BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo Finals had everything you could ask for in a rodeo performance - four roughstock superstars leaving champions, four NFR timed event cowboys taking home gold, a Wild Card winner taking the title in barrel racing, and finally, the cowgirl who tied the arena record earlier in the rodeo leaving the breakaway roping champion.
Starting with bareback riding, where Rocker Steiner brought his usual electricity by riding Yippie Kibbitz for 90 points to win the bareback riding. He teamed up with the same horse to win Calgary in his breakout rookie year in 2022.
“I would draw that horse every time for the rest of my life if I could, I love him so much,” Steiner said. “He does the same thing every time and lets me show off on him.”
Two saddle bronc riders who bring similar energy to Steiner to rodeo crowds did so on Saturday night as well. Dawson Hay was 90.5 on Tokyo Bubbles as was Stetson Wright on Xena Warrior to share first.
In the bareback riding, cowboys had to be at least 89 points to even get a check and in the saddle bronc riding, they had to be 88.5.
Last but not least in the roughstock was Josh Frost winning the bull riding with 90.5 points of his own.
“Just had to be a cowboy, I’m probably one of the most versatile bull riders in the world and I knew he (High Brow Cat of Rafter G) was liable to do anything,” Frost said. “But those are the type of bulls I love because you just gotta ride ‘em from the front and go jump-for-jump.”
In the timed events, Will Lummus completed what was nearly a clean sweep in the steer wrestling. The 2022 Reserve World Champion did not have a single time slower than 4.1 seconds and won three rounds, including the Semifinals and Finals, en route to earning more than $27,000.
“This is a big win right here, especially this early,” Lummus said. “We got a lot of big rodeos left and it can really propel us.”
The other timed event winners Andrew Ward/Buddy Hawkins, who had the fastest time of the rodeo in the Finals and Westyn Hughes, who was 7.4 in the Finals to win a Texas Swing rodeo for the first time.
Barrel racing was won by Jackie Ganter after working her way through the Wild Card, which she won. Ganter had the exact same time in both the Finals and the Wild Card, a 16.30.
“I asked him (her horse Tycoon) for everything he had and he gave it to me, Ganter said. “This is incredible, I couldn’t sleep last night and I asked God for some confidence, I can’t believe I’m here right now.”
And in breakaway roping, Cheyanne Guillory was the champion after turning in four straight times of 2.6 seconds or faster. She was sub-2 twice, an arena record-tying 1.7 in Round 2 of her bracket and a 1.9 in the Finals.
“I love this rodeo, thank you for Fort Worth for having breakaway and thanks to all of the fans, we appreciate y’all,” she said.
BAREBACK RIDING
Wild Card: 1. Chad Rutherford, 88 points on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s High Heels, $1,000; 2. Kade Sonnier, 85.5, $600; 3. Trenton Montero, 83, $400; 4. Gauge McBride, 82; 5. Ty Taypotat, 80; 6. Jayco Roper, 74.
First Semifinal: 1. Rocker Steiner, 90 points on Calgary Stampede’s Twin Cherry, $4,000; 2. Chad Rutherford, 88.5, $3,000; 3. Garrett Shadbolt, 87, $2,000; 4. Tim O’Connell, 84.5, $1,000.
Second Semifinal: 1. Kaycee Feild, 90 points on Calgary Stampede’s Disco Party, $4,000; 2. Taylor Broussard, 87.5, $3,000; 3. Kade Sonnier, 86.5, $2,000; 4. R.C. Landingham, 86, $1,000.
Finals: 1. Rocker Steiner, 90 points on Calgary Stampede’s Yipee Kibitz, $20,000; 2. (tie) Kade Sonnier, Chad Rutherford and Kaycee Feild, 89, $8,000 each; 5. R.C. Landingham, 88.5; 6. Taylor Broussard, 88; 7. Garrett Shadbolt, 87; 8. Tim O’Connell, 86.5.
