RAPID CITY, S.D. – A full house was in Rapid City Saturday night at the James Kjerstad Event Center on the Central States Fairgrounds for the Finals of the Gold Buckle Beer Pro Tour Finale. The best rodeo athletes in the world converged on the Black Hills for a 5-day tournament that, as advertised, often determined who is in and who is out for the National Finals Rodeo in Arlington, TX this December. The final day of the season is Wednesday, so it was hard to overstate the importance of this event. As a result of the Finale in Rapid City, there was a change in the All-Around World Standings and in the Team Roping Headers, Saddle Bronc, Tie-Down Roping and Barrel Racing, four pro rodeo athletes that weren’t in the top 15, the cutoff to make the National Finals Rodeo, are presently in the big show.
There was a lot of money up in both the long and short go Saturday and here is how it all went down:
In the Bareback, Orin Larsen won the 3rd go-round with a big 91, followed by Tilden Hooper with an 86, Cole Reiner was 85 and Richmond Champion and Jesse Pope were both 84. But the 84 that carried Pope to the short-go was just what was needed to help catapult him to the Finale title when he was 90 on Straight Moonshine and Tilden Hooper finished oh-so-close with an 89.5 on Blessed Assurances. In the World Standings Hooper moved from 5th to 4th and Cole Reiner and Pope swapped the 11th and 12 positions.
Jacob Talley is the Finale Champ in the Steer Wrestling, winning both the long and short-go Saturday. Tanner Brunner’s 2nd place in the long-go was enough to move him from 8th to 6th in the World Standings. Rowdy Parrott was 3rd and Jace Melvin 4th. Talley won the short-go and the title with comfortable 3.6 over Rowdy Parrott’s 4.2 which was enough for 2nd.
We knew going into Saturday night that the Team Roping was tight at the line to make the NFR. And, in the case of the headers, Chad Masters went from just bubbling under at 16, all the way #12 in the World on the strength of he and Wesley Thorp’s 2nd place finish in both the long and short-go. That was sure bad news for Matt Sherwood who was in-the-show on Saturday morning, but $587.79 out of 15th before midnight. Nick Sartain and Joseph Harrison won the long-go, followed by Masters and Thorp in 2nd, Brenten Hall and Chase Tryan in 3rd and Riley and Brady Minor 4th. The Minor’s turned around and won the short-go and the Finale title with and impressive 4.1, Masters and Thorp were 5.0 but it was enough for 2nd.
Cody DeMoss wasn’t in Rapid City Saturday and we don’t know if he watched on the Cowboy Channel or not but it had to ruin his weekend that Stetson Wright won the Gold Buckle Beer Tour Finale, launching himself from 18th to 13th in the World and, in the process, bumped Cody to 16th. It was an enjoyable night for Eagle Butte’s Shorty Garret, who won the long-go with an 89 and finished second in the short-go. It all gave Garrett a little space on Allen Boore in the World Standings and brought him much closer to Brody Cress who is currently sitting 3rd in the World. So in the long-go, Garrett was 89 to win, Ben Andersen was 86 for 2nd, Stetson Wright 85 for 3rd and CoBurn Bradshaw 81 for 4th to make the short-go. Then Stetson was 90 on Lunatic From Hell to win the thing and Shorty Garrett 89.5 on Onion Ring in a dramatic finish to the Saddle Broncs.
There were BIG changes in the Tie-Down Roping World Standings as a result of Saturday night in Rapid City. Tyson Durfey who was on the outside looking in coming to Rapid City is now at #12 in the world (from #19) and Tyler Milligan lept an impressive 6-spots to #5 in the world on the strength of winning the long-go and finishing 2nd in the short-go. Cory Solomon, meanwhile, drops to #16 in the world, just $175.78 out of the NFR. Milligan wins the long-go, followed by Durfey in 2nd, Westyn Hughes 3rd and Caddo Lewallen 4th. Durfey won the short-go and the Gold Buckle Tour Finale title with an 8.0, while Milligan was 2nd at 8.5.
We reported yesterday here that Saturday night would be a big opportunity for Ryann Pedone and boy did she deliver! Pedone goes from 16th in the World all the way up to 11th by winning the Barrel Racing in Rapid City. It wasn’t good news for Jessica Telford who is now $176.96 out of the big show in Texas. Dona Kay Rule won the 3rd go-round, followed by Nellie Miller, Hailey Kinsel and Ryann Pedone. But Pedone turned around and clocked a 15.97 in the short-go followed by Miller and Rule both with a 16.09.
The building was thundering as the Bulls got set to go Saturday night. 5 of the top 10 bull riders in the world were in the building, including Sage Kimzey who sits atop the World Standings. It wasn’t Kimzey’s night, however. Instead Ty Wallace won the long-go with a 91 on Trail of Tears, Brady Porenier was 2nd aboard Safety Meeting and Jeff Askey 3rd on Let’s Gamble. In the short round only Askey would ride, the first to be good-on-two at an event where the livestock seemed to win the thing. Askey was 82 on Sitting Bull to claim the Gold Buckle Beer Tour Finale title and move from 9th to 6th in the World.
It wasn’t a good night for Stetson Wright in the bull riding, but his stellar outing in Saddle Bronc was enough to make a change in the All-Around World Standings as Wright bumps Clay Smith out of 2nd, though still trails Tuf Cooper who presently leads the World by a little more than 9-grand. The unofficial current World Standings in all events can be found here:
http://www.prorodeo.com/prorodeo/standings/prca-world-standings/world-standings
