Ep. 31 - NFR Round 8 Recap
December 12, 2019 (Las Vegas, Nevada) - Welcome to the National Finals Rodeo Round 8 2019 recap! While some of the biggest names in rodeo, such as bull rider Sage Kimzey and barrel racer Hailey Kinsel are starting to stretch their lead in the projected world standings, team roping and tie down roping’s young guns are continuing to attack with deadly speed. Many of the world titles are up for grabs, you’ve just gotta grab them!
Round 8 Quiz Questions
Our daily quizzes involve current rodeo facts, NFR happenings, rodeo terminology and history!
Aaron Watson of Amarillo, Texas, sings the NFR preview Commercial song. He began playing guitar at a Christian University after playing baseball in junior College in New Mexico. His earliest musical influences were the classics like George Jones, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and the gospel.
There was no “right” answer for this question. However, since Jake got bucked off, we are going with Trenton Montero and Craig at Midnight as the “right” answer even though it was a rough ride for them. If you want to learn more about Craig at Midnight, Black Leg and the rest of the Powder River Rodeo Company bucking horses, check out Episode 20 with John Franzen!
The correct answer is Resistol! Current Rookie standings have Stetson Wright leading the Saddle Bronc riding. The Bull riding Rookie standings are still being fought out between Stetson Wright, Daylon Swearingen and Trey Kimzey. It will probably go to Stetson Wright, who, after round 8, is also projected first in the world for All Around, but we could still see Daylon make some moves. Bareback Rookie is Garrett Shadbolt. Steer Wrestling Rookie is Dennell Henderson, and while many might think him “older” for a rookie at 26, he had put his rodeo dreams on hold while playing college basketball for Oral Roberts. Team Roping Rookie leaders are Kal Fuller and Paden Bray in the Heading and Heeling respectively. Steer Roping Rookie Cole Patterson is the son of Rocky Patterson. Haven Meged and Shad Mayfield are still battling it out for the Tie Down Rookie award. That top spot might just go to Haven Meged who ma even clinch a world title at the same time. Our Barrel Racing rookie finished 18th in the world, so we just missed getting to see Carly Taylor make 3 turns for 10 rounds at the NFR!
Frontier Rodeo comes out on top with 19 animals, while Pickett only had 17.
PRCA Rule Change?
Heftier fine for a jerk down in the Tie Down Roping, at least in California. A $150 fine is not nearly enough. A jerk down is defined as “flipping the calf end over end” and it is considered a disqualification if it is done intentionally by the cowboy.
While not a rule change, fans want to see a more honest/quicker flagger. Many national sporting competitions allow access to instant replays for the judges to make sure they made the right call. Will rodeo join their ranks? We suppose time will tell!
One fan suggestion approached the topic of the amount of time allowed in the chute. While we understand that it takes time sometimes to make sure you have set yourself up for the best run or ride possible, we are as anxious as Tuff Hedemen to see these runs and rides go out showcase their skills.
Round 8 Event Recap
Bareback
Canadian rider Clint Laye took an early lead in the Bareback riding on Canada Night with a score of 86.
Austin Foss surpassed him with a phenomenal ride on Frontier Rodeo’s Full Baggage (2014 and 2015 PRCA Bareback horse of the year and horse of the NFR) with a score of 87.5. As Jeff Medders says “You know you’re a big deal when your name is on the halter.” Kaycee Field matched Foss’ score, and it was a much-needed ride for Field who is hanging on to a projected 3rd place finish in the world standings.
Just when you thought the event was over, Clayton Bigalow strikes again. Bigalow had a long run across the arena to get back to the chutes to climb on the victory lap horse after his 90 point ride, but he was all smiles, and we can’t blame him. This is Bigalow’s 4th go around win this week and he set a record for number of round wins at the NFR. He is unofficially $110,000 ahead of 2nd place cowboy Orin Larsen, with Kaycee Fields $19,000 behind Larsen.
Steven Dent dropped down in the average from 6th place, despite the fact that he has ridden every bronc. And how does Treton montero, who is SO hot, draw Craig at Midnight and place last? While Craig didn’t have the best go, we will admit, it still leaves us scratching our heads.
Steer Wrestling
Perhaps it is the full moon, but the steers came out tonight with the single-minded focus of making life difficult for the cowboys. We saw a lot of hung legs, and resistance to be thrown.
Will Lumus made a horse change to 7-year-old, and NFR first timer, Baby, and it turned out to be a good choice, putting him in the winner’s circle with a 3.6, the only 3 second run for the night.
Tanner Brunner had a ROUGH go, and as you can imagine, was not happy with it. But Las Vegas is a city of gambles, and sometimes when you are trying to be the fastest in the world, the chances you take don’t pay off. Matt Reeves did everything he could to keep his strong running steer in check to maintain his 1 steer lead in the average race.
While talking about the average race, Ty Erickson just keeps moving up. From sitting 11th in the average in round 2, he has moved himself into 6th in the average by Round 8; making this the first time for the 2019 NFR that he has been projected to pull a check in the average. While that’s good news for Ty Erickson, it’s not so good for Tyler Waguespack who took the world standings lead from Erickson early in the rounds. While Erickson might get there in the final two rounds, it is Waguespack who is in the driver’s seat on this one. There would have to be some major bobbles for Erickson to move up any place in the average, but winning rounds is what he needs. Current projections have Tyler Waguespack in 1st place by $31,000 over Ty Erickson, and Erickson $11,000 above JD Struxness.
