About: Ted

LAS VEGAS – Richmond Champion has been on more horses than any other bareback rider competing at the 2018 National Finals Rodeo. He’s actually OK with it. He was awarded a re-ride after his first time out of the chutes in Round 1, then had that happen again. This time, Kesler Championship Rodeo’s Imperial Beach stumbled in the ride, so Champion was given the option of another horse. It was another Kesler horse, one that the Texas cowboy knows well. “I didn’t even hear the score on the first one before I took the re-ride,” said Champion, a four-time NFR qualifier from The Woodlands, Texas. “If they are giving a re-ride here, you take it. But then it was Street Dance. Just the novelty of getting on Street Dance was worth taking the re-ride.” So was the score. By taking the re-rides, the original score was erased, so it can be a bit of a risk. Champion and Street Dance athletes matched moves on the Thomas & Mack Center dirt for 87.5 points to finish in a three-way tie for second place. That was worth $15,795. Counting the re-rides, it was also the eighth horse he’s ridden through the six rounds. “That horse has been here four times as many as I’ve been here,” he said. “That’s the fourth time I’ve been on her. I was up there in Canada the last two years, so I’ve had her.” Through six rounds of ProRodeo’s grand finale, Champion has placed in three rounds. He finished in at least a tie for second place for the second night in a row. He has pushed his NFR earnings to $53,295 and his annual pay to $173,114, worth fifth place in the world standings. He is also tied for fifth in the average race, having scored 501.5 cumulative points on six rides. He trails the leader, Steven Dent, by nine points. Champion, who clinched the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association bareback riding title a little more than a month ago, utilized another Canadian horse to some American money. He is now within shooting distance of the world standings leader, two-time world champion Tim O’Connell. “One of the nice things about the re-ride in Round 1 is that it put me a day ahead of everybody else on soreness,” Champion said. “That wears off after the third or fourth round, so I feel good. I’m excited. Bring them on. It just started for me.” This 10-day championship is similar but way different than the regular season. During the heavy part of the summer, cowboys are on the road for weeks – even months – at a time. The rest they get may be in a van as they travel from one rodeo to another. But these December nights force the cowboys to find a routine. Now in Vegas for the fourth time, he has found it. “I wake up in the morning, go sit in the sauna, work out some soreness, seat and get it heated up,” Champion said. “Then I rehydrate, eat, sign some autographs and take it easy. I just try to get ready for the rodeo every night. “Family time is limited. That comes after the rodeo each night, then I cash out about midnight. You just need to get yourself ready to ride.” It’s working so far.

LAS VEGAS – Slowly but surely, steer wrestler Kyle Irwin is making an impact at the National Finals Rodeo. Irwin entered this year’s championship six days ago No. 14 in the world standings. As of Tuesday night, he has moved to fifth with $64,083 in money made in Las Vegas, which has moved his 2018 earnings to $139,416. He added more than $11,000 during the sixth go-round after knocking down his steer in 4.1 seconds to finish in a three-way tie for third place. “That was a steer that Blake Mindemann had trouble catching in Round 3,” said Irwin of Robertsdale, Ala. “You always try to set up a game plan to capture him in this round. (Hazer) Tyler (Pearson) did great, like he always does, and Scooter put me in position to make a good run. “It was just a good ol’ boy run. I call it a successful night.” He’s had four of those through six nights in Sin City. That’s a good thing. But all of it is a bit bittersweet. Pearson – his friend, traveling partner and co-owner of Scooter, the two-time horse of the year – is not having such a good NFR. Pearson has had just two qualified times and has placed in just one go-round. “I always like to see everybody do good,” Irwin said. “I know that’s impossible, because it’s so tough out here and there are 15 guys all running at the top six spots just to place. I’d like to see Tyler do better, but he has nothing to prove; he’s the reigning world champ. “He’ll bounce back. The dude’s a winner, and he’s dang sure better than a lot of guys.” Tuesday’s runs were a bit slower than they had been. In the fifth round, a time of 4.1 wouldn’t have placed in the top six. But that’s what happens in Las Vegas, good and bad. It worked out for Irwin on Tuesday. “It’s a weird vibe this year,” he said. “There’s still energy, but it seems like we’re just trying to get the steers captured. Maybe it’s just the tension and the nerves. The Thomas & Mack creates its own obstacles. I think you’ll see a good bulldogging (Wednesday). The world championship will be shaped by who is the champion here. “This is a fresh start when you get here, based on the money you can win in Las Vegas.” So far, the Alabaman – now living in Westville, Fla., with his wife, Randa, and their children, Tripp and Ellie – is doing quite well in all those categories. “Placing four times out of six nights is very good,” said Irwin, who sits eighth in the average with a cumulate time of 20.2 seconds on five qualified runs. “That’s pretty good odds so far. The way I look at rodeo is on the odds of winning. Now I’ll try to make it five of seven. “I’ve worked my way up in the average, so that’s nice. I’m just going to make as much money as I can.” He’s done well through the first six nights of the NFR and has four more before the season comes to a close to make it happen.

