Northwest Montana Fair PRCA Rodeo Few changes on final night

Final night, full house, but just a few changes in the final standings at the Northwest Montana Fair PRCA Rodeo at the Flathead County Fairgrounds.

Ranked cowboys and cowgirls established some lofty scores and fast times during the first two performances, so Saturday’s lineup faced a challenging task to overtake those standards.

And when the dust finally settled in the arena, there just two.

Tia Murphy of Cut Bank turned in a clean and speedy 17.20-second run in barrel racing to move to the top of the leader board.

And in steer wrestling, Montana cowboys Riley Joyce of Geraldine and Ross Mosher of Augusta posted back-to-back 4.1 second times to tie Jace Melvin, who notched a 4.1 second run for the lead during Thursday’s slack performance.

Other that than, 90 scores by Blade Elliott on Illegal Smile (Thursday) in bareback riding, Rusty Wright on Country Trail (Thursday) in saddle bronc riding and Sage Steele Kimzey on Excessive Force in bull riding (Friday) were unmatched.

All-around cowboy honors went to Landon Williams of Helena. He was third in tie-down roping and teamed up with Cody Tew of Belgrade to post the second best time in team roping on the final night,

Joyce and Mosher managed to pull off their winnings efforts on borrowed horses.

Joyce gave his the “night off” after a busy summer of traveling.

“I knew I drew a good steer,” he said.

“I mounted on a buddy’s horse and it gave me a chance. The steer started strong and I just rode up to him, got off in the middle. Everything fell into place after that.”

This was Joyce’s first trip to the fair rodeo.

“It felt good, really good,” he said.

Mosher, on the other hand, has been here “five or six times,” he said.

“I love this rodeo. I’ve done really well here, but never won it. Placed a bunch of times.”

Until Saturday evening.

“Good money, good crowd, good everything,” he said.

Mosher was one of four cowboys to ride Bryant Mikkelson’s horse. Mikkelson of Buffalo, however, did not post a time while the others did.

“Good start, caught the steer and the horse did his part,” Mosher said.

“I did mine and the steer did his. It all worked out.”

This was the fourth rodeo of the week for Mosher. Earlier, he was in Baker, Billings and Circle.

Mosher’s dad Kent was an event winner here years ago. So winning here for the first time was extra special.

“I must carry on the family tradition,” Mosher said while flashing a smile. “This was always his favorite rodeo, too.”

Northwest Montana Fair

PRCA Rodeo

Flathead County Fairgrounds

Saturday’s Results

Bareback riding — 1. Leighton Berry, Weatherford, Texas, 82 on Make Believe; 2. Wyatt Bloom, Bozeman, 78 on Mind Game.

Saddle bronc riding — 1. Dawson Dahm, Tomahawk, Alberta, 87.5 on Spirit Dancer; 2. Jake Burwash, Nanton, Alberta, 84 on Coast Guard; 3. Hunter Sawley, Fox Creek, Alberta, 83 on Centre Statge; 4. Kole Ashbacher, Arrowood, Alberta, 79 on Same Day Soon.

Steer wrestling — 1. (tie) Riley Joyce, Geraldine, and Ross Mosher, Augusta, 4.1 seconds each; 3. Ted Gollaher, Cascade,4.9; 4. Mike McGinn, Haines, Ore., 8.3; 5. Dalton Massey, Hermiston, Ore., 14.9.

Team roping — 1. Dawson Graham, Wainwright, Alberta/Dillon James Graham, Wainwright, Alberta, 5.1 seconds; 2. Cody Tew, Belgrade/Landon Williams, Helena, 5.7; 3. Kade Sherwood, Wilson, Texas/Kory Mytty, Lolo, 6.2; 4. Ian Austiguy, Gallatin Gateway/Chase Briggs IV, Cardwell, 6.8; 5. Chance Paradis, Grasmere, B.C./Rich Carpenter, Kalispell,8.0; 6. Colton Johns, Deer Lodge/Shawn Little, Essex, 12.6.