Team Roping
It was a night of penalties in the Team Roping with broken barriers and one leg heel catches. But that is the name of the game when you are battling to be the best and the fastest in the world.
We finally caught a glimpse of Junior Nogueira’s trademark lean back after a great heel shot to wrap up the event for the night. Nogueira and Kaleb Driggers pulled in at a 4.3 to split the round win with Brentan Hall and Clay Tryan. Second place was also a split with Cooper/Anderson and the Minor brothers at 4.4.
On the world standings for heading, Clay Smith is still leading with $48,000 over Cody Snow (who is first in the projected average). Luke Brown sits behind Snow in 3rd place by $12,000. The heeling race is proving to be much tighter than it’s heading counter part with Jade Corkill at the top of the leader board by $14,000. Westley Thorp is sitting second, and is unofficially the projected heeling world title champion. Paul Eaves is third by $19,000.
Saddle Bronc
Canadian cowboy Jake Watson delivered a strong ride to clench the go round win by half a point with an 89.5. He drew the great mare Lunatic From Hell who has won about half a million dollars for those that manage to stay on for 8 seconds. After tonight, she can claim $526,230.77 for her cowboy compatriots.
Jacobs Crawley put on a decent ride for the eliminator pen and took an early lead. And while his brother Sterling had a great ride, we would like to mention that he gets our vote for the best dressed! He rode for 86.5 points putting him just over Jacobs.
Son Of Sadie delivered Zeke Thurston a strong 84.5 point ride which was not enough to place, but he is still projected to win the world title.
Tie Down Roping
NFR Rookie Haven Meged delivered a strong performance, keeping him ahead in the average race by 7/10 of a second.
Ty Harris and Shad Mayfield missed tonight, and notably, we are at the point in the NFR when they aren’t rushing their performance for the average anymore by trying to use a second loop if they miss on the first throw.
Tuf Cooper placed just outside of the money tonight which could hinder his path to another All Around World Championship.
A three way tie for first sees Riley Pruitt, Tyler Milligan, and Cooper Martin with a 7.5 second go heading to the Gold Buckle Zone at Southpoint tonight for the go around awards presentations.
Barrel Racing
Barrel Racing fans took to social media today in excitement over the rumor that Lisa Lockhart would be swinging a leg over the legendary Louie. When the Kingsmen’s “Louie Louie” blared over the speakers at the Thomas and Mack, Rodeo fans were not disappointed to see Lockhart’s trademark buckskin doing his thing. Louie has helped Lockhart to 13 consecutive NFR appearances, 14 National Circuit Finals Rodeos, and many other accolades. He came to the sport of rodeo after a reining and reined cow horse background and is a celebrity in his own right.
Nellie Miller and Sister knocked a barrel tonight which will be a huge setback in the race for the world title. She had been 3rd in the average coming into tonight’s round. She was one of 5 ladies who had been clean through round 7.
13.54 and run of the week went to Hailey Kinsel and Sister tonight, giving them the go round win. Getting her knee knocked on the gate by the victory lap horse from last night obviously didn’t slow her down at all tonight.
It was the most consistent ground we have seen in the barrel racing all week and made for an exciting night of barrel racing. However, the high percentage of tipped barrels also made for one of the most dramatic performances we have seen. A total of 7 cowgirls knocked barrels tonight causing a shift in the average standings. Ivy Conrado leads the average after round 8 over Emily Miller by 0.12 seconds.
Bull Riding
Tonight’s roughstock eliminator pens did not disappoint with the broncs, and the bulls were no different.
Koby Radley was out with a concussion after being stepped on by his bull in Round 7. Dr. Tandy Freeman with the Justin Sports Medicine Team estimates that we won’t see him compete again until round 10. While fans may be disappointed to not see him ride, concussions are nothing to joke about. He will take the concussion test tomorrow for re-evaluation.
Stetson Wright delivered a strong, and athletic ride for 93.5 points, helping him in that all around race, and putting him second in tonight’s go round placings. And it is safe to say, he might have the best hype crew in the business with all of his family behind the chutes cheering him on.
Sage Kimzey was paired with Sweetpro’s Bruiser, who boasts a 78% buck off rate, but Kimzey managed to escape being one of his victims and mark a 94 (2 points off of the arena record and Kimzey’s personal best), winning the round. It was definitely a ride that will be talked about for years to come, and may even be the ride that sends him home with his 6th gold buckle. After round 8, Kimzey is projected first in the average and first in the world with a $139,000 lead. Right now, the only way Kimzey doesn’t walk away with another buckle after ten rounds, he would have to meet the following parameters:
Sage must get bucked off in the next 2 rounds
Boudreaux Campbell or Stetson Wright (one or the other, not both) would have to win rounds 9 and 10.
Less than 12 contestants (including Kimzey) to NOT ride so that Campbell or Wright could get a LOT of day money.
While anything is possible, the likelihood of Kimzey not covering in the next 2 rounds seems slim.
One PRCA Rule Change, Remove or Create
On every podcast episode we ask our guests for one rule that they would change, remove or create to the PRCA or WPRA. Keeping up with tradition, we are sharing our thoughts or our fans’ suggestions on each episode of the NFR Podcast rounds.
Raking the barrels at least every five if not every run. The footing has definitely been a struggle this year, just as much as it has been in the past. If the timed events contestants can take their time in the box and rough stock riders can get settled in the chute - barrel racers need a fair shake as well.
That Western Life: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter