Team Ropes the Roundup Lead
DODGE CITY, Kan. – Tyler Worley’s history at the Dodge City Roundup Rodeo has been less than stellar.
“I’ve caught one steer clean here, and I’ve missed a few good ones here, too,” said Worley, a 2019 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifying heeler from Berryville, Arkansas. “I came here a lot before I really started rodeoing, because this was my circuit while I was going to college.”
He was talking about the Prairie Circuit, a regional piece of the ProRodeo pie that’s made up of rodeos and contestants primarily from Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. While attending Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, he chased circuit dollars. Now he’s chasing world championships, and Roundup Rodeo remains a big stop in his annual path to the National Finals Rodeo.
On Thursday night during second performance of Kansas’ largest rodeo, Worley and his header, Jeff Flenniken, stopped the clock in 6.0 seconds. That, combined with a 6.1-second run during the first round Thursday morning, moved the duo into the team roping lead at Roundup Arena.
“We had a little bit stronger steer, and he went left in the first round,” said Flenniken of Caldwell, Idaho. “Tyler was going to let him go straight instead of hazing him as much. He handled a little bit weird, but Tyler did a really good job of heeling him.
“That’s what we planned to do, be 6 (seconds) or under, and make sure we came back to the short round.”
With two days left in preliminary competition, Flenniken and Worley should advance to Sunday’s championship round, which features only the top 12 contestants and teams in each event from the previous days’ competition.
“On our first one, he ran to the right a little bit,” said Worley, who finished 11th in the heeling world standings last season. “We always rope fresh steers here, and you don’t want to over-haze them because it makes them hard for your header. We wanted to leave him in the middle and knock him down and hopefully be fast enough.
“We had the same game plan tonight. If we had a little slower steer, we might have tried to press a little more, but we drew in the middle of the herd, so we knew we just needed to catch him and come back Sunday.”
The opportunities are big in western Kansas this week. Roundup provides a large local payout called added money in rodeo terms – $20,000 per event – which is combined with the contestants’ entry fees makes up the total purse. The local money and a big number of entries allows for a possible record payout in Dodge City.
“It’s so weird this year,” Worley said. “It’s hard to get where you need to go because of all the cancellations. It makes you really thankful when people do step up and have a rodeo, especially one this big. It’s great for the sport.”
Dodge City Roundup Rodeo
Dodge City, Kan.
July 29-Aug. 2
Bareback riding leaders: 1. Orin Larsen, 87 points on Vold Rodeo’s Spicey Chicken; 2. Chad Rutherford, 86; 3. Jesse Pope, 85; 4. Caleb Bennett, 84; 5. Paden Hurst, 83; 6. Craig Wisehart, 82.5; 7. (tie) Ty Breuer and Richmond Champion, 82; 9. Joel Schlegel, 78.5; 10. (tie) Trenton Montero and Tim O’Connell, 77; 12. Anthony Thomas, 75.
Steer wrestling: First round leaders: 1. Dirk Tavenner, 3.6 seconds; 2. Luke Branquinho, 3.8; 3. (tie) Hunter Cure and Clayton Hass, 3.9 each; 5. Dalton Massey, 4.2; 6. (tie) Blake Knowles and Eli Lord, 4.6; 8. Rowdy Parrott, 4.7. Second round leaders: 1. (tie) Jacob Talley and Stetson Jorgensen, 3.7 seconds; 3. (tie) Will Lummus and Dalton Massey, 3.8; 5. Dakota Eldridge, 4.1; 6. (tie) Tyke Kipp and Zack Jongbloed, 4.3; 8. (tie) Curtis Cassidy and Ryan Shuckburgh, 4.5. Average leaders: 1. Dalton Massey, 8.0 seconds on two runs; 2. Luke Branquinho, 8.4; 3. Stetson Jorgenson, 8.5; 4. Dakota Eldridge, 9.0; 5. Zack Jongbloed, 9.2; 6. Ryan Shuckburgh, 9.3; 7. Tom Littell, 9.7; 8. Kalane Anders, 10.1; 9. Weston Taylor, 10.5; 10. Kaleb Summers, 11.4; 11. (tie) Kris Rasmussen and Landon Beardsworth, 11.7.
