High marks (90) for Elliott, Wright

By DAVID LESNICK

The Daily Inter Lake

The bareback horse called Illegal Smile sure had Centreville, Alabama, cowboy Blade Elliott grinning from ear to ear Thursday at the Northwest Montana Fair PRCA Rodeo at the Flathead County Fairgrounds.

Elliott turned in a superb effort during his eight-second ride to the tune of 90 points to set the standard to beat in the bareback riding.

Elliott has been competing for 10 years, but this was the first time he posted a score that high.

“I was very shocked,” he said when the 90 flashed on the big screen scoreboard to his delight.

“I couldn’t believe it.”

The previous best for Elliott was an 88. That score was posted way back in 2011.

“Lots of 86s, 85s,” he said since then.

“Yea, I was hoping,” he said of hitting that magical number some day.

“I’ve been practicing a lot. I bought a bucking machine and now it happened.”

Elliott said he watched video of Illegal Smile to get a preview of what to expect.

“I felt like it was a little bit of a struggle to stay in control,” he said.

“He was in a left lead and he kind of had my hips turned. I was trying to make it look pretty, keep my hips squared.”

But it was pretty enough for the judges to make his night by giving him the highest score of his career.

But that was not the only 90 on the evening. Rusty Wright of Milford, Utah, matched that on Country Trail in the saddle bronc riding.

Spencer Wright, also of Milford, Utah, set the score to be broken as he turned in an 88 on As If.

Rusty followed and Mitch Pollock of Winnemucca, Nevada, ended that event with an 89 on Navajo Sun.

“I love coming here,” Rusty Wright said.

“The Kesler stock is awesome, second to none. The fans here are electric. It makes it a lot of fun.”

Wright said some advice from his brother, who was bucked off by Country Trail at another rodeo, helped.

“I asked him what he would do differently and he said: “Go a little shorter on the reins. That’s what I did.”

And it worked.

“Seven or eight times,” Wright said of posting a 90 score this season.

“You always are shooting for a perfect ride — 100 — but I’ll always take a 90.”

He finished seventh at the fair rodeo last year with a score of 78.

Wright’s performance will definitely help him move up in the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association standings. He is currently eighth, chasing his brother Ryder, who is first.

The night, which began with Elliott’s delightful ride, ended with no scores in the bull riding. Five cowboys were up and all were down.

Montanans, however, turned in high marks in the other events.

Timmy Sparing of Helena leads steer wrestling with a time of 7.8 seconds.

Tim Bagnell of Polson had the best go in tie-down roping with a 12.5 second run.

Travis Tryan of Billings and Justin Viles of Cody, Wyoming, set the mark to beat in team roping with their 6.6 second time. There were seven times posted, but only two were without penalties.

And Lisa Anderson of Bozeman turned in the fastest time in barrel racing, 17.68 seconds. Five of the nine barrel racers had times under 18 seconds and all posted clean runs.

The second performance of the fair rodeo is tonight at 7:30. The final performance is Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Northwest Montana Fair PRCA Rodeo

Thursday

Flathead County Fairgrounds

Bareback riding — 1. Blade Elliott, Centreville, Ala., 90 on Illegal Smile; 2. Tristan Hansen, Dillon, 85 on Grid Rock; 3. Trevar McAllister, Polson, 81.5 on Poker Table. (Only scores).

Steer wrestling — 1. Timmy Sparing, Helena, 7.8; 2. Kyle Callaway, Blue Creek, 9.5; 3. Nolan Conway, Browning, 9.7; 4. Jordan Holland, Dillon, 13.9; 5. Josh Clark, Belgrade, 14.4; 6. Bart Slaney, Whitefish, 14.8.

Team roping — 1. Travis Tryan, Billings/Justin Viles, Cody, Wyo., 6.6; 2. Jack Graham, Lakeview, Ore./Sam Levine, Wolf Creek, 7.2; 3. Nolan Conway, Browning/Shawn Bird,Cut Bank, 7.9; 4. Shawn Bessette, Great Falls/Ike Folson, Dillon, 10.4; 5. Ty Hedrick, Jackson/Nolan Conway, Browning, 12.3; 6. Bart Slaney, Whitefish/Brandon Brooks, Whitefish, 14.4; 7. Will Powell, St. Ignatius/Riley Bailey, St. Ignatius, 22.8.

Saddle bronc —1. Rusty Wright, Milford, Utah, 90 on Country Trail; 2. Mitch Pollock, Winnemucca, Nevada, 89 on Navajo Sun; 3. Spencer Wright, Milford, Utah, 88 on As If. (Only scores).

Tie-down roping — 1. Tim Bagnell, Polson, 12.5; 2. Sam Levine, Wolf Creek, 13.3; 3. Erik Dublanko, Thorsby, Alberta, 15.0. (Only times).

Barrel racing — 1. Lisa Anderson, Bozeman, 17.68; 2. Lindsay Kruse, Great Falls, 17.75; 3. Jennifer Sharp, Montgomery, Texas, 17.77; 4. Teri Bangart, Olympia, Wash., 17.97; 5. Tara Simpson, Lodge Grass, 17.98; 6. Kim Gerwatoski, Ponoka, Alberta, 18.04; 7. Abigail Knight, Charlo, 18.09; 8. (tie) Lexi Bagnell, Polson, and Jana Perry, Cut Bank, 18.15.

Bull riding — No scores.