BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN
After not placing in four of their first five runs at the Wrangler NFR, Colby Lovell and Paul Eaves have continued to shake off a poor start and they were the fastest pair Thursday night with a time of 4.3 seconds.
“We had a good steer and were able to use him,” Eaves said. “It was nothing different, and that’s what we try to do, but bad luck here and there, and stuff will happen. But it all worked out.....Colby did a good job, the header does so much of it. To read the barrier, turn and handle them, the whole thing, it was perfect.”
Despite their early hiccups, the pair has still place in the Top 3 in three rounds in 2020 and has made more than $60,000 at the NFR.
As the only pair with eight clean runs, Paden Bray and Erich Rogers remain first in the average. They are trying to chase down Luke Brown/Joseph Harrison who are fourth in the average and No. 1 and No. 3 in the world respectively. Dustin Egusquiza/Travis Graves are also still in the mix for their respective Gold Buckles.
NFR TEAM ROPING RESULTS
First Round: 1. Erich Rogers/Paden Bray, 4.8 seconds, $26,231 each; 2. (tie) Luke Brown/Joseph Harrison and Dustin Egusquiza/Travis Graves, 4.9, $18,192 each; 4. Clay Smith/Jade Corkill, 5.1, $11,000; 5. Brenten Hall/Chase Tryan, 5.2, $6,769; 6. Cody Snow/Junior Nogueira, 5.7, $4,231.
Second Round: 1. Dustin Egusquiza/Travis Graves, 3.8 seconds, $26,231 each; 2. Colby Lovell/Paul Eaves, 4.4, $20,731; 3. Nelson Wyatt/Levi Lord, 4.5, $15,654; 4. Chad Masters/Wesley Thorp, 4.7, $11,000; 5. Andrew Ward/Buddy Hawkins II, 4.9, $6,769; 6. Charly Crawford/Logan Medlin, 5.0, $4,231.
Third Round: 1. Dustin Egusquiza/Travis Graves, 4.2 seconds, $26,231 each; 2. Andrew Ward/Buddy Hawkins II, 4.3, $20,731; 3. Levi Simpson/Shay Dixon Carroll, 4.4, $15,654; 4. Luke Brown/Joseph Harrison, 4.5, $11,000; 5. Chad Masters/Wesley Thorp, 5.0, $6,769; 6. Jeff Flenniken/Tyler Worley, 5.5, $4,231.
Fourth Round: 1. Brenten Hall/Chase Tryan, 4.2 seconds, $26,231 each; 2. (tie) Nelson Wyatt/Levi Lord, Clay Tryan/Jake Long and Luke Brown/Joseph Harrison, 4.8, $15,795 each; 5. (tie) Chad Masters/Wesley Thorp and Levi Simpson/Shay Dixon Carroll, 4.9, $5,500 each.
Fifth Round: 1. Clay Smith/Jade Corkill, 3.6 seconds, $26,231 each; 2. Clay Tryan/Jake Long, 3.7, $20,731; 3. Cody Snow/Junior Nogueira, 4.0, $15,654; 4. Andrew Ward/Buddy Hawkins II, 4.1, $11,000; 5. Levi Simpson/Shay Dixon Carroll, 4.7, $6,769; 6. Erich Rogers/Paden Bray, 5.0, $4,231.
Sixth Round: 1. Cody Snow/Junior Nogueira, 3.9 seconds, $26,231 each; 2. Clay Tryan/Jake Long, 4.0, $20,731; 3. Colby Lovell/Paul Eaves, 4.1, $15,654; 4. Luke Brown/Joseph Harrison, 4.2, $11,000; 5. Chad Masters/Wesley Thorp, 4.3, $6,769; 6. (tie) Dustin Egusquiza/Travis Graves and Jeff Flenniken/Tyler Worley, 4.5, $2,115 each.
Seventh Round: 1. Charly Crawford/Logan Medlin, 3.8 seconds, $26,231 each; 2. Clay Smith/Jade Corkill, 4.3, $20,731; 3. Kolton Schmidt/Hunter Koch, 4.4, $15,654; 4. Jeff Flenniken/Tyler Worley, 4.7, $11,000; 5. Nelson Wyatt/Levi Lord, 4.8, $6,769; 6. Erich Rogers/Paden Bray, 5.3, $4,231.
Eighth Round: 1. Colby Lovell/Paul Eaves, 4.3 seconds, $26,231 each; 2. Andrew Ward/Buddy Hawkins II, 4.6, $20,731; 3. (tie) Nelson Wyatt/Levi Lord and Levi Simpson/Shay Dixon Carroll, 4.7, $13,327 each; 5. Jeff Flenniken/Tyler Worley, 5.7, $6,769; 6. Dustin Egusquiza/Travis Graves, 8.9, $4,231.