Team roping: First round leaders: 1. Andrew Ward/Buddy Hawkins II, 5.2 seconds; 2. Casey Hicks/Steve Orth, 5.7; 3. (tie) Cale Markham/Cody Doescher and Riley Minor/Brady Minor, 5.8; 5. Jake Orman/Brye Crites, 5.9; 7. Blake Teixeira/Jerren Johnson, 6.3; 8. Coy Rahlmann/Ryan Von Ahn. Second round leaders: 1. Matt Sherwood/Trey Yates, 4.3 seconds; 2. J.B. James Jr/Brock Hanson, 4.5; 3. Kolton Schmidt/Hunter Koch, 5.2; 4. Cory Kidd/Clay Futrell, 5.5; 5. Erich Rogers/Paden Bray, 5.7; 6. Jeff Flenniken/Tyler Worley, 6.0; 7. (tie) Curry Kirchner/Chad Mathes, Tate Kirchenschlager/Ross Ashford and Brice Boatright/Braden Harmon, 6.5. Average leaders: 1. Jeff Flenniken/Tyler Worley, 12.1 seconds on two runs; 2. Casey Hicks/Steve Orth, 12.3; 3. Jake Orman/Brye Crites, 12.6; 4. Cole Markham/Cody Doescher, 12.7; 5. (tie) Tate Kirchenschlager/Ross Ashford, Coy Rahlmann/Ryan Von Ahn and Kolton Schmidt/Hunter Koch, 13.0; 8. Curry Kirchner/Chad Mathes, 13.6; 9. Adam Wallace/Cody Southerland, 14.8; 10. Brenten Hall/Chase Tryan, 15.1; 11. Andrew Ward/Buddy Hawkins, 17.2; 12. Garett Chick/Walt Woodard, 20.4.
Saddle bronc riding leaders: 1. Zeke Thurston, 85.5 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Bay Watch; 2. Taos Muncy, 84; 3. Ryder Wright, 83.5; 4. (tie) Ross Griffin, Jacobs Crawley and Spencer Wright, 82.5; 7. Jake Finlay, 81.5; 8. Roper Kiesner, 80; 9. Leon Fountain, 79.5; 10. Chuck Schmidt, 78.5; 11. (tie) Dean Wadsworth, Sterling Crawley and Rusty Wright, 78.
Tie-down roping: First round leaders: 1. Riley Pruitt, 8.1 seconds; 2. Haven Meged, 8.3; 3. Reid Zapalac, 8.5; 4. Cooper Martin, 8.6; 5. Reese Riemer, 8.7; 6. (tie) Ike Fontenot and Cade Swor, 8.8; 8. Ty Harris, 9.1. Second round leaders: 1. Zack Jongbloed, 7.9 seconds; 2. (tie) Kincade Henry and Bo Pickett, 8.0; 4. Ty Harris, 8.1; 5. (tie) Cody McCartney and L.D. Meier, 8.3; 7. (tie) Marcos Costa and Adam Gray, 8.5. Average leaders: 1. Ty Harris, 17.2 seconds on two runs; 2. Haven Meged, 17.3; 3. Cooper Martin, 17.4; 4. Ike Fontenot, 17.8; 5. Blake Deckard, 18.5; 6. Ryan Jarrett, 18.6; 7. Glenn Jackson, 18l7; 8. Reid Zapalac, 18.8; 9. Will Howell, 19.3; 10. Marty Yates, 19.6; 11. Bo Pickett, 19.9; 12. Timber Moore, 20.1.
Barrel racing: First round leaders: 1. BryAnna Haluptzok, 16.94 seconds; 2. Emily Miller, 16.95; 3. Jordon Briggs, 16.99; 4. Kathy Grimes, 17.10; 5. Sarah Rau, 17.12; 6. Ceri Ward, 17.21; 7. Shannon Lillard, 17.23; 8. Ryann Pedone, 17.25; 9. Tillar Murray, 17.27; 10. Keyla Polizello Costa, 17.29. Second round leaders: 1. Cheyenne Wimberley, 16.80 seconds; 2. BryAnna haluptzok, 16.88; 3. Stevi Hillman, 16.96; 4. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, 16.98; 5. Shannon Lillard, 17.00; 6. Lois Ferguson, 17.02; 7. Leia Pluemer, 17.06; 8. Sabra O’Quinn, 17.08; 9. Kathy Grimes, 17.13; 10. Destri Devenport, 17.26. Average leaders: 1. BryAnna Haluptzok, 33.82 seconds on two runs; 2. (tie) Kathy Grimes and Shannon Lillard, 34.23; 4. Stevi Hillman, 34.38; 5. Cheyenne Wimberley, 34.39; 6. Sabra O’Quinn, 34.47; Jordon Briggs, 34.49; 8. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, 34.50; 9. Lois Ferguson, 34.59; 10. Abby Phillips, 34.85; 11. Lacinda Rose, 34.89; 12. Lexie Goss, 34.92.
Bull riding leaders: 1. Chase Dougherty, 87 points on Frontier Rodeo’s 23+2; 2. Chance Ekins, 84.5; 3. Cole Meloncon, 84; 4. Braden Richardson, 79; 5. (tie) Eli Vastbinder and Fulton Rutland, 78; 7. Tristan Mize, 77; 8. Creek Young, 76; 9. Colton Byram, 74; 10. (tie) Trevor Reiste and Connor Murnion, 72; no other qualified rides.
Courtesy of twisTEDrodeo.com