Monthly Archives: August 2021

Humble beginnings define him, but bull rider is on a summer hot streak After his first qualification to the National Finals Rodeo, Dustin Boquet realized bull riding was the life for him. He was going to make the NFR every year. As one of the best in the game, he’d made it, and he was  Continue Reading »

DUNCAN, Okla. – Stockton Graves is no spring chicken, but he still acts like one from time to time. If he competes this December at the National Finals Rodeo for the eighth time in his career, he’ll be 10 years removed from his last qualification. During that 10-day stretch, from Dec. 2-11, he will turn  Continue Reading »

Fans in Killdeer, Dickinson will get a glimpse of it in September KILLDEER, N.D. – When Alicia Fettig looks across the pasture at her herd of bucking horses, she smiles a bit and knows she’s in the right place. Only the best stock contractors in the sport of rodeo test the talents of their animal  Continue Reading »

No job has ever been too big for Cheyenne Frontier Days announcer Five days before the opening performance of the 2021 Cheyenne (Wyoming) Frontier Days Rodeo, Garrett Yerigan took an inspiring walk around Frontier Park. He paid particular attention to the details, the angles, the lines … the history of America’s most recognized rodeo. He  Continue Reading »

KILLDEER, N.D. – There was a time not so long ago that Randy Taylor would have arrived in western North Dakota carrying a gear bag loaded with a bareback riding rigging, chaps and tremendous talent. You see, Taylor was a ProRodeo cowboy who made his living riding bucking horses. In 1985, he was the first  Continue Reading »

KILLDEER, N.D. – On 2,000 acres of pasture on the Plains of western North Dakota, 180 bucking horses roam the grasslands. It’s all part of a spread owned by Alicia Fettig, the third generation of her family involved in the stock contracting business and the first woman in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association to be  Continue Reading »

KILLDEER, N.D. – Tate Rhoads has a varied lifestyle, and all of it involves rodeo. Growing up in the sport, he was a roper. When he was 14, Rhoads took up bullfighting, where he showed his true athleticism and daring in a war with 1,600 pounds of swirling aggression. Whether it was a freestyle bullfighting  Continue Reading »

Aussie bronc buster owns 4 U.S. national titles and a lot of rodeo fun On U.S. soil, Jake Finlay is a four-time national champion. Funny thing is, he had to move to the United States to be such. You see, Finlay is from Goondiwindi, a community of nearly 11,000 people on the Queensland-New South Wales  Continue Reading »

DODGE CITY, Kan. – Dustin Boquet earned his first Dodge City Roundup Rodeo championship buckle Sunday night, but he won’t wear it. “This is a rodeo I’ve always wanted to win,” said Boquet, a bull rider from Bourge, Louisiana, who has qualified for the National Finals Rodeo twice in the last three seasons. “My dad  Continue Reading »

DODGE CITY, Kan. – There is a gleam on Cole Franks’ face that may not go away for a while. The 20-year-old bareback rider has reason to be so happy. He’d just ridden Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Bar Code for 90 points to win the first round of the Dodge City Roundup Rodeo and collect $3,385.  Continue Reading »

BY LUKE CREASYSpecial to TwisTed RodeoLOVINGTON, N.M. – The Lea County Fair and Rodeo provided a vital boost for all its champions, including Stockton Graves and Creek Young, who already won the Xtreme Bulls earlier week. “I couldn’t ask to do any better here,” said Young, who also won the bull riding title during at  Continue Reading »

DODGE CITY, Kan. – Tyler Ravenscroft is just getting his start in ProRodeo, but he didn’t show any nervousness when it came to making steer wrestling runs at the Dodge City Roundup Rodeo. On Friday morning, he wrestled his way to a share of the lead with a 3.8-second run, then followed it during the  Continue Reading »

BY LUKE CREASYSpecial to TwisTed RodeoLOVINGTON, N.M. – Breakaway roper Tibba Smith hopes to pull off a hometown win as Lovington rodeo hosts breakaway roping for the first time. “I just have to sweat it through 15 more girls,” Smith said Friday night after posting a 2.3-second run in the second round of the Lea  Continue Reading »

DODGE CITY, Kan. – Jade Corkill and Clay Smith each own multiple gold buckles, but they’ve never won them together. They have a fighting chance this year, and they’re in position to snatch their first Dodge City Roundup Rodeo buckles, too. The tandem roped two steers Thursday in a cumulative time of 10.3 seconds to  Continue Reading »

BY LUKE CREASYSpecial to TwisTed RodeoLOVINGTON, N.M. – It was the veteran bareback rider Tim O’Connell on the young up-and-coming horse Exotic Dancer, and his young up-and-coming traveling partner Jess Pope on the veteran horse Good Time Charlie that started Thursday night off right with a pair of 88-point bareback rides. “Good Time Charlie is  Continue Reading »

DODGE CITY, Kan. – It’s been a long seven months for bareback rider Leighton Berry. In January at Odessa, Texas, the 22-year-old cowboy was smashed in the bucking chutes and suffered torn ligaments in the mid- and lower region of his spine, between the T12 and L1 vertabrae. He followed that with surgery and rehabilitation,  Continue Reading »

BY LUKE CREASYSpecial to TwisTed RodeoLOVINGTON, N.M. – Chance Howard’s first trip packing his son by himself made for a successful Family Night for the Sadler, Texas, cowboy at the Lea County Fair and Rodeo. He posted a 3.5-second run, which was the fastest time in the first round of steer wrestling on Wednesday morning,  Continue Reading »

BY LUKE CREASYSpecial to TwisTed RodeoLOVINGTON, N.M. – With the chips on the line in the final round, youthful vitality and the luck of the draw prevailed. The Lea County Rodeo kicked off Tuesday night with the Lea County Xtreme Bulls. Though 11 riders covered their first-round bulls, it came down to two riders in  Continue Reading »

DODGE CITY, Kan. – At 18 years of age, Mason Moody’s bull riding career is just getting started. He became eligible to be a professional bull rider in April, then purchased his PRCA permit two months later. In short order, he’s been to just five events, and he’s earned money at three of them. On  Continue Reading »

DODGE CITY, Kan. – Scott Snedecor, a four-time world champion from Fredericksburg, Texas, proved again Tuesday why he’s one of the best. The 19-time qualifier to the Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping became the first contestant at the 2021 Dodge City Roundup Rodeo to win a championship, and he did so in dominating fashion.  Continue Reading »

LOVINGTON, N.M. – Not only will the top two bull riders in the PRCA world standings be in this southeastern New Mexico community for the Lea County Xtreme Bulls on Tuesday, they will return to Jake McClure Arena the following night for their shot at the Lea County Fair and Rodeo title, too. The rodeo,  Continue Reading »