Steer wrestlers shake up Fort Worth leader board
FORT WORTH, Texas – With more than 1,100 contestants at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, fighting your way into the top 12 in the overall standings for Saturday’s finals can be a daunting challenge. Daunting? Sure. Just not impossible.
The steer wrestlers at the 19th performance here managed to lift their performance to such a high level that they scrambled the leader board rather comprehensively Feb. 3, with three of them moving into the top five.
Leader of the pack is Jacob Shofner from Huntsville, Texas. Shofner had a 4.4-second run in the second round. Combined with his 4.5 from the first round, he now is in first place in the overall standings here with a total time of 8.9.
The fastest run of the night was posted by John Franzen, from Riverton, Wyo., who stopped the clock in 4.2 seconds. He moved into a tie for fifth place overall with Chance E. Howard from Cedarville, Ark.; they each have times of 9.8 seconds. Franzen’s 4.2 may get him a check in the second round of competition as well, but that is questionable. He is in seventh place in the round where the top eight get checks.
Brad Johnson from Reva, S.D., had times of 4.6 and 5.0 in the first and second rounds, respectively. He is tied for third place in the overall standings with Timmy Sparing from Helena, Mont.
There are still 56 steer wrestlers to compete here in the second round, so leads can change. However, there is less than two seconds separating the top 12, so these three contestants are pretty comfortable in making their travel plans to be back here on Saturday, Feb. 8 to compete in the finals beginning at 7:30 (CT).
The World’s Original Indoor Rodeo continues Tuesday, Feb. 4 with performances at 2 and 7:30 p.m. (CT) at Will Rogers Coliseum.
COURTESY PRCA