Monthly Archives: December 2019

LAS VEGAS – With just three days remaining on the 2019 ProRodeo season, the races for the world championships are coming down to the wire. For Tuf Cooper of Decatur, Texas, he is in the middle of a sprint to the finish for both the tie-down roping and all-around titles. On Wednesday night during the  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – Time flies when a person is having fun. The National Finals Rodeo has flown by for bareback Orin Larsen, who has had as much fun as anybody as he chases a world championship. “I feel like three days ago was Dec. 1 when we showed up,” said Larsen, a five-time NFR qualifier  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – Tim O’Connell’s confidence continues to soar at the National Finals Rodeo, and there is a good reason. He has placed in five of seven rounds, scored big points and earned $68,385, the latest coming Wednesday night when he was 87.5 points on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Scarlet Fever. He tied for fourth place  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – As the eighth bareback rider to compete Wednesday night, Tanner Aus posted a magical score of 88 points. He was in the cat birdseat as the seventh-round leader. He started thinking about a round-winning celebratory dinner. Then the last two guys rode, and things changed. First, Clayton Biglow scored 91.5 points to  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – Through the first seven nights of the National Finals Rodeo, J.D. Struxness has taken himself to the pay window six times. It’s adding up fast. On Wednesday night, he wrestled his steer to the ground in 3.9 seconds to finish in a three-way tie for third place, pocketing $11,141 in the process  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – Clayton Biglow continued his winning ways during Wednesday’s seventh round of the National Finals Rodeo, but he did it in an unconventional fashion. He rode Rafter G Rodeo’s Ankle Biter for 91.5 points, but it wasn’t the classic spurring motion and bucking style that he has shown through the first six rounds  Continue Reading »

Bareback riding: 1. Clayton Biglow, 91.5 points on Rafter G Rodeo’s Ankle Biter, $26,231; 2. Orin Larsen, 90, $20,731; 3. Tanner Aus, 88, $15,654; 4. (tie) Richmond Champion and Tim O’Connell, 87.5, $8,885 each; 6. (tie) Clint Laye and Jake Brown, 86.5, $2,115 each. Steer wrestling: 1. Stetson Jorgensen, 3.4 seconds, $26,231; 2. Tyler Pearson,  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – When J.D. Struxness didn’t get a time in Monday’s fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo, some saw it as a devastating situation. Struxness saw it as a hiccup. “I got an outstanding start, and that steer fell to the right like they do here when you do that,” he said. “I  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – Saddle bronc rider Colt Gordon and Outlawbuckers Rodeo’s Little Muffin have a good history, which repeated itself Tuesday night. Gordon and the bay bucking horse matched moves for 85 points to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place in the sixth round of the National Finals Rodeo, and the Oklahoma cowboy  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – Tim O’Connell is having a pretty solid National Finals Rodeo. He’d like it to be exceptional. That’s what it’s going to take over the final four nights of the season if he hopes to win a fourth straight bareback riding world championship. “This field is rank,” said O’Connell, who rode Pete Carr  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – Jordan Spears has quietly had a pretty good run at the National Finals Rodeo. It’s about to get pretty loud. He has ridden four bulls but didn’t earn a payday until the fifth round. On Tuesday night, he matched moves with Bridwell Pro Rodeos’ Hou’s Bad News for 90 points to finish  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – The South Point Hotel Casino and Spa is home of the nightly Montana Silversmiths Go-Round Buckle Presentation, an hour of fun that features the winning contestants from each night of the National Finals Rodeo. In just his fourth year competing in Sin City, Clayton Biglow knows his way to the showroom quite  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – While his body and soul were in the Nevada desert competing for a world championship, Orin Larsen’s heart and mind were 2,400 miles away with his brother and sister-in-law. Tyrel and Chaney Larsen are at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where Chaney underwent in-utero surgery Tuesday to provide some help to their  Continue Reading »

Bareback riding: 1. (tie) Caleb Bennett, on Calgary Stampede’s You See Me, Clayton Biglow, on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Freckled Frog, and Tilden Hooper, on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Ain’t No Angel, 88.5 points, $20,872 each; 4. Tim O’Connell, 88, $11,000; 5. (tie) Orin Larsen and Austin Foss, 87.5, $5,500 each. Steer wrestling: 1. Tyler Waguespack, 3.8  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – Monday was a magical night for the bareback riders at the National Finals Rodeo. The fifth round in Sin City is called the “TV Pen,” featuring the most electric bucking horses in the business. Matched with the top 15 cowboys in the sport, it was a sparkling night of big-time rides, highlighted  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – It seems as though bareback rider Tanner Aus is going to have to be close to 90 points at this year’s National Finals Rodeo if he intends to win any money. “I knew it was going to be like this,” said Aus, a four-time NFR qualifier from Granite Falls, Minnesota. “It is  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – It’s been almost nine years since Richmond Champion first rode Picket Pro Rodeo’s great horse, Top Flight, an electric bay that has led many cowboys to the pay window. Champion revisited his old friend on Monday night, and the two danced across the Thomas & Mack Center dirt for 89 points to  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – When prospecting for gold in the Nevada desert, the best tool anyone can half is patience. It can be easy to take a short-cut to find the path, but it’s better to dig through a variety of opportunities to seek out that vein that will reward the sacrifices and provide the biggest  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – Jordan Spears’ philosophy about riding bulls at the National Finals Rodeo is pretty simple, but it might just work out well for him after all. “My dad always said, ‘If you ride every one, eventually they will have to pay you,’ ” said Spears, originally from Redding, California, now living in Caldwell,  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – A little history lesson on Monday night helped Coleman Proctor handle his business during the fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo. “I had a steer that was like my first-round steer,” said Proctor, who, with partner Ryan Motes, stopped the clock in 4.4 seconds to share second place on the fifth  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – Megan Duvall has more influence on her husband than she may think. “My wife made me stay positive,” Riley Duvall said. “I didn’t have a choice, but it worked out good.” Through the first four nights of the National Finals Rodeo, it was hard for him to stay positive. He had thrown  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – Saddle bronc rider Colt Gordon has quickly learned the lights of Las Vegas can burn pretty bright. “I’m kind of just working into the Vegas atmosphere,” said Gordon, who earned his first paycheck of this year’s National Finals Rodeo on Monday night. “It is not going as I had planned, but it  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – A year ago on the fifth night, Clayton Biglow set a National Finals Rodeo arena record with a 93-point bareback ride. On Monday, he came within half a point of that mark to win the fifth round for the second straight year. He scored 92.5 points on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Scarlett Belle  Continue Reading »

Bareback riding: 1. Clayton Biglow, 92.5 points on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Scarlett Belle, $26,231; 2. Tilden Hooper, 92, $20,731; 3. Orin Larsen, 91, $15,654; 4. Caleb Bennett, 90, $11,000; 5. Tanner Aus, 89.5, $6,769; 6. Richmond Champion, 89, $4,231. Steer wrestling: 1. Kyle Irwin, 3.7 seconds, $26,231; 2. Dakota Eldridge, 4.0, $20,731; 3. Riley Duvall,  Continue Reading »