Vin Fisher has been coming to the West of the Pecos Rodeo since he was a small child. On Thursday, the Andrews, Texas, cowboy jumped into the lead in both steer roping and the all-around.
(PHOTO BY ROBBY FREEMAN)

 

PECOS, Texas – “The World’s First Rodeo” dates back to 1883 when ranch cowboys met in this West Texas town for a little steer roping competition.

The tradition continues at the West of the Pecos Rodeo to this day, and steer roping remains a key part of each nightly show. It’s an artform when performed well, and Vin Fisher is one of the very best to have ever done it. He proved it Thursday.

“I’ve been coming to this rodeo since the early ’80s watching my dad, and this is my favorite rodeo,” said Fisher, 45, of Andrews, Texas, 100 miles northeast of Pecos. “I think this feels almost like I’m roping at home. I’ve roped here so many times that it feels like a hometown rodeo for me for sure.”

He certainly felt at home. He made his first- and second-round runs in the morning; he weas 16.3 to sit sixth in the opener, then leads the second round with an 11.0-second run. During the performance, Fisher stopped the clock in 12.7 seconds to move into third in that ground. Most importantly, his three-run cumulative time of 40.0 seconds puts him in the aggregate lead.

“I thought I drew outstanding steers, but I thought the steers were outstanding all the way through,” Fisher said. “I thought my gray horse, Rufus, did great. I don’t think it couldn’t have gone any better.

“I guess I’ve roped here 26 times, and I’ve (finished) second in calf roping, second in the all-around and second in tripping three times. Maybe I’ll get my first Pecos buckle.”

He stands a good chance with two days of competition remaining. Competing at an elite level is nothing new for Fisher, a 22-time qualifier to the National Finals Steer Roping. He’s finished among the top five 10 times in his established career. He’s tasted the world champion’s gold buckle, but he has yet to grasp it.

“To win it, I need to rewind my body 10 to 15 years,” Fisher said with a laugh. “If I could do that differently, I would, but I’ve been right there in the 10th round three times. The problem was that a guy named Trevor just never screwed up.”

Trevor Brazile is the winningest cowboy in ProRodeo history with 26 world championships, six of which came in steer roping between 2006 and 2015. Fisher’s place in history is set, though. He is 12th in this year’s world standings and needs to be among the top 15 to advance to the steer roping finale for the 23rd time.

It’s not the only event in which he competes, though. Not only did he rope three steers in his primary discipline, he also competed in team roping with his son, Jett. They were 8.7 on their first one to sit seventh, then were 9.4 seconds, good enough for fifth in the second round. Their two-run cumulative time of 18.1 seconds has them third in the aggregate.

That opens the door for Vin Fisher to win two Pecos buckles in the same season, and it comes in a year the arena received a facelift on its west end. New holding pens, chutes and boxes have been installed, as well as an upgraded VIP deck and press box.

“This grandstand is unreal, and the whole facility is amazing,” Fisher said. “The upgrade is amazing, but the atmosphere here is second to none. Kudos to Pecos. I thank them so much because we get to rope here, and we love it.

“That makes it awesome.”

West of the Pecos Rodeo
June 24-27
Bareback riding: 1. Garrett Shadbolt, on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Big Iron, and Roedy Farrel, on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Dusty Roads, 87 points; 3. (tie) Kash Loyd and Brayze Schill, 85.5; 5. Tucker Carricato, 83.5; 6. Jayco Roper, 83; 7. Ben Kramer, 81.5; 8. Andy Gingerich, 77.

Team roping: First round leaders: 1, Brenten Hall/Wyatt Cox, 6.4 seconds; 2. Luke Brown/Hunter Koch, 7.3; 3. Denton Parish/Buddy Hawkins II, 7.8; 4. (tie) Lightning Aguilera/Kaden Profili and Cyle Denison/Braylon Tryan, 7.9; 6. Clay Ullery/B.J. Dugger, 8.0; 8. Blaine Turner/Scout McElroy, 8.9. Second round leaders: 1. Dalton Turner/Clay Clayman, 6.9 seconds; 2. Clint Summers/Jade Corkill, 7.3; 3. Coleman Proctor/Travis Graves, 7.4; 4. Walker Smith/Will Smith, 7.9; 5. Jett Fisher/Vin Fisher; 6. Luke Brown/Hunter Koch, 10.0; 7. Kreece Thompson/Creed West, 11.0; 8. James Arviso/Levi Lord, 11.5. Average leaders: 1. (tie) Clint Summers/Jade Corkill and Luke Brown/Hunter Koch, 17.3 seconds on two runs; 2. 3. Jett Fisher/Vin Fisher, 18.1; 4. Coleman Proctor/Travis Graves, 20.9; 5. Dalton Turner/Clay Clayman, 21.0; 6. Clay Ullery/B.J Dugger, 21.9; 7. Walker Smith/Will Smith, 22.5; 8. James Arviso/Levi Lord, 25.3.

