Hobbled Beau Hill bucked on last day at rodeo

West Glacier’s Beau Hill enjoys a lot about coming home.

He’s just not enjoying his job right now.

Badly hampered by a lingering wrist injury, Hill was bucked from Laugh Out Loud and failed to score at the Northwest Montana Fair PRCA Rodeo Saturday night.

“It was really disappointing for me,” a frustrated Hill said. “I always want to do good here. I’m disappointed. I’m not healthy and I screwed up a good bull.”

The final rider of the day, Hill was announced to boisterous applause from the near capacity crowd at the Flathead County Fairgrounds. He held on valiantly early before ultimately tumbling to the dirt. The 36-year-old veteran rider said he likely would not ride again in 2015 to allow his wrist to heal.

“It’s like trying to run a 100-yard sprint with a sprained ankle but more painful than that,” Hill said of his injury. “It feels like someone’s sticking a knife in my wrist when I try to ride.”

While the night was a disappointing one for Hill, his traveling partner Ty Pozzobon won the bull riding with a score of 88 points on Grand Slam, posted just ahead of Hill’s run. Pozzobon, of Merritt, British Columbia, was the only rider not to be bucked Saturday. Over three days of competition, only five riders managed to post scores on a good batch of Kesler bulls.

One of the loudest roars of the night was for Whitefish’s Ashley Sudan, winner of the barrel race in a scintillating 17.62 seconds. Sudan’s time was more than two- tenths of a second faster than the rest of the field. To post the quickest time, Sudan tackled the left barrel first — the only rider in the last two days not to start on the right — in completing her winning run.

Great Falls native Tyrell Smith also earned a win during the final performance, picking up a share of the saddle bronc title for the second year in a row. He earned 86 points riding Gone Country, tying former world champion Jesse Kruse, also from Great Falls, for the top spot.

Smith was candid when asked what he likes about this particular rodeo.

“They keep paying me,” he quipped.

“I keep getting on some good horses and they let me win some money. In my world, at least, that’s pretty special.”

Smith was also nursing a wrist injury, one he suffered earlier this month in Idaho Falls.

“It’s something that hasn’t healed yet and I can’t really take the time off to let it heal,” Smith said. “I’ve just been taping it up and getting on.”

For the second straight day, steer wrestlers struggled to break five seconds and did not come close to Josh Peek’s winning 3.3 second effort. Blaine Jones of Templeton, California, noted the best time of the night (4.5 seconds).

Two roping teams had a local connection, but both Keith Richmond of Kalispell and John Robertson of Polson failed to record ties. Montana natives Travis Nichols and Tim Garrison roped their calf in 6.5 seconds to tie Clayton Miller and Hank Hollenbeck for first place.

Three of the six tie-down ropers had successful runs, including Poplar, Montana’s J.C. Crowley, who finished in third place in 8.9 seconds, just three-tenths of a second behind winner Cody Ohl.

Billings native Justin Miller earned a third-place finish in bareback riding with an 82-point performance on Garden Party. Kyle Bowers won the event with an 89.

Northwest Montana Fair PRCA Rodeo

Saturday

Flathead County Fairgrounds

Bareback riding – 1. Justin Miller, 82 points on Kesler Rodeo’s Garden Party; no other qualified runs.

Steer wrestling – 1. Blaine Jones, 4.5 seconds; 2. Justin Simon, 4.9; 2. Ted Gollaher, 4.9; 4. Ross Mosher 5.3; 5. Kyle Callaway 5.9.

Team roping – 1. Travis Nichols/Tim Garrison, 6.5 seconds; 2. Clay Robertson/John Robertson, 7.4 seconds; 3. Kevin Peterson/Justin Simon, 8.8 seconds.

Saddle bronc – 1. Tyrell Smith, 86 points on Kesler Rodeo’s Gone Country; 2. Chase Brooks, 77; 3. Gus Thoreson, 76.

Tie-down roping – 1. J.C. Crowley, 8.9 seconds; 2. Donnie Benson, 10.8; 3. Sam Levine, 11.5.

Barrel racing – 1. Ashley Sudan, 17.62 seconds; 2. Mandy Hamilton, 18.17; 3. Whitney Levine, 18.21; 4. Michaela Zebro, 18.27; 5. Lisa Warfield, 18.80.

Bull riding – 1. Ty Pozzobon, 88 points on Grand Slam; no other qualified runs.

Overall Results

All-around cowboy: Trenten Montero, $1,015, bareback riding and bull riding.

Bareback riding: 1. Kyle Bowers, 89 points on Kesler Rodeo’s Double Dippin, $2,030; 2. Ryan Gray, 83, $1,557; 3. Justin Miller, 82, $1,151; 4. Chase Erickson, 80, $744; 5. (tie) Trenten Montero and Jake Vold, 79, $406 each; 7. Tyler Nelson, 77, $271; 8. Colin Adams, 74, $203.

Steer wrestling: 1. Josh Peek, 3.3 seconds, $2,119; 2. Beau Clark, 3.9, $1,842; 3. Olin Hannum, 4.1, $1,566; 4. (tie) Ty Erickson and Luke Gee, 4.3, $1,152 each; 6. (tie) Blaine Jones and Tait Kvistad, 4.5, $599 each; 8. (tie) Ted Gollaher and Justin Simon, 4.9, $92 each.

Team roping: 1. (tie) Travis Nichols/Tim Garrison and Clayton Miller/Hank Hollenbeck, 6.5 seconds, $1,457 each; 3. (tie) Bill Parker/Zachary Schweigert and Jade Stoddard/Ike Folsom, 6.8, $907 each; 5. Shawn Bessette/Sid Sporer, 7.0, $495; 6. Brady Williams/Britt Williams, 7.2, $275.

Saddle bronc riding: 1. (tie) Tyrell Smith on Kesler Rodeo’s Gone Country and Jesse Kruse on Kesler Rodeo’s Navajo Sun, 86 points, $2,152 each; 3. Shorty Garrett, 84, $1,381; 4. (tie) Cole Elshere and Steven Dent, 78, $731 each; 6. Chase Brooks, 77, $406; 7. Alan Gobert, 75, $325; 8. Jacobs Crawley, 74, $244.

Tie-down roping: 1. Cody Ohl, 8.6 seconds, $2,054; 2. Clint Cooper, 8.8, $1,786; 3. J.C. Crowley, 8.9, $1,518; 4. R.B. Shield, 9.4, $1,250; 5. Dillon Holder, 9.5, $982; 6. Bryant Mikkelson, 9.8, $714; 7. Trent Creager, 10.6, $447; 8. Donnie Benson, 10.8, $179.

Barrel racing: 1. Ashley Sudan, 17.62 seconds, $2,059; 2. Shelly Anzick, 17.85, $1,750; 3. Lindsay Kruse, 17.89, $1,441; 4. Emily Kallenberger, 17.97, $1,235; 5. Heather Knerr, 18.08, $1,029; 6. Katelyn McLeod, 18.10, $721; 7. Mandy Hamilton, 18.17, $515; 8. Jackie Ganter, 18.19, $412; 9. Gayleen Malone, 18.20, $360; 10. Whitney Levine, 18.21, $309; 11. Jana Bean, 18.22, $257; 12. Michaela Zebro, 18.27, $206.

Bull riding: 1. Ty Pozzobon, 88 points on Kesler Rodeo’s Grand Slam, $2,611; 2. Dustin Bowen, 87, $2,001; 3. Parker Breding, 83, $1,479; 4. Gerald Eash, 80, $957; 5. Trenten Montero, 51, $609.

; no other qualified rides.