BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN
For the second night in a row, Colby Lovell/Paul Eaves were the top pair in the team roping, this time splitting the honor with Chad Masters/Wesley Thorp.
Both teams stopped the clock at 3.8 seconds.
MASTERS/THORP
LOVELL/EAVES
“We had a really good steer, you couldn’t draw a better one than that,” Thorp said. “We had some stronger ones the last couple of nights and we were glad to have a good one.”
For Lovell/Eaves, the back-to-back Go-Round wins suddenly have them both No. 1 in the world with a shot at Gold Buckle despite some early struggles taking them out of the average.
“Last night (Dec. 10) kind of got the ball rolling,” Lovell said. “A go-round always helps when placing first or second, it just paves the way for these last couple of steers and just gets the momentum and confidence going. The steer tonight and the steer last night dang sure helped the week out.”
The World Title picture on both sides has gotten much murkier since earlier in the week. Now, there are at least five men with a shot at it on each side.
On the head side, in addition to Lovell, Luke Brown, Dustin Egusquiza, Erich Rogers and Clay Smith are all in contention.
On the heel side, it’s Eaves along with Joseph Harrison, Travis Graves, Paden Bray, Levi Lord and Jade Corkill all with a shot at the Gold Buckle.
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, Luke Brown/Joseph Harrison and Clay Tryan/Jake Long, 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) Levi Simpson/Shay Dixon Carroll and Nelson Wyatt/Levi Lord, 4.7, $13,327 each; 5. Jeff Flenniken/Tyler Worley, 5.7, $6,769; 6. Dustin Egusquiza/Travis Graves, 8.9, $4,231.
Ninth Round: 1. (tie) Colby Lovell/Paul Eaves and Chad Masters/Wesley Thorp, 3.8 seconds, $23,481 each; 3. Clay Tryan/Jake Long, 4.1, $15,654; 4. Clay Smith/Jade Corkill, 4.4, $11,000; 5. Jeff Flenniken/Tyler Worley, 4.6, $6,769; 6. Erich Rogers/Paden Bray, 4.9, $4,231.