STEER WRESTLING
Wild Card: 1. J.D. Struxness, 3.9 seconds, $1,000; 2. Tucker Allen, 4.3, $600; 3. Ty Allred, 4.5, $400; 4. Cody Harmon, 4.6; 5. (tie) Timmy Sparing and Taz Olson, 5.1.
First Semifinal: 1. Will Lummus, 3.7 seconds, $4,000; 2. Ty Erickson, 3.8, $3,000; 3. Riley Duvall, 4.3, $2,000; 4. Shane Frey, 4.4, $1,000.
Second Semifinal: 1. Walt Arnold, 3.8 seconds, $4,000; 2. Tucker Allen, 4.2, $3,000; 3. Cade Goodman, 5.7, $2,000; 4. Stockton Graves, 5.8, $1,000.
Finals: 1. Will Lummus, 4.1 seconds, $20,000; 2. Ty Erickson, 4.3, $12,000; 3. Stockton Graves, 4.5, $8,000; 4. Walt Arnold, 5.0, $4,000; 5. Tucker Allen, 5.2; no other qualified runs.
TEAM ROPING
First Semifinal: 1. Tanner Tomlinson/Patrick Smith, 3.9 seconds, $4,000 each; 2. Tyler Wade/Travis Graves, 4.3, $3,000; 3. (tie) Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira and Jake Cooper/Billie Jack Saeben, 4.7, $1,500 each.
Second Semifinal: 1. Andrew Ward/Buddy Hawkins II, 4.8 seconds, $4,000 each; 2. Cody Snow/Wesley Thorp, 5.0, $3,000; 3. Reno Stoebner/Ryan Motes, 7.0, $2,000; 4. Coy Rahlman/Jonathan Torres, 8.5, $1,000.
Finals: 1. Andrew Ward/Buddy Hawkins II, 4.8 seconds, $20,000 each; 2. Jake Cooper/Billie Jack Saebens, 4.6, $12,000; 3. Cody Snow/Wesley Thorp, 5.4, $8,000; 4. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 8.9, $4,000; 5. Tanner Tomlinson/Patrick Smith, 9.1; no other qualified runs.
SADDLE BRONC RIDING
Wild Card: 1. Cash Wilson, 86.5 points on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Toma Jo, $1,000; 2. Kole Ashbacher, 85.5, $600; 3. Parker Fleet, 84, $400; 4. Cort Scheer, 83.5; 5. Parker Kempfer, 81.5; 6. (tie) Brody Cress and Jake Clark, 78.
First Semifinal: 1. Stetson Wright, 89.5 points on J Bar J’s Painted Commotion, $4,000; 2. Kade Bruno, 88.5, $3,000; 3. Dawson Hay, 88, $2,000; 4. Wyatt Casper, 87.5, $1,000.
Second Semifinal: 1. Zeke Thurston, 90.5 points on Calgary Stampede’s Wild Cherry, $4,000; 2. Ryder Wright, 87.5, $3,000; 3. Tanner Butner, 85.5, $2.000; 4. Leon Fountain, 84.5, $1,000.
Finals: 1. (tie) Stetson Wright, on Calgary Stampede’s Xena Warrior and Dawson Hay, on Calgary Stampede’s Tokyo Bubbles, 90.5 points, $16,000 each; 3. (tie) Ryder Wright and Tanner Butner, 88.5, $6,000 each; 5. Kade Bruno, 88; 6. Leon Fountain, 87.5; 7. Zeke Thurston, 87; 8. Wyatt Casper, 85.5.
TIE-DOWN ROPING
Wild Card: 1. Zack Jongbloed, 7.6 seconds, $1,000; 2. Tuf Cooper, 8.0, $600; 3. Glenn Jackson, 9.0, $400; 4. Tom Crouse, 11.8; 5. Cory Solomon, 13.0; 5. Haven Meged, 14.2.
First Semifinal: 1. Zack Jongbloed, 8.7 seconds, $4,000; 2. Trevor Hale, 9.2, $3,000; 3. Shane Hanchey, 9.6, $2,000; 4. Brushton Minton, 9.8, $1,000.
