GUYMON, Okla. – Some guys have a four-leaf clover. Others have a rabbit’s foot.
Tyler Smith wears his lucky charm around his waist. It’s the championship buckle the Fruita, Colo., cowboy earned in 2010 for winning the Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo bull riding title.
“I’ve got my Guymon belt on; it’s been good luck,” said Smith, who used his win in the Oklahoma Panhandle three seasons ago to qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. “Hopefully I’ll get another one.”
On Saturday night during the 81st edition of Guymon’s rodeo, Smith rode Carr Pro Rodeo’s Rio Bravo for 93; it was the highest-marked ride of the cowboy’s five-year career.
“I’ve had real good luck here,” he said. “I love coming here.”
He should. That 93-point ride will be tough to beat during the final performance, set for 2 p.m. Sunday.
“He’s real little,” Smith said. “He probably weighed only 1,000 pounds. He sucked back and got my feet behind me. I shot forward and got my feet set back down. Because he’s so little, it was hard to keep my feet down on him.”
Apparently, the judges saw that, too. The score is based on the 100-point scale, with half the score coming from the animal; the other half comes from how well the cowboy rides. That works in all three roughstock events: bull riding, bareback riding and saddle bronc riding.
Saturday night featured lead changes in all three, with bareback rider Jason Havens scoring an 86-point ride on Pete Carr’s Classic Pro Rodeo’s Good Time Charlie and saddle bronc rider Heith DeMoss posting an 87 on Classic’s Spur Strap.
“That was the third time I had him,” Havens said of Good Time Charlie, a horse that has been selected numerous times to buck at the NFR. “It’s always fun coming to a rodeo like this where there are so many good horses and to have a great horse like that. You don’t have a chance to get on horses like that every day, so when you get the chance, you get pretty excited.”
“I’m so excited, it’s ridiculous. To be winning something at this rodeo is awesome,” said DeMoss, a four-time NFR qualifier from Heflin, La. “It’s a great rodeo. It’s a bronc riding-type nation around here, and I’m thrilled to be doing good in it.”
Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo
April 29-May 5
Results through the third performance
Bareback riding: 1. Jason Havens, 86 points on Pete Carr’s Classic Pro Rodeo’s Good Time Charlie; 2. Caine Riddle,85; 3. Ty Breuer, 84; 4. (tie) Kaycee Field, Tyler Scales and Clint Cannon, 80; 7. Clint Laye, 79; 8. Cody DeMers, Morgan Heaton and Ryan Gray, 78;
Steer wrestling: Third round leaders: 1. (tie) Wade Sumpter and Matt Reeves, 3.9 seconds; 3. Riley Duvall, 4.1; 4. (tie) Ryan Mims and Weston Taylor, 4.2; 6. Tyler Pearson, 4.3; 7. Jace Melvin, 4.4; 8. Jule Hazen, 4.7. Aggregate: 1. Wade Sumpter, 13.5 seconds on 3 runs; 2. (tie) Tyler Pearson and Jace Melvin, 14.3; 4. Drew Slade, 14.7; 5. Riley Duvall, 14.9; 5. Matt Reeves, 15.1; 6. Brad Johnson, 15.3; 7. Brad Johnson, 15.3; 8. Dru Melvin, 15.7.
Steer roping: Fifth round leaders: 1. Jake DeGeer, 10.5 seconds; 2. Rod Hartness, 12.5; 3. (tie) Vin Fisher Jr. and J.D. Yates, 12.6; 5. Howdy McGinn, 15.1; 6. (tie) Chuck Thomson and Dee Kyler Jr., 15.2; 8. Brian Garr 15.5. Aggregate: 1. Scott Snedecor, 71.5 seconds on 5 runs. 2. J.D. Yates, 75.3; 3. Howdy McGinn, 79.8; 4. Will McBride, 81.8; 5. John Bland, 82.9; 6. Chuck Thomson, 92.4; 7. Mike Outhier, 95.0; 8. Shay Goad, 98.1.
Saddle bronc riding: 1. Heith Allan DeMoss, 87 points on Pete Carr’s Classic Pro Rodeo’s Spur Strap; 2. (tie) Wade Sundell and Bryce Miller, 85; 4. (tie) Tyrell Smith and Tyler Corrington, 84; 6. (tie) Ty Thompson and Lyle W. Welling, 83; 8. Cort Scheer, 82.
Team roping: Third round leaders: 1. Ryan Von Ahn/Derrick Peterson, 6.7; 2. (tie) Derrick Begay/Cesar de la Cruz and Clay Tryan/Jade Corkill, 6.8; 4. Mike Bacon/Joseph Harrison, 7.2; 5. Nick Pullara/Justin Price, 7.7; 6. Quisto Lopez/Christian Morris, 8.4; 7. A.J. Horton/Kyle Horton, 9.2; 8. Colby Siddoway/Shay Carroll, 9.5 Aggregate: 1. Quisto Lopez/Christain Morris, 23.8 seconds on 3 runs; 2. Nick Pullara/Justin Price, 24.5; 3. Clay Tryan/Jade Corkill, 25.1; 4. Ryan Jarrett/Marty Yates, 28.5; 5. Derrick Begay/Cesar de la Cruz, 29.2; 6. Colby Siddoway/Shay Carroll, 29.5; 7. Lany Ivy/Lane Siggins, 29.6; 8. Ryan Von Ahn/Derrick Peterson, 30.5.
Tie-down roping: Third round leaders: 1. Cade Swor, 7.8 seconds; 2. Tyson Durfey, 8.3; 3. Boe Brown, 8.9; 4. Jeremiah Peek, 9.0; 5. Dane Kissack, 9.2; 6. Trell Etbauer, 9.4; 7. Brice Ingo, 9.6; 8. Kiel Rowan, 10.3. Aggregate: 1. Cade Swor, 25.7 seconds on 3 runs; 2. Tyson Durfey, 26.4; 3. Seth Childers, 28.7; 4. Dane Kissack, 29.0; 5. Trell Etbauer, 29.4; 6. Jeremiah Peek, 29.7; 7. Marty Yates, 30.8; 8. Cory Solomon, 31.4.
Barrel racing: Second round leaders: 1. Kassidy Dennison, 17.30 seconds; 2. Victoria Williams, 17.4; 3. Jessica Frost, 17.42; 4. Sammi Bessert, 17.43; 5. Kimmie Wall, 17.44; 6. Alicia Stockton, 17.46; 7. Kelly Bass, 17.5; 8. Kelly Yates, 17.54; 9. Emily Efurd, 17.55; 10. Cindy Smith, 17.56. Aggregate: 1. Alicia Stockton, 34.92 seconds on 2 runs; 2. Sherry Cervi, 35.03; 3. Tammi Reynolds, 35.26; 4. Jana Bean, 35.29; 5. (tie) Kaley Bass and Lindsay Sears, 35.30; 7. Chelsie Clement, 35.37; 8. Kimmie Wall, 35.39; 9. Kassidy Dennison, 35.44; 10. Cindy Gillespie, 35.51.
Bull riding: 1. Tyler Smith, 93 points on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Rio Bravo; 2. Parker Breding, 89; 3. (tie) Cody Whitney and Josh Koshel, 88; 5. Rorey Maier, 85; 6. Tyler Willis, 84; 7. (tie) Chandler Bownds and Taylor Toves, 83.