LAS VEGAS – The new National Finals Rodeo arena record in bareback riding belongs to a 22-year-old Californian. Clayton Biglow of Clements matched every bucking motion C5 Rodeo’s Virgil threw at him, countering with solid spur strokes for eight seconds during Monday’s fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo. The result was 93 points, a point and a half better than the old marking set five times by four cowboys. “That horse was trying his butt off every time his feet hit the ground,” Clements said of the powerful gray. “I knew I had a shot at the round, and the arena record was dang sure in the back of my mind. I knew if he had his trip and I had my good trip, anything is possible on him.” Virgil is the two-time reigning PRCA Bareback Horse of the Year, and he showed why tonight. Every bareback rider in this field dreams of having the chance to ride him for the biggest bucks in the game. That came true for Biglow, who pocketed $26,23. “It was a dream come true,” he said. “Honestly, it was like a blur, but then again, I remember feeling it the entire time. I just remember him dropping out of the sky and thinking, ‘You better put ’em back in his neck before you hit the ground, because you’re going to be in the dirt, Cowboy.’ “I was pure pumped up. I knew Virgil was out in this round and I thought, ‘I hope to God I get him.’ ” His prayer was answered, but it was also a premonition made by his girlfriend, who had told him before the NFR that he was going to have the opportunity to ride him in Las Vegas. “In the back of my mind, I was hoping it would come true,” Biglow said. “I saw the draw, and I was standing up above the grandstands with them. I just turned the phone, and my dad and her were standing there. They both just started whooping and hollering. It was just a cool feeling.” So was spurring the massive mount. Clements has proven himself to be one of the best at it in the game today, having earned three straight qualifications to the NFR. Over his first five nights in Sin City, he has earned $57,385 and has pushed his 2018 income to $192,551. Monday was a bit of redemption for Biglow, who failed to earn a qualified on another rank horse, Beutler & Son’s Killer Bee, during Saturday’s third performance. “I had some anger after that third round, getting bucked off Killer Bee,” he said. “I wanted to get that one rode; I wanted to get all of them rode. After the third round, I was really bummed out. “I told myself that it’s time to win some money and win as much as I possibly can. Then in the fourth round, (a 77-point ride) really bugged me, so when I saw I had Virgil tonight, I thought, ‘I’m turning this around right now.’ ” He did and in record-setting fashion.

Bareback riding: 1. Clayton Biglow, 93 points on C5 Rodeo’s Virgil, $26,231; 2. Richmond Champion, 88.5, $20,731; 3. (tie) Bill Tutor and Steven Dent, 88, $13,327 each; 5. Mason Clements, 87.5, $6,770; 6. Orin Larsen, 87, $4,231. Steer wrestling: 1. Will Lummus, 3.3 seconds, $26,231; 2. Tyler Waguespack, 3.5, $20,731; 3. Bridger Chambers, 3.7, $15,654; 4. (tie) Riley Duvall and Kyle Irwin, 3.9, $8,885 each; 6. Hunter Cure, 4.0, $4,231. Team roping: 1. Clay Smith/Paul Eaves, 3.8 seconds, $26,231; 2. Riley Minor/Brady Minor, 3.9, $20,731; 3. (tie) Dustin Egusquiza/Kory Koontz and Erich Rogers/Clint Summers, 4.0, $13,327 each; 5. Chad Masters/Joseph Harrison, 4.1, $6,769; 6. Aaron Tsinigine/Trey Yates, 5.2, $4,231. Saddle bronc riding: 1. Wade Sundell, 92 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Medicine Woman, $26,231; 2. Ryder Wright, 91, $20,731; 3. Rusty Wright, 90.5, $15,654; 4. Zeke Thurston, 90, $11,000; 5. Clay Elliott, 89.5, $6,769; 6. Chase Brooks, 88, $4.231. Tie-down roping: 1. (tie) Ryan Jarrett, Trevor Brazile and Reese Riemer, 7.5 seconds, $20,871 each; 4. Matt Shiozawa, 8.1, $11,000; 5. Caleb Smidt, 8.5, $6,769; 6. Ryle Smith, 8.9, $4,231. Barrel racing: 1. Ivy Conrado, 13.49 seconds, $26,231; 2. (tie) Hailey Kinsel and Kelly Bruner, 13.59, $18,193 each; 4. Taci Bettis, 13.65, $11,000; 5. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, 13.81, $6,770; 6. Jessica Routier, 13.85, $4,231. Bull riding: 1. Eli Vastbinder, 91 points on Beutler & Son’s Record Rack’s Shootin’ Stars, $27,077; 2. Garrett Tribble, 89.5, $21,577; 3. (tie) Jeff Askey and Koby Radley, 87, $14,173 each; 5. Sage Kimzey, 78, $7,615; no other qualified rides.

LAS VEGAS – The facts were simple: Ryan Jarrett was not having any good fortune for the first four rounds of the National Finals Rodeo. Lady Luck found him Monday, and it finally paid off. He roped and tied his calf in 7.5 seconds to finish in a three-way tie for first place in the fifth round. That was worth $20,872. “The biggest change was my mindset more than anything,” said Jarrett, a 12-time NFR qualifier from Comanche, Okla., and the 2005 all-around world champion. “I felt like I was prepared for the first couple of rounds, but I couldn’t get the ball rolling.” He suffered three straight no-times to kick off ProRodeo’s grand finale. He finally secured qualified time on Sunday night but was way out of the money. Going the first four rounds without a paycheck was tough on the Georgia-born cowboy. “I drew one or two calves that I should have won money on an didn’t,” he said. “The calf I ran (Monday), they actually two-looped him and got no money. I just felt like the calf was a chance though.” Having a good draw is important. While the pens are set up to be as even as possible, every animal is different; without being matched with a decent calf via the random draw for half the first four rounds, Jarrett’s job was different. Still, he said, there were missed opportunities. “I did what I know how to do: I roped him and tied him down and got some of the prize money,” Jarrett said. “It gets a little frustrating, just thinking, ‘Do I really deserve to be here?’ and ‘Can I rope with these guys?’ Obviously, all of us are in the top 15 in the world or we wouldn’t be here.” So, he worked through the issues and figured out the hitch in his step in time to cash in. Now he’ll try to do more of that over the final five nights of this year’s NFR. “You get some things weighing on your shoulders when you’re not having luck,” he said. “When one thing doesn’t go right, 10 others follow suit. You got to get headed in the right direction. “Hopefully I can still come out of here with a good chunk of change to go back home with.”