Steer roping: First round leaders: 1. Clay Long, 13.9 seconds; 2. Quay Howard, 14.6; 3. Jason Burson, 15.1; 4. Martin Poindexter, 15.2; 5. David Witcher, 15.7; 6. Vin Fisher Jr., 16.3.Second round leaders: 1. Vin Fisher Jr., 11.0 seconds; 2. Roger Nonella, 12.1; 3. Seth Schafer, 12.9; 4. Quay Howard, 13.4; 5. Ketch Kelton, 14.0; 6. Will Eddleman, 14.6. Third round leaders: 1. Jake Clay, 11.2 seconds; 2. J. Tom Fisher, 12.4; 3. Vin Fisher, 12.7; 4. Dustin Bassett, 12.9; 5. Will Eddleman, 13.1; 6. Ketch Kelton, 14.0; 7. Will Martin, 16.1; 8. David Witcher, 16.8. Average leaders: 1. Vin Fisher, 40.0 seconds on three runs; 2. J. Tom Fisher, 46.3; 3. David Witcher, 35.7; 4. Seth Schafer, 53.9; 5. Kal Ready, 65.2; 6. Will Eddleman, 27.7 seconds on two runs; 7. (tie) Ketch Kelton and Quay Howard, 28.0.

Saddle bronc riding: 1. Lefty Holman, 88.5 points on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s River’s Ghost; 2. Statler Wright, 88; 3. (tie) Sage Newman, Will Pollock and Spencer Wright, 86; 6. Ryder Wright, 84.5; 7. Gus Gaillard, 83; 8. Cash Brangham, 79.5.

Tie-down roping: First round leaders: 1. West Smith, 8.9 seconds; 2. Ryan Thibodeaux, 9.1; 3. Lucas Potter, 10.1; 4. Trevor Hale, 11.9; 5. Tyler Calhoun, 12.0; 6. Hunter Herrin, 12.3; 7. Chet Weitz, 12.6; 8. Jett Barrett, 12.8. Second round leaders: 1. Tyler Calhoun, 9.0 seconds; 2. Michael Otero, 9.6; 3. West Smith, 10.7; 4. Trevor Hale, 11.7; 5. Dillon Grote, 11.9; 6. Chance Oftedahyl, 12.0; 7. Lucas Potter, 12.5; 48 Sam Lewis, 12.7. Average leaders: 1. West Smith, 19.6 seconds on two runs; 2. Tyler Calhoun, 21.0; 3. Michael Otero, 22.5; 4. Luke Potter, 22.6; 5. Trevor Hale, 23.6; 6. Chance Oftedahl, 25.0; 7. Chet Weitz, 25.7; 8. Dillon Grote, 26.7.

Breakaway roping: First round leaders: 1, Haiden Thompson, 3.3 seconds; 2. Kirsten George, 3.8; 3. (tie) Delani Kay Beatty, Danielle Lowman, Jayme Marcrum and Madalyn Richards, 4.0; 7. Martha Angelone, 4.1; 8. (tie) Jakelyn Primrose and Suzanne Williams, 4.2; 10. Audrey Cunningham, 4.4. Second round leaders: 1. Martha Angelone, 2.9 seconds; 2. (tie) Makayla Boisjoli and Shelby Osceola-Moody, 3.3; 4. Jayme Marcrum, 3.5; 5. Haiden Thompson, 3.6; 6. Ashley Goforth, 3.7; 7. Delanie Beatty, 4.2; 8. Kirby Rawlinson, 4.7; 9. Madalyn Richards, 5.1; 10. Danielle Lowman, 5.2. Average leaders: 1. Haiden Thompson, 6.9 seconds on two runs; 2. Martha Angelone, 7.0; 3. Jayme Marcum, 7.5; 4. Delani Beatty, 8.2; 5. Madalyn Richards, 9.1; 6. Danielle Lowman, 9.2; 7. Audrey Cunningham, 9.9; 8. Jakelyn Primrose, 10.1; 9. Kirby Rawlinson, 10.6; 10. Makayla Boisjoli, 12.0.

Steer wrestling: First round leaders: 1, (tie) Kyle Irwin and Tyler Waguespack, 4.6 seconds each; 3. (tie) Garrett Curry and Darcy Kersh, 5.1; 5. (tie) Eli Lord and Justin Shaffer, 5.2.; 7. Dirk Tavenner, 6.1; 8. Clay Hurt, 6.2. Second round leaders: 1. Jesse Brown, 4.8 seconds; 2. Cash Robb and Darcy Kersh, 5.0; 4. Cole Pugh, 5.7; 5. Cody Devers, 5.8; 6. Eli Lord, 6.0; 7. Sam Shofner, 6.2; 8. Walt Arnold, 10.2. Average leaders: 1. Darcy Kersh, 10.1 seconds on two runs; 2. Eli Lord, 11.2; 3. Cole Pugh, 13.4; 4. Walt Arnold, 19.0; 5. Cole Walker, 19.6; 6. Tyler Waguespack, 19.8; 78. Dirk Tavenner, 20.9; 8. Justin Shaffer, 23.4.

Barrel racing: 1. Jimmie Smith, 17.19 seconds; 2. Kim Squires, 17.20; 3. Carlee Otero, 17.63; 4. Brooke Krolczyk, 17.70; 5. Shayna Wimberly, 17.85; 6. Caley Walkoviak, 17,90; 7. (tie) Tillar King and Maylee McCrary, 17.91; 9. Amie Hennen, 17.95; 10. Karly Camozzi, 18.00; 11. Colee Charlesworth, 18.02; 12. Jennifer Driver, 18.03; 13. Stormie Wisnoski, 18.06; 14. (tie) Lisa Fernandes, Jordan Driver and Megan Albrecht, 18.11.

Bull riding: 1. Tristan Mize, 90.5 points on Penthouse Rodeo’s Hell at Night; 2. Luke Mackey, 89; 3. (tie) Tristen Hutchings and Gavin Mitchell, 86.5; 5. Creek Young, 85; 6. T.J. Gray, 84.5; 7. Jate Frost, 83; 8. Toby Hale, 81.