Dec 16, 2017
Round 9
My friend and fellow rodeo journalist Kendra Santos and I will be compiling NFR Insider Insights into the 2017 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo to tell fans the rest of the story here at Rodeoâs Super Bowl.
Iâm very excited to have the opportunity to work closely with Kendra. Iâm equally excited for you rodeo fans and our readers. Together, we have over 60 years of experience covering rodeos that spans generations. We may offer opinions, but those opinions will be based on that experience. Kendra is focusing on the timed-event end of the arena, and I will concentrate on the roughstock events. We have a strong belief that the stories in the Thomas & Mack Center go far beyond the victory laps around that arena and are very grateful for the opportunity to share them with you.
Roping, Wrestling and Running â By Kendra Santos
It happened so fast that a lot of people didnât even notice. Reigning World Champion All-Around Cowboy Junior Nogueira had a dangerous brush with disaster in Round 8 that resulted in a severe burn at the base of the thumb on his roping hand.
The hearts of anyone who remembers Juniorâs ProRodeo Hall of Fame mentor Jake Barnes losing his thumb here in the heat of Wrangler National Finals Rodeo battle in 2005 skipped more than a few beats between the time you could see things going south and when Junior looked down, relieved to see all five digits remaining on his right hand.
The real champs know no excuses and refuse to say die. So it surprised no one when Junior and his header, Kaleb Driggers, rallied to take the Round 9 victory lap in a world-record-tying 3.3 seconds. The magical mark was originally set right here in Las Vegas by Chad Masters and Jade Corkill at the 2009 NFR. It was matched by Brock Hansen and Ryan Motes at the rodeo in Nacogdoches, Texas, in 2012.
âWeâd been 3.3 one time at a jackpot in Texas on slow steers, but it wasnât worth $26,000,â Kaleb said with a great big grin. âWe hadnât drawn the best here this week, but we had our eyes on this steer. My friend Jackson Tucker texts me what we draw every night, and tonight I texted him back, âIâm in love.â We were pretty pumped to have a steer we knew we could capitalize on.
âThis definitely ranks right up there among my best career moments. But one steer will never set me apart from the rest. I have one goal in mind, and everyone knows what that is.â
Yes, the gold buckle is every cowboyâs ultimate dream. And Kaleb, whoâs been battling illness all week, is no exception. He didnât have much voice left, but he did manage to muster a crack on Juniorâs unintended, post-run dismount in the middle of the arena when his horse Green Card whirled while Junior was celebrating a little too tall in the saddle.
âJunior fell off the merry-go-round,â Kaleb said with a belly laugh.
âSeeing that 3.3 on the scoreboard was the best moment of my life,â Junior said. âA couple seconds later was the most embarrassing moment of my life. I fell off at the Finals.â
It was all in fun, of course, and once the flag drops nothing else much matters anyway.
Rodeoâs ultra-competitive climate today translates into more single-event cowboy specialists than ever before. If you go all the way back to rodeoâs ranching roots, multi-event cowboys were common. But as hard as it is to win now narrows most contestantsâ focus by necessity.
The same can be said on the equine side of our sport, which answers a lot of peopleâs questions about why 2013 World Champion Tie-Down Roper Shane Hanchey isnât riding his 2017 American Quarter Horse Association/Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Tie-Down Roping Horse of the Year Si at the richest rodeo of the year.
âThe Thomas & Mack isnât Siâs setup,â said Hanchey, who instead opted onto his other trusty sorrel steed, Bam. âSiâs an outdoor, summertime type of horse. Bottom line, I think I can tie calves faster on Bam here in this little building. There are a lot of places all season long where Iâd ride Si over Bamâand did. This just doesnât happen to be one of them.â
Like Round 8 tie-down roping winner Cory Solomon, Hancheyâs quite slightly built at 5â 10â and 142 pounds. Hanchey set the 10-head NFR tie-down roping record of 80.1 seconds here in 2013, the same year he strapped on his gold buckle. As always, he did it with the help of a horse.
In that particular case, it was his horse-of-a-lifetime Reata. Top-flight horsepower is vital to every timed-event contestantâs success, but even more so when you have a size deficit to overcome.
âIâm little, so if my horse doesnât work awesome, itâs not going to work,â Hanchey said simply.
