Iowa Cowboy Notches First ProRodeo Bull Riding Win
Courtesy Gretchen Kirchmann
Garrett Wall from Sioux City, Iowa, claimed his first PRCA win in bull riding at the 52nd Cherokee (Iowa) Chamber PRCA Rodeo, June 2.
His 81-point ride on Thursday, May 31, stood up over the Friday and Saturday performances and stood up against the RAM Circuit Finals-caliber contestants.
Wall was all smiles following his ride, high-fiving bullfighter Luke Moore. Wall drew a rank bull, Barnes PRCA Rodeo’s Rafael’s Red Chain, with a 70 percent buck-off last year. The bull was selected for the 2017 RAM Great Lakes Circuit Finals Rodeo.
Wall, a recent Morningside College graduate, is focused on his ProRodeo career. “I’ve had people ask me if I was going to ride in the Cherokee PRCA since I was 16 years old. It’s close to home and everyone in the area knows about Cherokee.”
Wall prefers to ride in the moment and not predict the bull’s tendencies from dialogue by fellow contestants.
“When they tell me a bull is going to spin to the right, and it goes left, I anticipated right and get bucked off,” he said. “One kid came up to me and said that if I rode this bull I’d probably win it (the rodeo). That was all I knew. I told him to stop, because I didn’t want to hear anymore about it. I get to thinking about it too much.”
The 23-year-old cowboy was one of a dozen Iowa contestants that cashed checks in Cherokee. Wall is working hard to qualify for his first RAM Great Lakes Circuit Finals Rodeo and is focused on making the 2018 PRCA RAM Rodeo Permit Finals in Las Vegas during the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
Bull riders and fellow Iowans Gumby Wren, from Sidney, won second on 120 Ada Been 90; John Young, from Orient, won third on 44 Sugar Ray; Stitch Gibson, from Sidney, placed fourth on 396 Bird Dog. The fifth-place tie went to Dalton Krantz, from Corydon, on 18 Legal Eagle and Ardie Maier, from Timber Lake, S.D., was 15 Friendly Fire.
South Dakota claimed four event championships and the all-around cowboy title. Hallie Fulton, from Wessington Springs, S.D., won the barrel race, while her cousin Jake Fulton won the all-around title and split the tie-down roping.
Barnes PRCA Rodeo bucking horses delivered paychecks for Badlands, Great Lakes and Prairie circuit cowboys. The reigning 2018 RAM Badlands Circuit Finals Champion and three-time Wrangler NFR-qualifier Ty Breuer, from Mandan, N.D., won the bareback riding. Breuer scored 83.5 points on 6A8 Squints. Nick Schwedhelm rode 1Z8 Hawley Falls for 81.5 points to win second. Garrett Shadbolt, from Merriman, Neb., rode 6M0 Deep Springs, placing third with his 81-point ride. Reigning 2018 RAM Great Lakes Circuit Champion and three-time Wrangler NFR qualifier Tanner Aus, of Granite Falls, Minn., collected his check on 4D2 Final Wall with 80 points.
Evan Thyberg, from Hartford, S.D., split the tie-down roping with Fulton. Both turned in 10.9-second runs. Cody Huber, from Albia, Iowa, collected a check in fifth place. Steer wrestler Noah Lassa, from Merrill, Wis., won in 4.5 seconds.
Saddle bronc rider Lane Stirling, from Buffalo, S.D., won on 5H0 Bailamos with 79 points; Jesse Wilson, from Martin, S.D., took second place on 4Z2 Buffalo Zinger; Dalton Kingery, from Monroe, Iowa, on 2D5 Closing Time finished third. The fourth-place tie included Iowans Briar Dittmer, from Runnells, on R5 Slide Gate and Logan Allen, from Crescent, on Y2 Katey. Four-time Wrangler NFR qualifier and reigning 2018 RAM Badlands Circuit Finals Champion J.J. Elshere, from Hereford, S.D., collected his check on 15I0 Super Fly.
Team Ropers Jade Schmidt, from Box Elder, S.D., and heeling partner Cameron Irwin, from Buffalo, Wyo., finished in 5.6 seconds to claim the win. Iowa cowboys Mitchell Barney, from Logan, and JW Beck, from Moville, split 4/5 with Butch Levell, from Glenwood, and his partner Brady Kyle, from Archer City, Texas.
The three-performance rodeo May 31 through June 2 had 254 competitors. Cherokee, Iowa is the hometown of Barnes PRCA Rodeo stock contracting company.
Courtesy of PRCA