Westhaver, 3.7 seconds; 2. Laramie Warren, 4.3; 3. Mitch Hutto, 4.6; 4. (tie) Jordan Holland and Trisyn Kalawaia; 6. Heath Thomas, 5.4; 7. Billy Boldon, 5.9; 8. Tucker Alberts, 6.3. Second round leaders: 1. (tie) Heath Thomas and Laramie Warren, 3.7 seconds; 3. Cody Devers, 4.0; 4. Don Payne, 4.2; 5. Trisyn Kalawaia, 4.3; 6. Tristan Martin, 4.5; 7. (tie) McLane Arballo and Bridger Anderson, 4.6. Average leaders: 1. Laramie Warren, 8.0 seconds on two runs; 2. Heath Thomas, 9.1; 3. Trisyn Kalawaia, 9.4; 4. Mitch Hutto, 10.2; 5. Bridger Anderson, 11.6; 6. Tucker Alberts, 11.7; 7. Tucker Allen, 11.8; 8. Billy Boldon, 21.2.

Tie-down roping: First round leaders: 1. Trevor Hale, 8.7 seconds; 2. Jake Pratt, 8.8; 3. Marcos Costa, 8.9; 4. Cory Solomon, 9.1; 5. Caleb Smidt, 9.2; 6. Shane Hanchey, 9.5; 7. Garrett Jacobs, 9.6; 8. Dylan Hancock, 10.2. Second round leaders: 1. Riley Webb, 7.2 seconds; 2. (tie) Tuf Cooper and Quade Hiatt, 8.0; 4. Dylan Hancock, 8.1; 5. Tom Crouse, 8.2; 6. Ty Harris, 8.5; 7. Hagen Houck, 8.6; 8. King Pickett, 8.7. Average leaders: 1. Cory Solomon, 18.1 seconds on two runs; 2. Trevor Hale, 18.2; 3. Dylan Hancock, 18.3; 4. Caleb Smidt, 19.6; 5. Marcos Costa, 20.0; 6. Lane Livingston, 20.1; 7. Riley Webb, 20.4; 8 Westyn Hughes, 20.9.

Breakaway roping: 1. Rylee George, 2.0 seconds; 2. Brighton Bauman, 2.1; 3. Maddy Deerman, 2.2; 4. Taylor Munsell, 2.5; 5. Josie Conner, 2.6; 6. (tie) Christi Braudrick and Hailey Schafer, 2.8; 8. (tie) Macy Davenport and Madison Outhier, 3.3; 10. (tie) Mackenzie Watkins, Alex Loiselle and Bailey Jay, 3.4; 13. (tie) Tibba Smith, Taylor Hanchey. Shalee King and Jenna Caldarola, 3.5.

Saddle bronc riding leaders: 1. Logan Hay, 88.5 points on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Little Bit; 2. (tie) Tanner Butner and Lefty Holman, 87; 2. Sage Newman, 85; 3. (tie) Ryder Wright and Stu Wright, 84; 5. Stetson Wright, 83.5; 6. Kolby Wanchuk, 83; 7 Clint Franks, 81.5; 8. Dean Wadsworth, 79.

Team roping: First round leaders: 1. Derrick Begay/Colter Todd, 4.5 seconds; 2. Coleman Proctor/Logan Medlin, 4.6; 3. Kreece Thompson/Landen Glenn, 4.9; 4. Nelson Wyatt/Chase Tryan, 5.0; 5. Andrew Ward/Buddy Hawkins, 5.1; 6. Tanner Baldwin/Tanner Luttrell, 5.2; 7. Chris Francis/Cade Passig, 5.5; 8. Clint Summers/Jake Long, 5.6; 8. (tie) Rawley Ben Jr./Hiyo Yazzi and Wyatt Imus/Caleb Anderson, 5.9; 6. (tie) Wyatt Bray/Josh Patton and James Arviso/Caston Weidenbener, 6.2; 8. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 9.6. Second round leaders: 1. (tie) Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira and Tyler Wade/Wesley Thorp, 4.0 seconds; 3. Erich Rogers/Paul Eaves, 4.1; 4, Chad Weitz/Cutter Thomison, 4.2; 5. Keven Daniel/Travis Graves, 4.3; 6. (tie) Peyton Holliday/Kolton Good and Clint Summers/Jake Long, 4.4; 8. Justin Mascarenas/Pace Blanchard, 4.6. Average leaders: 1. Clint Summers/Jake Long, 10.0 seconds on two runs; 2. Tanner Baldwin/Tanner Luttrell, 10.9; 3. Chris Francis/Cade Passig, 11.6; 4. Chad Weitz/Cutter Thomison, 11.9; 5. Wyatt Kent/Jacob Auza, 13.2; 6. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 13.6; 7. Kreece Thompson/Landen Glenn, 14.4 8. Keven Daniel/Travis Graves, 14.8.

Steer roping: First round leaders: 1. Tanner Stec, 11.7 seconds; 2. (tie) Cole Patterson and Rocky Patterson, 12.6; 4. Mike Chase, 13.2; 5. Slade Wood, 13.7; 6. Billy Good, 14.0; 7. Corey Ross, 14.1; 8. Mark Milner, 14.2. Second round leaders: 1. John Bland, 11.2 seconds; 2. J. Tom Fisher, 11.5; 3. Chet Herren, 12.6; 4. Slade Wood, 12.7; 5. Martin Poindexter, 12.; 6. Billy Good, 14.0; 7. Corey Ross, 14.1; 8. Mark Milner, 14.2. Third round leaders: 1. Jess Tierney, 11.6 seconds; 2. Cooper Mills, 12.3; 3. Martin Poindexter, 12.4; 4. Roger Branch, 13.3; 5. Tanner Stec, 13.8; 6. Coleman Proctor, 14.2; 7. Mike Chase, 14.9; 8. Jarrett Holliday, 15.1. Average leaders: 1. Tanner Stec, 39.9 seconds on two runs; 2. Slade Wood, 41.6; 3. Billy Good, 45.0; 4. Mike Chase, 45.5; 5. Coleman Proctor, 46.2; 6. Cole Patterson, 48.0; 7. John Bland, 48.4; 8. Vin Fisher Jr. 56.1.

Barrel racing leaders: 1. Jamie Olsen, 17.40 seconds; 2. LaTricia Duke, 17.48; 3. Katelyn Scott, 17.54; 4. Tara Carr, 17.55; 5. Tara Seaton, 17.58; 6. (tie) Victoria Procter and Keyla Costa, 17.60; 8. Bryana Lehrmann, 17.65; 8. Rainey Skelton, 17.66; 10. Emily Beisel, 17.72; 11. Ilyssa Riley, 17.76; 12. Hailey Kinsel, 17.77; 13. Sierra Scott-Williams, 17.81; 14. Kailee Murdock, 17.82; 15. Mary Zabel, 17.83.

Bull riding leaders: 1. Trey Kimzey, 89 points on Stockyards Rodeo’s Cheddar Biscuit; 2. Trevor Reiste, 88.5; 3. Deklan Garland, 87.5; 4. T Parker, 86.5; no other qualified rides.

Courtesy of twisTEDrodeo.com