EP. 29 - NFR Round 6 Recap
December 10, 2019 (Las Vegas, Nevada) - With the halfway point crossed already in the 2019 National Finals Rodeo and we race through these next five rounds of stiff competition for the NFR average wins and PRCA and WPRA Gold Buckles… it got wild and our first real shake up since the start of the NFR took place! We chat quiz answers and rodeo event updates.
Round 6 Quiz Questions
Our daily quizzes involve current rodeo facts, NFR happenings, rodeo terminology and history!
We learned this in Round 4 of the NFR when they placed just 1.5 points behind the arena record! A majority of you got this correct so you’re paying attention!
This one was a little tricky but Tuf Cooper moved into first place after the fifth round. With that being said, however, that changed after the sixth with Tuf moving to third, team roper Clay Smith moving to first and roughie Stetson Wright moving to second! It was a Round 6 that didn’t disappoint.
While we thought we were being tricky with the Annie Oakley option, the answer is Jerry Ann Taylor. As the WPRA official website says, “Jerry Ann Taylor was a daring trick rider who brought a style, glamour and spirit to the rodeo arena. Following her passing in February of 2012, a fund was started by her husband, Dutch Taylor, mother, Jo Matthews, and other donors to reward cowgirls who carry the same sense of style. The WPRA is pleased the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame has collaborated with [them] to offer this prestigious award at the … NFR as well as the … Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo Finals… After each night’s WNFR performance, come out to the WPRA web site and cast your vote for the barrel racer who is following in Jerry Ann’s steps with their sense of style!”
Six seconds is how long a calf should stay tied. We saw rookie Shad Mayfield get flagged out for his calf coming untied before the judge’s stopwatch hit six seconds. We may see more of these as we get closer to the end of the NFR as cowboys start to tie faster and quicker for day money rather than playing the average game.
Dusty just won his 10th consecutive Bullfighter of the Year award from the PRCA. He’s seriously one of the best in the business! You can watch him nightly as he helps protect our bull riders and arena personnel.
Round 6 Event Recap
Bareback
A crazy end to the bareback riding tonight, Clayton Bigelow was the last cowboy to nod. He had Tilden Hooper and Caleb Bennett tied for first and his eye was on the prize! He ended up tying them but, as the gate swung open and his horse exploded from the back of the bucking chute, the gate caught one of the rodeo personnel, Rowdy Barry, in the face! We thought for a brief moment that he had been knocked out but he was seen being ushered out of the arena to Justin Sports Medicine to get a cut on his face looked at. In true rodeo form, it didn’t look as bad as it could have been!
Clayton Bigelow, despite winning the round and needing to get on for a victory lap, rushed to make sure that Barry was okay. What a good guy!
Trentan Montero got a 76 point ride tonight and while that keeps him alive in the average, he still drops five spots with that low of a score. Richmond Champion moved up in the average because of that.
Steer Wrestling
The back-to-back world champion, Tyler Waguespack, seems to be on the hunt for his third world title winning ANOTHER round tonight with a 3.8 second run.
Bridger Chambers has moved from 13th in the world to 4th during this NFR, claiming money in four of six rounds.
Team Roping
Talk about a tough night in the team roping as we saw two teams drop from the average with their first misses. Those teams were Chad Masters & Joseph Harrison and Tate Kirchenslager & Tyler Worley.
First place went to the Minor brothers out of Ellensburg, Washington. No strangers to the Thomas & Mack, their good horses who have been in the Top 3 voting for horse of the year annually, have taken Brady to the NFR 11 times and Riley 10 times.
Brenten Hall has been HOT, HOT, HOT in his first finals with partner Chase Tryan. Hall has actually moved to projected 2nd in the world standings by being first in the average. Tyler Wade, who started off so hot, has cooled off in the last few rounds. While the energy he first brought to the Thomas & Mack was infectious, the strain of the 10 rounds is starting to show.
Saddle Bronc
First place went to Dawson Hay’s with an 88.5 point ride!
A tie for second place between another set of brothers, Sterling and Jacobs Crawley, at 85.5 was probably a relief for Sterling who has had a rough NFR.
There was a super unfortunate situation for former World Champion and Canadian cowboy Zeke Thurston. The first jump out of the bucking chutes and his flank strap fell off. The horse still bucked but not enough to give him the points he’d need to keep his hot hand going. However, the right side judge flagged him out for a mark out. Co-host Katie discusses how she couldn’t tell that it was a missed mark out by any angle from the instant replay which revisits us to the conversation about whether there should be an instant replay at the finals?
Tie Down Roping
Tyler Harris wins his second round in a row with a 7.10 second run.
Shane Hanchey and Marty Yates split the second and third spots. There were a lot of little bobbles today which could be a isng of fatigue or the pressure gettig to the contestants. Amongst those bobbles was Caleb Smidt who was putting together a solid run, Tuf Cooper, Taylor Santos (who actually lucked out, his bobble could have impacted him much more), and Shad Mayfield who accidentally figure 8’d his calf but handled it like a veteran.
The impacts of Santos’ bobble, however, are going to be felt and hopefully he can get a round win or two to wrap up the finals for his first gold buckle. He’s dropped to 4th in the average (from first) and the new projected #1 in the world is rookie Haven Meged who claimed the #1 in the projected average spot as well. It almost seems that if you win the average in the tie down roping, you’re going to win the world. The one that could upset that? The 2013 World Champion Shane Hanchey!
The tie down roping projected first through fourth are only separated by $24,000.
Barrel Racing
Amberleigh Moore and her great mare Paige have done it again! It’s another round win for the duo, clocking the fastest time of the NFR so far with a 13.55 second run.
Ivy Conrado-Saebens takes second and moves herself up in the average money. Hailey Kinsel was 0.01 seconds behind her.
The footing was looking even worse tonight in Round 6 as the bottom half of the pen found struggles. Jennifer Sharp hit two barrels tonight, the first one HARD with her bad knee. Lisa Lockhart somehow jockeyed herself up and over the second barrel to keep it standing. Stevi Hillman was the first barrel racer to break pattern of the 2019 NFR.
On the more positive side Emily Miller, who had the rough ground at the 12th spot out, is still sitting first in the average and the projected world standings. Cheyenne Wimberly got her first check of the 2019 NFR. Nellie Miller, sitting 3rd in both the projected average and projected world standings, has been consistent all week but hasn’t been to the pay window more than twice this entire NFR>
Bull Riding
A fun night of bull riding, Boudreaux Campbell won the round with a 92.5 point ride on a real pretty, craft roan bull by Pete Carr ProRodeo called Prieferts Tequila Worm.
Sage Kimzey was 3rd in the round with a flashy ride. He’s consistently making money and could potentially seal the deal on winning the world title before we get to the end. Stetson Wright made a little money that probably won’t be enough to catch Sage as he’s moved to 34d in the projected world standings behind Koby Radley. However, it could help him win the All Around World Title which would be the first time that a rookie has ever won it!
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