Texas barrel racer Hailey Kinsel struck again in Round 9, this time in 13.43 seconds. Kinsel and her blonde-bomber-sidekick, Sister, whoâs 6, have now won three rounds and placed in four others, blanked only in Rounds 7 and 8 when they hit barrels. Despite the pair of five-second speeding tickets, Hailey and Sister sit sixth in the 10-run NFR average.
With only three cowgirlsâaverage leader Nellie Miller, Ivy Conrado and Lisa Lockhartâclean around the cloverleaf pattern in the first nine rounds, it would be reasonable for Hailey to have the rich average payoff in the back of her mind. But the Texas A&M grad is much more offensively minded than that.
âBeing careful and conservative doesnât work for Sister and I,â said Hailey, whoâs already banked $146,653 here this week, making her the second-winningest contestant behind only saddle bronc rider Ryder Wright at $174,154. âWe donât go at it like that all year long, so why do it here, at the biggest rodeo of the year?
âThey pay every day, so I try to get a check every day. I know my horse is going to give it 110 percent, so if I donât step up and do the same Iâm going to be behind her and weâre either going to hit a barrel or be slow. Either way, they donât pay us for that. Weâre here to get paid. And itâs a lot more fun when youâre winning.â
When Canadian steer wrestler Scott Guenthner rode into Round 9, he hadnât cashed a check since splitting the third-place cash five ways on opening night. His 3.3 in the ninth round matched Dakota Eldridgeâs run in Round 7 for the fastest weâve seen. Guenthner started the week on his horse Itsy, before making a move to Tom Lewisâs Maverick for Rounds 8 and 9.
âI just wasnât having any luck, so I figured I might as well get on the horse thatâs been winning everything,â Guenthner smiled. âIâd never been on Maverickâs back before I got on him here, but Iâve been watching my traveling partner win on him and he looked easy and solid.â
Guenthner borrowed more than the same horse as traveling partner Tanner Milan, who won Rounds 2 and 5. He also borrowed Tannerâs big brother, Baillie, to help line his steers from over on the hazing side. Each contestant is allowed one âbox buddyâ to be in the box with him, and Guenthner enlisted Tanner for that task, too.
âWithout Tanner I probably wouldnât be here, and vice-versa,â Guenthner said. âWe motivate each other all year long, and weâre always in each otherâs corners. So it only makes sense to be there for each other here, too.â
Bulls, Bares and Saddle Broncs â by Susan Kanode
Oh what a night! Round 9 at this yearâs Wrangler National Finals Rodeo was full of surprises, upsets and triumphs.
In a Brown versus Brown bareback riding matchup, we saw Jake Brown win his first round of this yearâs competition. It is his third qualification. Last year, he missed rounds 8 and 9 because of a concussion. This year he started the competition healthy and after getting on nine head of the worldâs best bareback horses, would be ready to get on five or six more.
Jake got a share of the Round 2âs prize money with an 86.5-point score. He finished fifth. Then had a few hiccups. That lit a fire in him to finish this yearâs NFR with a bang. He got a third-place check in Round 8 setting him up for Round 9. He got on Beutler and Son Rodeoâs horse, Nutrenaâs Molly Brown.
Molly Brown is a 15-year-old bay mare that Benny Beutler describes as being very docile. She was very patient in the bucking chute waiting for Jake to nod his head, saving her energy for the arena. The Brown duo racked up 87.5 points and Jake got to take another victory lap around the Thomas and Mack Center.
After the eight-second buzzer, Jake saw an opportunity and baled off Molly Brown, landing on his feet. Normally bareback riders wait for the pickup men to come to their rescue, but getting off on his own is becoming almost a trademark for Jake.
âIt started when I was pretty young and from riding bulls,â he said. âWe had some practice horses, but never had pickup men to help us. We wanted to get on bucking horses and we had to learn to get off.â
Pickup men know that he has the habit of not waiting for them, so they will often wait a few seconds to ride in, giving him plenty of room. He doesnât always land on his feet, but itâs good watching when he does.
âItâs because Iâm catty like a catfish,â he joked. âBut, itâs a whole lot better to make the decision to come off than to have it happen early.â
Jakeâs father Paul Brown is the rodeo coach at Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas. They have a full set of alumni here including Jake and last nightâs tie-down roping champ, Shane Hanchey.
âItâs been great,â Paul said. âOf course, we want Jake to do well, but Iâve worked with all of them while they were in college and watching them succeed here is very rewarding.â
Tim OâConnell crossed $300,000 in season earnings thanks to a tie for fifth place Friday night. He has a seven-point advantage in the average. Tanner Aus is in second place in the world standings and is fifth overall. For Tanner to catch Tim, he would have to move up to first in the average, win Round 10. And, Tim would have to have a big zero by his name.
