Monthly Archives: November 2014

Fifth round: 1. Mike Chase, 10.2 seconds, $5,331; 2. Trevor Brazile, 10.3, $4,281; 3. Brodie Poppino, 10.7, $3,231; 4. (tie) J.P. Wickett and Troy Tillard, 10.8, $1,656 each. Average leaders: 1. Trevor Brazile, 54.2 seconds on five runs; 2. J.P. Wickett, 60.6; 3. Mike Chase, 61.7; 4. Jason Evans, 63.5; 5. Jess Tierney, 67.5.

Fourth round: 1. Jason Evans, 9.5 seconds, $5,331; 2. (tie) Mike Chase and J.P. Wickett, 10.3, $3,756 each; 4. Rocky Patterson, 11.1, $2,181; 5. Jess Tierney, 11.3, $1,131. Average leaders: 1. Trevor Brazile, 43.9 seconds on four runs; 2. Jason Evans, 47.0; 3. Jess Tierney, 48.6; 4. J.P. Wickett, 49.8; 5. Mike Chase, 51.5.

Third round: 1. Scott Snedecor, 11.0 seconds, $5,331; 2. Trevor Brazile, 11.5, $4,281; 3. Vin Fisher Jr., 11.6, $3,231; 4. Brodie Poppino, 12.7, $2,181; 5. Jess Tierney, 13.4, $1,131. Average leaders: 1. (tie) Trevor Brazile and Scott Snedecor, 31.2 seconds on three runs; 3. Jess Tierney, 37.3; 4. Jason Evans, 37.5; 5. Troy Tillard, 38.6.

Second round: 1. Scott Snedecor, 9.1 seconds, $5,331; 2. Trevor Brazile, 9.9, $4,281; 3. J.P. Wickett, 10.3, $3,231; 4. Tony Reina, 10.6; 5. Jason Evans, 11.3. Average leaders: 1. Trevor Brazile, 19.7 seconds on two runs; 2. Scott Snedecor, 20.2; 3. Jason Evans, 21.5; 4. Mike Chase, 22.9; 5. J.P. Wickett, 23.1.

First round: 1. Trevor Brazile, 9.8 seconds, $5,331; 2. Vin Fisher Jr., 10.0, $4,281; 3. Jason Evans, 10.2, $3,231; 4. Rocky Patterson, 11.0, $2,181; 5. Scott Snedecor, 11.1, $1,131.

RAPID CITY, S.D. – The greatest athletes in the world need a proving ground. All major sports utilize the college ranks, where young players fine-tune their talents with hopes of developing into a long career. Baseball and golf have minor leagues, and basketball features a developmental league. The United Bucking Horse Association is a system in place to help with the advancement of bucking horses for rodeo-related events. Now in its first year, the UBHA was created to showcase 2- and 3-year-old colts that were born to buck. The young horses perform with a mechanical dummy instead of a rider to allow the horses the opportunity to develop with age. “It makes perfect sense to establish an association that would cater to the dummy classes and potentially provide proven foals as contenders,” said Guy French, the UBHA’s executive director. Through the 2014 season, the organization conducted 11 contests across the United States and Canada that featured the young bucking horses. Now the top 25 in each age division have qualified for the UBHA World Finals, set for 5 p.m. (Mountain Standard Time) Friday, Nov. 14, at the Central States Fairgrounds in Rapid City. “What I hear the most is people saying how much fun they’re having with is,” said Darcy Hollingsworth, a UBHA shareholder who raises bucking stock near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. “There are still a lot of people that aren’t involved in it yet. I can see it growing to where we have regions, and I see a lot of people being up and building our finals into a really good deal.” Hollingsworth has been around the game for many years. He rode broncs when he was younger and now enjoys watching these tremendous athletes. “The UBHA competitions are just a fun thing to do,” he said. “There are a lot of good things coming.” It starts with the world finals next week. “Part of our concept is to keep this as an all-inclusive association where everyone is welcome to participate and everyone has an equal shot of winning,” French said. “We have several new people that had never raised bucking horses that have qualified for our finals. They have done well. “The UBHA gives the small guy a chance to compete against the big guy and still have a chance at winning.” The competition is an added flavor to the association. A key ingredient is serving as the minor league system for the young horses. “I see this as being a proving ground for the future of the PRCA,” French said of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, the sport’s premier sanctioning body that produces the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo every December. “This allows us to showcase the animals and get them out there to perspective buyers at the next level. “These are the top colts in the United States and Canada. They earned the spot to be there. This will be the best set of bucking colts that have ever been together in one place.”

