South Dakota Saddle Bronc Rider Dominates Bracket 3 at San Antonio Rodeo
By Susan Kanode
Saddle bronc rider Shorty Garrett of Eagle Butte, S.D., got to make his third victory lap around the AT&T Center at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo on Wednesday night. His third-round success came aboard The Cervi Brother’s horse named Mood Swings. Garrett scored 84.5 points in spite of the horse’s halter nearly coming off. San Antonio Rodeo photo by Scott Foley
SAN ANTONIO – Lifting on the rein of a saddle bronc halter took on new meaning for Shorty Garrett, of Eagle Butte, S.D., at the ninth performance of the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo.
Saddle bronc riders use the rein that is attached to the halter of the bucking horse for balance. So, when the halter slipped over the horse’s ears and started coming off, it was doubly important for Garrett to lift on that rein and keep the halter on the horse’s head.
“I didn’t even know it had slipped until it came off at the end of the ride,” Garrett said. “I’m glad it stayed on as long as it did. It was pretty crazy.”
Garrett scored 84.5 points on The Cervi Brothers’ horse named Mood Swings, good enough to tie for the win in round 3 of Bracket 3. He also tied for the win in round 1 and was the lone man at the top on round 2. He is the high money earner in the bracket at $6,667. A year ago, he finished outside the top 15 that qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
This year, he is determined to be in Las Vegas to ride in rodeo’s championships and a win here in San Antonio would certainly help him accomplish that goal. He is just coming off a win in Rapid City, S.D., and was third in the world standings when he rode in the AT&T Center for the first time. He’ll be back for the Semifinals and with his current winnings is in good position to advance to the Championship Finals.
“I’m having fun,” he added. “It’s always more fun when you’re winning, but I’m really enjoying every horse that I get on. It took a while for me to realize, but I finally decided the ladder to the top wasn’t that tall and I just needed to take one step at a time to get there.”
Jordan Hansen from Ponoka, Alberta was the big winner in the bull riding. He placed in all three rounds and will start the Semifinals with $6,250 in earnings. Hansen got a third-place check on Wednesday with an 80-point ride on Powder River Rodeo’s Kilroy. Dustin Bouquet from Bourg, La., won with an 86.5 on Cinnamon Kat, also from Powder River. That third round win will have Bouquet among the Semifinals Qualifiers as well.
The newly formed team roping duo ow Dustin Egusquiza and Travis Graves won round three with a 3.6-second run. They were just one-tenth off of the arena record set in round two by Dustin Bird and Levi Tyan. Egusquiza, from Marianna, Fla., and Graves from Jay, Okla., were the big money earners in Bracket 3 at $6,000..
The first round of Bracket 4 at the San Antonio Rodeo will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday night.
The following are unofficial results from the San Antonio Stock Show Rodeo, the 14-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Large Indoor Rodeo of the Year. Complete results are at www.sarodeo.com.
Bracket 3, round 3 followed by Semifinals qualifier —
Bareback Riding: 1, Taylor Broussard, Estherwood, La., 86 points on Cervi Championship’s High Rolling Sidney, $2,500. 2, (tie) Spur LaCasse, Calgary, Alberta and Tilden Hooper, Carthage, Texas, 82 and $1,625 each. 4, Paden Hurst, Huntsville, Texas, 80.5, $750. (Semifinals Qualifiers) 1, Broussard, $4,125. 2, Tim O’Connell, Zwingle, Iowa, $3,625. 3, Jamie Howlett, Rapid City, S.D., $3,250. 4, Leighton Berry, Weatherford, Texas, $2,500.
Steer Wrestling: 1, Dakota Eldridge, Elko, Nev., 3.8 seconds, $2,500. 2, Bridger Anderson, Carrington, N.D., 4.0, $2,000. 3, Jace Melvin, Fort Pierre, S.D., 4.1, $1,250. 4, Clayton Hass, Weatherford, Texas, and J.D. Struxness, Milan, Minn., 4.3, $375 each. (Semifinals Qualifiers) 1, Josh Clark, Belgrade, Mont., $3,875. 2, Melvin, $3,500. 3, Anderson, $3,125. 4, Hass, $2,875.
Team Roping: 1, Dustin Egusquiza, Marianna, Fla., and Travis Graves, Jay, Okla., 3.6 seconds, $2,500. 2, Clay Smith, Broken Bow, Okla., and Jade Corkill, Fallon, Nev., 4.0, $2,000. 3, Cyle Denison, Iowa, La., and Lane Mitchell, Bolivar, Tenn., 4.2, $1,250. 4, Brenten Hall, Jay, Okla., and Chase Tryan, Helena, Mont., 8.5, $750. (Semifinals Qualifiers) 1, Egusquiza andGraves, $6,000. 2, Jeff Flenniken, Caldwell, Idaho and Tyler Worley, Berryville, Ark., $4,000. 3, Dustin Bird, Cut Bank, Mont., and Levi Tyan, Wallace, Nev., $2,500. 4, Ty Blasingame, Casper, Wyo., and Brandon Bates, Wickenberg, Ariz., $2,250.
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1, (tie) Shorty Garrett, Eagle Butte, S.D., on The Cervi Brothers’ Mood Swings and Allen Boore, Axtell, Utah, on The Cervi Brothers’ Hell’s Fire Host, 84.5 points and $2,250 each. 3, Jade Blackwell, Rapid City, S.D., 83, $1,250. 4, Kole Ashbacher, Arrowwood, Alberta, 82, $750. (Semifinals Qualifiers) 1, Garrett, $6,667. 2, Ashbacher, $4,292. 3, Jacobs Crawley, Boerne, Texas, $3,542. 4, Boore, $2,250.
Tie-Down Roping: 1, Cory Solomon, Prairie View, Texas, 7.6 seconds, $2,500. 2, (tie) Ryle Smith, Oakdale, Calif., and Chance Oftedahl, Pemberton, Minn., 8.0, $1,6255. 4, Westyn Hughes, Caldwell, Texas, 8.3, $750. (Semifinals Qualfiers) 1, Ofthdahl, $3,875. 2, Smith, $2,875. 3, Solomon, $2,500. 4, Justin Smith, Leesville, La., $2,250.
Women’s Barrel Race: 1, Dona Kay rule, Minco, Okla., 13.99 seconds, $2,500. 2, Brittney Barnett, Stephenville, Texas, 14.13, $2,000. 3, Shelley Morgan, Canton, Texas, 14.34, $1,250. 4, cindy Smith, Lovington, N.M., 14.41, $750. (Semifinals Qualifiers) 1, Barnett, $4,500. 2, Rule, $3,750. 3, Kathy Grimes, Medical Lake, Wash., $3,500. 4, Smith, $2,750.
Bull Riding: (three rides) 1, Dustin Boquet, Bourg, La., 86.5 points on Powder River Rodeo’s Cinnamon Kat, $2,750. 2, Trevor Kastner, Roff, Okla., 85.5, $2,250. 3, Jordan Hansen, Ponoka, Alberta, 80, $1,500. (Semifinals Qualifiers) 1, Hansen, $6,250. 2, Sage Kimzey, Strong City, Okla., $4,000. 3, (tie) Bouquet and Jeff Askey, Athens, Texas, $2,750 each.