We got to watch Ryder Wright take his fourth victory lap around the arena and his second consecutive on Friday. This ranch and rodeo raised kid has been nearly as dynamic throughout this yearâs competition as he was during the first four rounds last year.
Ryderâs Round 9 win came aboard a four-year-old gelding, Kitty Whistle, owned by South Dakotaâs Korkow Rodeos.
âI watched the bronc riding, and thought we might have a chance with Ryder,â T.J. Korkow said. âHe was the last one out and the horses were getting pretty strong. After the ride, I looked around the arena and I see those scores come up and he wins the round. Weâll take it when we can get it and be grateful.â
Ryder won a total of five rounds at the 2016 NFR. He has garnered four this year and could add a fifth. He is leading the world standings and is the odds-on favorite for a gold buckle, one that he would proudly wear.
Cody Wright, Ryderâs dad, suggested Ryder save those round buckles and make a clock out of them using each one as a different number. Ryder plans on hanging them on the wall.
Prior to coming to Las Vegas, he wore a buckle that he won in high school rodeo. After all, he graduated in May of 2016. He won the saddle bronc riding at the National High School Rodeo Finals the year before. When he got to this yearâs NFR, he decided he should put high school behind him and started wearing the Rookie of the Year buckle he won last year.
âI donât care what he or any of my kids do, as long as they set goals and commit to them,â Cody said. âOtherwise youâre like a ship sailing at sea ready to sink. For Ryder, it just depends on how serious he wants to take it and how important it is to him. I think the sky is the limit.â
Cody has traveled across the country competing with his two oldest boys, Rusty and Ryder. If it wasnât for injuries, Cody and Rusty would likely have been competing here this year too. Cody, the 2008 and 2010 world champion had shoulder surgery on Oct. 13th and is hoping to return at the San Antonio Stock Show Rodeo.
âIn this sport, you have to be all in and 100 percent. I canât beat Ryder if Iâm not all in,â he added with a smile on his face.
If Ryder is all in, heâs going to leave Las Vegas with a gold buckle. He leads the world standings by $46,588 over Jacobs Crawley. The spoiler in the bunch became Brody Cress last night when yellow flags fell on the arena floor because CoBurn Bradshaw failed to mark his horse out. CoBurn, who married into the Wright family still made the trip to the South Point for the Montana Silversmithâs Buckle Presentations in support of Ryder.
Brody is currently fifth in the world, but sits first in the NFR average race. The Wyoming native tied for third in the ninth round. To overtake Ryder, he would need to win the average, shut Ryder out and place in the round.
Boudreaux Campbell has not had the NFR that he or his fans have expected. After riding his first bull here for 82.5 points and a sixth-place finish, he was shut out until Round 7. Last night, he was one of two riders to split the $84,616 up for grabs in the round. The other one was Trey Benton, who has had an incredible NFR. They each won $42,308 for their 88-points ride.
While Boudreaux made his first trip to the South Point, it was Treyâs fourth. It was the rank pen of bulls that included all of this yearâs Pendleton Whisky âLet âer Buckâ Stock of the Year winners.
Boudreaux rode Stace Smith Pro Rodeoâs Rebelution, who has a buck-off percentage of 85%. In fact, he hasnât been ridden all year. The five-year-old brindle came from Steve and Julie Ravenscroft who are known for their breeding program.
âWe were so happy to see Boudreaux get on him,â said Terry Autrey, livestock manager for Smith. âHe comes to all of our rodeos and he has a bright future ahead of him. Heâll be back here next year.â
It was Rafter H Rodeo Livestockâs Nose Bender that Trey was successful on. The bull stumbled a little and Trey was offered the option of a re-ride which he was happy to decline. And, he wasnât in very good shape to get on another one.
Trey had a little trouble getting up after he came off Nose Bender. Then he, and the bullfighters got the full effect of Nose Benderâs wrath at being ridden. The Justin Sportsmedicine Team took care of Trey while Boudreaux was celebrating in front of the fans.
A mild concussion wonât keep Trey down. He came to the South Point for the buckle presentations and is looking forward to Round 10. He should be, he has moved into second place in the world and is first in the average. He and Sage Kimzey, who still leads the world, have each ridden six bulls. It all comes down to eight seconds.