ALVA, Okla. – J.D. Struxness transferred to Northwestern Oklahoma State University earlier this fall in order to better learn the art of steer wrestling. “I wanted to come bulldog with Stockton and Kody,” Struxness said of Rangers coach Stockton Graves and assistant Kody Woodward. “I figured this would be a good place to get better.” That theory is working quite well. This past weekend, Struxness won both rounds and the steer wrestling average at the NWOSU rodeo. Struxness is from Milan, Minn., and attended his first year on the rodeo team at Missouri Valley College. Because of National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association transfer rules, he had to sit out for the first three events of the Central Plains Region season. The victory in Alva was a good way to start his Northwestern career. “I drew good steers all weekend,” said Struxness, a sophomore who posted a 4.1-second run to win the opening round, then followed it with a 3.5 to win the short-round and the average. He was one of eight Northwestern men in the championship round, where he was joined by steer wrestlers Brock White and Grayson Allred; tie-down ropers Hayden Pearce and Maverick Harper; the team roping tandem of Pearce and Wade Perry and header Dalton Richards; and bull rider Weston Wilson. White, who posted a two-run cumulative time of 9.0 seconds, placed second in the short round and average. Pearce and Perry finished fourth in the team roping average, while Wilson finished sixth in bull riding. Overall, the men’s team finished second. It was a solid performance at the Rangers’ hometown rodeo. “This helped me a lot,” Struxness said. “The points helped, and it was nice to win the home rodeo and here in Alva.” The women’s team, which finished third this past weekend, was paced by senior Karley Kile of Topeka, Kan. She won the breakaway roping championship – she finished third in the opening round with a 2.4-second run, then scored a 2.5 to win the short round and the average – and shared the first-round victory in goat tying with a 7.0-second run to earn a place in the short round. Breakaway roper Taige Trent placed in both rounds and finished second in the average. She and Kyle were joined in the short round by goat-tier Elli Price, who finished fifth in the average. The Northwestern rodeo was the final of four Central Plains rodeos in the fall portion of the season. The remaining six events will take place during the spring semester. The Rangers women finish the fall semester first in the regional standings; the men are fourth.

RAPID CITY, S.D. – Darcy Hollingsworth has an eye for great animals. Over the years, the Alberta man has raised bucking horses that have performed at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and the Canadian Finals Rodeo. Hollingsworth just has never taken them to either of the championships. When Hollingsworth’s horses are big enough, he sells them to professional contractors, who then have the opportunity to buck them at the biggest events in the game. Now he will have an opportunity to showcase his star-studded athletes in a championship event during the United Bucking Horse Association World Finals, set for 5 p.m. (Mountain Standard Time) Friday, Nov. 14, at the Central States Fairgrounds in Rapid City. “To have all those great horses in one building and in one competition is going to be great,” said Hollingsworth, who lives near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. “Everybody’s going to have their best colts under one roof. It’s going to be a very exciting contest.” He should know. In 2010, his horse, Pedro, bucked at the first futurity that took place during the NFR in Las Vegas. Pedro won the competition, then sold for $55,000, which was the highest-selling horse at that time. “Wayne Vold bout him, and he’s been to the NFR every year since,” Hollingsworth said. “He’s also in the rank pen at the Canadian Finals, and he’s been in the four-round at Calgary three of the last four years.” This is nothing new for the Canadian. He’s been involved in breeding and raising bucking horses for the better part of two decades. It’s something he enjoys. “I don’t want to contract,” he said. “I just want to be able to go and take the good ones to where I can get them, and the UBHA gives me that opportunity.” Kenny Andrews of Vernal, Utah, was a professional rodeo cowboy who also had a background in horse racing. His interest changed to bucking horses within the last year. “I was considering buying a racehorse,” said Andrews, who runs the operation with his wife, Keri. “That’s a rich man’s game. You never know if a horse is going to get there. Bucking horses is something that wasn’t that expensive to get into. “In the UBHA, we were able to go out and compete with colts we bought in Guthrie” Okla., this past January, he said. “Most are in the top 25 and going to the finals.” That’s a quick turn-around, but that’s what the UBHA has provided in its first year. The world finals will feature the top 25 horses in both the 2- and 3-year-old classes. The animals are bucked with a mechanical dummy instead of a rider to the colts the opportunity to develop with age. “I think the UBHA is going to grow leaps in bounds,” Andrews said. “Here in Utah, there already are some people talking about it. Even racehorse people are talking to me about it. You get to be more involved, which is something I really like.” There’s a lot to like about it. That’s why the organization is continuing to grow.