Layton Green riding into world-title contention with victory in Pollockville

POLLOCKVILLE, Alberta – Every young cowboy has dreamed of being one of the very best in the field.

Layton Green is living out his dreams one bucking horse at a time, and he’s doing everything he can to make them happen in 2017.

“This has been outstanding,” said Green, who on Saturday night scored 91 points on Calgary Stampede’s Stampede Warrior in the championship round to win the inaugural Hardgrass Bronc Match in Pollockville. “I’ve been dreaming of making the National Finals Rodeo all my life, and this will make it one step easier.

“To win the first-ever Hardgrass Bronc Match is awesome.”

It should be. It’s the first event of its kind; the stand-alone bronc riding was co-sanctioned by the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. That means money won will count toward contestants’ qualifications for bot the NFR and the Canadian Finals Rodeo.

Heading into this weekend’s event, Green was No. 1 in the CPRA standings with $33,703 and fifth in the PRCA with $76,073. He will pad those standings with the $7,061 he earned Saturday night.

“That was the third time I’ve had Stampede Warrior this month,” said Green, 23, of Meeting Creek, Alberta. “I won the short round in Ponoka (Alberta), and I was 91.5 points on him to win the first round in Calgary.”

Green shared the first-round victory with Nebraskan Cort Scheer; both cowboys were 87 points – Scheer spurred Calgary’s Weekend Departure, while Green matched moves with Calgary’s Yesterday’s Delivery. By winning the opening round, Scheer and Green were the first two to select from the pen of short-round horses.

“Cort picked Wild Cherry, which I was also 91.5 in Calgary, too, in the four-man round,” Green said. “It was unreal. There was a pile of people here in the crowd, and everybody rodeo really good. It came down to whoever spurred the best, whoever rode the best, was going to win it.

“Because of the horses they had here, everybody had a chance to win it.”

That’s true. Green didn’t even post the highest score of the night. That honor belonged to Clay Elliott of Nanton, Alberta, who spurred Calgary’s Tiger Warrior for 92 points to win the short go-round. With Green finishing second, he earned the highest two-ride cumulative score to win the championship.

“Everybody had fun,” he said. “It was probably one of the best bronc matches I’ve ever been to.”

The leaderboard proved it. Of the top five in the final score, only Green hasn’t been to the NFR.

“Rodeoing with your idols is great,” he said. “I’ve looked up to guys like Cort Scheer and Tyler Corrington for a while now, and to be able to ride at that level and to be able to ride against guys like that is awesome.”

If he keeps it up, he’ll be doing so at the CFR in Edmonton, Alberta, in November and again at the NFR in Las Vegas in December.

Hardgrass Bronc Match
Pollockville, Alberta
July 29, 2017
First round: 1. (tie) Cort Scheer, on Calgary Stampede’s Weekend Departure, and Layton Green, on Calgary Stampede’s Yesterday’s Delivery, 87 points, $2,543 each; 3. Jacobs Crawley, 85, $1,795; 4. Jake Watson, 84, $1,297; 5. (tie) Clay Elliott and Colton Miller, 83.5, $648 each; 7. (tie) Lane Watt and Justin Berg, 83, $249. Short round: Clay Elliott, 92 points on Calgary Stampede’s Tiger Warrior, $2,100; 2; Layton Green, 91.5, $1,725; 3. Jacobs Crawley, 89.5, $1,350; 4. Jake Watson, 88, $950; 5. Cort Scheer, 87, $600; 6. Justin Berg, 85, $375; 7. Colton Miller, 83, $225. Average: 1. Layton Green, 178.5 points on two rides, $2,792; 2. Clay Elliott, 175.5, $2,294; 3. Jacobs Crawley, 174.5, $1,795; 4. Cort Scheer, 174, $1,297; 5. Jake Watson, 172, $798; 6. Justin Berg, 168, $499; 7. Colton Miller, 166, $299; 8. Lane Watt, 83 points on one ride, $199.