Rough stock rodeo showdown
 |
| Levi Fry of Cheyenne is thrown during the bull riding event on Saturday night at the Laramie Jubilee Days Fall Brawl. Andy Carpenean/Boomerang photographer |
The Wild West action shifted from the gridiron to the University of Wyoming Cliff and Martha Hansen Livestock Teaching Arena Saturday night for the first ever Laramie Jubilee Days Fall Brawl Rodeo.
The rough stock only rodeo featured bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding for a full house as the first day of autumn sent a chill through the air outside the enclosed arena.
Twenty bull riders, 10 saddle bronc riders and 10 bareback riders competed for prize money during the long round and then the two top scores in each event advanced to the short round for a chance at a buckle and more pocket change.
The contestants also split into 10 teams with two bull riders, and one bareback rider and one saddle bronc rider per team for the most total points in each round to decide which sponsored team gets to display the traveling Fall Brawl Rodeo trophy at the respective business. The trophy will later be replaced with a permanent plaque after next year’s event.
The business that gets to show off the horseshoes and spurs trophy was Wyo Tech with 242 total points
The Burns Rodeo Company of Laramie provided the bulls and the horses were brought by AG REC Inc. of Centennial. The bullfighters assuring the safety of the riders were Marc Gill and Cady Burns of Laramie. Announcing was Derek Barton of Wheatland.
Winning the short round in barebacks was JR Vezain of Cowley, who scored an 88 on War Wagon to beat out Sam Munsick of Laramie, who earlier scored a 71 on Nevada Black. During that long go, Vezain scored a 72 on Saddle Mountain.
“It was a decent ride. I had better, but I can’t complain. She was kind of lungy and strong out and got better as the ride went along,” Vezain, who is the current high school rodeo national champion in the event said.
Wes Cleven of Laramie won the saddle bronc long round with a 78 on Storm Clouds, but had to withdraw from the short round due to injury.
“It was a pretty fun horse. I haven’t rode as well lately and if felt good to get a little better ride,” Cleven said.
Going head-to-head in the saddle bronc short round was Blaze Hamaker of Centennial and Colin Stalley of Riverton. Stalley scored an 85 on Eveready and Hamaker notched an 80 on Blue Grass to advance to the championship round. Stalley then improved on his earlier mark with an 87 on No Body, and Hamaker got an 81 on Misty in the short round.
Stalley’s 172 total points after both rides, pushed the Wyo Tech team for the team title combined with Kyle Weides’ (Laramie) bareback score of 70 on Wendy’s Revenge.
Curry Fielder of Cody set the high mark in the bull riding with an 80 on Midnight Stalker in the long go and then won the short round with an 86 on G-Force. He challenged Bryan Guthrie of Cheyenne, who recorded a 79 on Splendid Blend in the long go.
“He was a nice bull — kind of faked the left and went around to the right,” Guthrie said. “It was real honest, and a good bull to get on.
“This is great with not a whole lot of rodeos going on right now, and it only 45 minutes from home, so it is a nice place to have a rodeo. To have a football game during the day and a rodeo at night, it doesn’t get better than that.”
David Watson’s e-mail address is davidw@laramieboomerang.com
Reader Comments
Leave Your Comments
There is a 100 word limitation per post.
Comments are not posted until after being approved by Laramie Boomerang staff.
Comments may be rejected by the Laramie Boomerang staff at their discretion.
The comments posted on the Reader Comments section are not necessarily those of the Laramie Boomerang.
If you would like to report an offensive post, please contact us.