Fair rodeo begins without familiar face
<p>Ty Erickson, of Helena, wrestles his steer in 4.3 seconds on Thursday, August 20, 2015 at the Northwest Montana Fair Rodeo. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
The crop of cowboys and cowgirls headed to this year’s Northwest Montana Fair PRCA Rodeo is as strong it’s ever been, but there’s one marquee name that’s nowhere to be found.
West Glacier native Beau Hill, one of the best bull riders in Montana history, will not be riding at the Flathead County Fairgrounds for the first time since he turned pro 18 years ago. Instead he’ll be a spectator along with thousands of other rodeo fans when the three-day event gets underway Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
“I think we’ll probably come down one or two nights, say hi to a couple of friends,” Hill said. “I’ve been going there for a lot of years, it’s always my favorite one.”
The 37-year-old Hill, who now lives in Columbia Falls, has been hampered by injuries in recent seasons but was still riding at the highest levels, even qualifying for the prestigious National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in 2014. This year, Hill is a part of the fledgling Elite Rodeo Athletes tour and his involvement with that circuit prevented him from entering the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) rodeo at the fair.
While Hill’s bull riding will be missed, a star-studded field across the board should help make up for his absence. Some of the top competitors in the country are scheduled to appear, including a number who currently rank in the top 10 in the PRCA standings.
“We’ve got kind of a different roster this year,” Judy Kesler said. “I think we finally have gotten through to these contestants. They’re finally realizing the money’s good here and it’s a good place to go.”
Kesler, whose family-owned Kesler Championship Rodeo will once again be providing the stock, has been espousing the virtues of Northwest Montana for years.
“We’ve always been a real advocate for Kalispell and every year we’ve talked it around a lot,” she said. “Somewhere along the way we’re trying to do something right and it’s finally working.”
The big names are spread over all three nights, beginning Thursday evening when Louisiana native Cody “Hot Sauce” DeMoss rides Sprit Dancer in the saddle bronc competition. DeMoss has competed in multiple NFR finals and ranked second in the world standings five different times. He’s currently ranked fifth in the PRCA in the saddle bronc competition.
Three top-rated steer wrestlers are also in action Thursday including Texan Clayton Hass, the second-ranked cowboy overall in the PRCA. Helena’s Ty Erickson (ranked third in steer wrestling) and Louisiana’s Tyler Waguespack (ranked second) will also take their turn.
Friday’s slate includes highly-ranked bareback riders Tanner Aus and Evan Jayne, along with a pair of team roping duos ranked in the top 10 in the PRCA. Saturday’s field features top-ranked saddle bronc cowboy Jacobs Crawley of Boerne, Texas and the number one ranked bull rider in the PRCA, Oklahoman Sage Steele Kimzey.
Even without Hill there are a handful of local riders in action, beginning with Kalispell’s Tammy Carpenter riding in the barrel race Thursday. Carissa Krueger, also of Kalispell, will compete in the same event on Friday. Whitefish’s Ashley Sudan, who won the barrel race at the fair a year ago, will ride Saturday.
Polson’s Tim Bagnell will compete in Friday’s tie-down roping and John Robertson, also of Polson, is a heeler on a team roping team competing Saturday.
The action begins at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and runs through Saturday.