Tie-down roping — 1. Hank Hollenbeck, Molt, 9.7 seconds; 2. Jake Pratt, Ellensburg, Wash., 11.2; 3. Landon Williams, Helena, 11.4; 4. Joey Dickens, Loveland, Colo., 12.1; 5. Riley Richard Warren, Stettler, Alberta, 17.2; 6. Marvin Tavarez, Pleasanton, Texas, 24.7.

Ladies barrel racing — 1. Tia Murphy, Cut Bank, 17.20 seconds; 2. Ashley Day, Volborg,18.11; 3. Tammy Carpenter, Kalispell, 22.49; 4. Jill Welsh, Parker, Ariz., 27.82.

Bull riding — 1. No scoring rides.

Final Results

All-around cowboy — Landon Williams, $1,788, tie-down roping and team roping.

Bareback riding — 1. Blade Elliott, 90.5 points on Kesler Rodeo’s Illegal Smile, $2,572; 2. Steven Dent, 86.5, $1,972; 3. Jessy Davis, 86, $1,457; 4. Tristan Hansen, 85, $943; 5. Caleb Bennett, 84, $600; 6. Tanner Aus, 83, $429; 7. (tie) Trenten Montero and Leighton Berry, 82, $300 each.

Steer wrestling — 1. (tie) Jace Melvin, Riley Joyce and Ross Mosher, 4.1 seconds, $2,124 each; 4. (tie) Blake Knowles and Stetson Jorgensen, 4.3, $1,328 each; 6. Caden Camp, 4.4, $850; 7. Ted Gollaher, 4.9, $531; 8. Bridger Chambers, 5.1, $212.

Team roping — 1. Kal Fuller/Kasper Roy, 4.9 seconds, $1,707 each; 2. Dawson Graham/Dillon Graham, 5.1, $1,484; 3. Cody Tew/Landon Williams, 5.7, $1,261; 4. Jason Carlson/Jacob Goddard, 6.1, $1,039; 5. Kade Sherwood/Kory Mytty, 6.2, $816; 6. Travis Tryan/Justin Viles, 6.6, $594; 7. Ian Austiguy/Chase Briggs IV, 6.8, $371; 8. Jack Graham/Sam Levine, 7.2, $148.

Saddle bronc riding — 1. Rusty Wright, 90 points on Kesler Rodeo’s Country Trail, $2,673; 2. Mitch Pollock, 89, $2,050; 3. (tie) Wyatt Casper and Spencer Wright, 88, $1,248 each; 5. Dawson Dahm, 87.5, $624; 6. Jake Burwash, 84, $446; 7. Hunter Sawley, 83, $356; 8. Sterling Crawley, 80, $267.

Tie-down roping — 1. Tyler Milligan, 8.6 seconds, $2,421; 2. Cade Swor, 9.0, $2,106; 3. Hank Hollenbeck, 9.7, $1,790; 4. Haven Meged, 10.4, $1,474; 5. (tie) Adam Gray and Jake Pratt, 11.2, $1,000 each; 7. Landon Williams, 11.4, $526; 8. Ty Harris, 11.6, $211.

Barrel racing — 1. Tia Murphy, 17.20 seconds, $2,175; 2. Shelby Gill, 17.61, $1,849; 3. Emily Keefer, 17.67, $1,523; 4. Lisa Anderson, 17.68, $1,305; 5. Lindsay Kruse, 17.75, $1,088; 6. Jennifer Sharp, 17.77, $761; 7. Jessie Telford, 17.81, $544; 8. Jimmie Smith, 17.92, $435; 9. Madison Wilkerson, 17.93, $381; 10. Teri Bangart, 17.97, $326; 11. Tara Stimpson, 17.98, $272; 12. Kim Gerwatoski, 18.04, $218.

Bull riding — * 1. Sage Kimzey, 90 points on Kesler Rodeo’s Excessive Force, $8,984; no other qualified rides. *(all totals include ground money).

Total payoff: $73,535. Stock contractor: Kesler Championship Rodeo. Sub-contractor: Kesler Rodeo.