Powell bull rider Asay heating up early

Posted: Oct 24, 2012 3:37 PM by Q2 Sports
Updated: Oct 24, 2012 9:36 PM

BILLINGS - With the end of the 2012 regular season coming two months before the start of the 2012 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, a lot of cowboys in the top 15 in the world standings have a decision to make.

That decision is whether or not to keep rodeoing and start off the 2013 campaign, or to rest up and stay home until it's go time in Las Vegas. Kanin Asay fits somewhere in between.

The 26-year-old finished fourth in the 2012 bull riding world standings, but still made time to win the NILE ProRodeo in Billings, Mont., over the weekend with an 87-point ride on Burch Rodeo's No. 821.

"I'm not going too hard between now and the NFR, but Billings was only an hour-and-a-half drive from my house in Wyoming and it was easy to get to, so I went," Asay said. "Plus I knew there would be some great bulls up there with the stock contractors that were there, and the bulls were really good."

Asay had been off since Omaha, Neb., and said that getting in a quality ride like the one in Billings was just what the doctor ordered to keep him heading in the right direction.

He plans on riding at the Winnie, Texas, Xtreme Bulls event on Oct. 31 before shutting it down until the NFR. "You always want to stay sharp, but for me riding horses and working out is better preparation for the Finals than going and getting on a bunch of bulls," he said.

Other winners at the $80,869 rodeo were all-around cowboy Jason Schaffer ($2,394, steer wrestling and tie-down roping), bareback rider Chase Erickson (84 points), steer wrestler Ty Erickson (3.8 seconds), team ropers Brady Tryan and Jhett Johnson (4.3 seconds), saddle bronc rider Chuck Schmidt (88 points), tie-down roper J.D. Kibbe (8.6 seconds) and barrel racers Fallon Taylor and Lee Ann Rust (14.34 seconds each).

• For full results of last week's PRCA rodeos, visit www.prorodeo.com.