Soggy go-round at Fair Rodeo

With scattered showers earlier and flashes of lightning throughout Friday’s Northwest Montana Fair PRCA Rodeo, scores were hard to come by as the Flathead County Fairgrounds arena was soggy for every go.

The ladies barrel racing event was even postponed after the first horse ridden by Carley Richardson of Pampa, Texas, slipped around the first barrel and came up limping.

“She’s alright, but it was slick out there,” Richardson said.

“The girls will get to ride tomorrow; I had the option to but I can’t because I have to head out to my next rodeo.”

The footing didn’t seem to bother Tyrell Smith of Cascade. The saddle bronc rider, whose Friday performance was his second competition since shoulder re-constructive surgery, scored an 82. He currently sits first overall after he and Jacobs Crawley of Stephenville, Texas, (80) bested Thursday’s top scorer Zeke Thurston (79).

“The rain effects the ground a little bit. It makes it a bit slippery, but other than that it’s just all mental.” Smith said.

“I hadn’t seen that horse in about three years. I heard a lot about him, but I hadn’t been on him yet.”

The final event of the night, bull riding, proved to be one of the most exciting.

Preston Lewis of Browning held the overall lead after Thursday’s performance with a score of 75.

It was beaten by Friday’s first rider.

Nevada Newman of Melstone rode out Cinnamon Twist for an 84 and a rousing ovation from the crowd. He was followed by Ty Tescher of Sidney who scored an 81 on Double Dragon.

With the competition heating up, Beau Hill of West Glacier mounted Liberty City. The crowd tempted the local rider, rising to their feet in anticipation, but Hill was off balance after the first buck out of the gate and fell to the ground in disappointment after another buck and a turn.

“That was a good young bull. I didn’t know a whole lot about him, but he sure was a lot better than me tonight,” Hill said.

“This is always a great rodeo, they’re always a class act and have great stock. I just messed it up tonight.”

Jake Vold of Ponoka, Alberta, put up an 84 in bareback riding to take the overall lead. Clayton Morrison of Cavalier, North Dakota, had the best time in Friday’s steer wrestling performance. He stopped the clock in 4.6 seconds to sit third overall.

The third and final performance of the rodeo is set for tonight at 7:30.

Northwest Montana

Fair PRCA Rodeo

Flathead County Fairgrounds

Friday’s Results

Bareback Riding — 1. Jake Vold, Ponoka, Alberta, 84 (Double Dippin’); 2. Tyler Scales, Severance, Colorado, 82 (Copper Cat); 3. Matt Lait, Stavely, Alberta, 76 (Artificial Color); 4. Colin Adams, Deloraine, Manitoba, 75 (Up Ur Alley); 5. George Gillespie IV, Placerville, California, 73 (Garden Party); 6. Justin Miller, Billings, 72 (Coast Guard).

Steer Wrestling — 1. Clayton Morrison, Cavalier, North Dakota, 4.6; 2. Dakota Eldridge, Elko, Nevada, 5.1; 3. Dan Muchmore, Helena, 6; 4. Shawn Downing, Silver Star, 13.8; 5. Trevor Knowles, Mount Vernon, Oregon, 14.3.

Team Roping — 1. Nick Sartain, Dover, Oklahoma/Rich Skelton, Llano, Texas, 9.9; 2. Brandon Beers, Powell Butte, Oregon/Jim Ross, Cooper Monument, New Mexico, 10.4; 3. Travis Winters, Joliet/Kyle DeSaveur, Roberts, 12; Chaz Kananen, Roy/Morgan McVay, Sparks, Nevada, 12.4.

Saddle Bronc — 1. Tyrell Smith, Cascade, 82 (Southern Lights); 2. Jacobs Crawley, Stephenville, Texas, 80 (Spanish Pair); 3. Andy Clarys, Riverton, Wyoming, 76 (Navajo Sun); 4. Sterling Crawley, Stephenville, Texas, 74 (Paper Clip); 5. Andrew Evjene, Melville, 68 (Alley Lights).

Tie-down roping — 1. Ryan Thibodeaux, Stephenville, Texas, 10.8; 2. Kevin Peterson, Kilgore, Nebraska, 11; 3. Kirk Robinson, Innisfail, Alberta, 11.4; 3. Matt Shiozawa, Chubbuck, Idaho, 11.4; 4. Clint Arave, Blackfoot, Idaho, 11.5; 5. Orry Fruit, Ekalaka, Montana, 12.5.

Bull riding — 1. Nevada Newman, Melstone, 84 (Cinnamon Twist); 2. Ty Tescher, Sidney, 81 (Double Dragon); 3. Kody DeShon, Helena, 73 (King of the Road).

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Thursday’s Results

Bareback — 1. Jessy Davis, Power, 81 (Sno Cone); 2. Kyle Bowers, Calgary, Alberta, 77; 3. Logan Hodson, Telkwa, British Columbia, 71; 4. Nick Gutzwiler, Cheney, Wash., 70.

Steer wrestling — 1. Bode Scott, Pryor, 4.2; 2. Ty Erickson, Helena, 4.4; 3. Cody Cabral, Hilo, Hawaii, 4.8; 4. Nolan Conway, Browning, 6.2; 5. Hank Hollenbeck, Molt, 15.6.

Saddle bronc — 1. Zeke Thurston, Big Valley, Alberta, 79 (Bookmark); 2. Dustin Flundra, Pincher Creek, Alberta, 75; 3. Luke Butterfield, Ponoka, Alberta, 74; 4. Samuel Kelts, Millarville, Alberta, 73; 5. Brian Dawson, Wisdom, 71.

Team roping — 1. Bill Parker, Billings/Jace Crabb, Billings, 7.1; 2. Jason Carlson, Two Dot/Sam Levine, Wolf Creek, 7.4; 3. Nolan Conway, Browning/Dylan Johnson, Billings, 7.6; 4. Levi Simpson, Ponoka, Alberta/Ryon Tittel, Pueblo, Colo., 14.0.

Tie-down roping — 1. Mike Johnson, Henryetta, Okla., 9.5; 2. Nolan Conway, Browning, 10.7; 3. Hank Hollenbeck, Molt, 11.7; 4. J.C. Crowley, Poplar, 12.1; 5. Clayton Miller, Billings, 23.0; 6. Curtis Cassidy, Donalda, Alberta, 24.7.

Ladies barrel racing — 1. Tammy Thompson, Ramsay, 18.15; 2. Danna Whitford, Browning, 18.17; 3. Carmel Wright, Roy, 18.38; 4. Lauren Viles, Cody, Wyo., 18.39; 5. Whitney Levine, Wolf Creek, 23.12; 6. Tammy Carpenter, Kalispell, 33.67.

Bull riding — 1. Preston Louis, Browning, 75 (White Devil); 2. Jeff Askey, Martin, Tenn., 65.