Second Semifinal: 1. Jake Pratt, 8.3 seconds, $4,000; 2. Westyn Hughes, 8.9, $3,000; 3. Marcos Costa, 9.4, $2,000; 4. Tuf Cooper, 9.6, $1,000.
Finals: 1. Westyn Hughes, 7.4 seconds, $20,000; 2. Tuf Cooper, 7.9, $12,000; 3. Trevor Hale, 8.9, $8,000; 4. Brushton Minton, 9.7, $4,000; 5. Zack Jongbloed, 10.0; 6. Marcos Costa, 10.9; 7. Jake Pratt, 11.5; no other qualified runs.
BARREL RACING
Wild Card: 1. Jackie Ganter, 16.30 seconds, $1,000; 2. Bryanna Haluptzok, 16.48, $600; 3. Shannon McReynolds, 16.53; 4. Margo Crowther, 16.62 seconds.
First Semifinal: 1. Emily Beisel, 16.32 seconds, $4,000; 2. (tie) Jordon Briggs and Jackie Ganter, 16.56, $2,500 each; 4. Sarah Rose Waguespack, 16.57, $1,000.
Second Semifinal: 1. Sissy Winn, 16.24 seconds, $4,000; 2. Wenda Johnson, 16.33, $3,000; 3. Hailey Kinsel, 16.43, $2,000; 4. Shelley Morgan, 16.50, $1,000.
Finals: 1. Jackie Ganter, 16.30 seconds, $20,000; 2. Hailey Kinsel, 16.35, $12,000; 3. Sissy Winn, 16.47, $8,000; 4. Wenda Johnson, 16.49, $4,000; 5. Jordon Briggs, 16.49; 6. Emily Beisel, 16.54; 7. Shelley Morgan, 16.57; 8. Sarah Rose Waguespack, 16.73.
BULL RIDING
Wild Card: *1. Jordan Hansen, 88 points on $1,200; 2. Dalan Duncan, 85.5, $800; no other qualified rides.
First Semifinal: *1. Coy Thorson, 88 points on 4L & Diamons S Rodeo’s Rodeo Stray, $4,333; 2. Jestyn Jax Woodward, 87, $3,333; 3. Chance Schott, 84.5, $2,333; no other qualified rides.
Second Semifinal: 1. Stetson Wright, 91 points on Rafter G Rodeo’s Megalomaniac, $4,000; 2. Trey Benton III, 86.5, $3,000; 3. Tristen Hutchings, 86, $2,000; 4. Josh Frost, 85, $1,000.
Finals: 1. Josh Frost, 90.5 points on $20,000; 2. Stetson Wright, 87.5, $12,000; 3. Coy Thorston, NS, $8,000; 4. Jestyn Jax Woodward, NS, $4,000; Trey Benton III, Tristen Hutchings, Chance Schott and Jack Gilmore, NS.
BREAKAWAY ROPING
Wild Card: 1. Jackie Crawford, 2.3 seconds, $1,000; 2. Erin Johnson, 2.4, $600; 3. Jacey Fortier, 2.5, $400; 4. Laramie Johnson, 4.7; 5. Schaefer, 4.8; 6. Tacy Kay Webb, 12.2.
First Semifinal: 1. Joey Williams, 1.9 seconds, $4,000; 2. Cheyenne Guillory, 2.1, $3,000; 3. Kelsie Domer, 2.4, $2,000; no other qualified runs.
Second Semifinal: 1. Erin Johnson, 2.3 seconds, $4,000; 2. Josey Murphy, 2.5, $3,000; 3. (tie) Danielle Lowman, Hali Williams and Ashley Goforth, 2.6, $1,000 each.
Finals: 1. Cheyenne Guillory, 1.9 seconds, $20,000; 2. Ashley Goforth, 2.0, $12,000; 3. Hali Williams, 2.1, $8,000; 4. Erin Johnson, 2.2, $4,000; 5. Danielle Lowman, 2.3; no other qualified rides.