Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

OMAHA, NE - Jesse Wright can safely order a bigger cake, hire that better band and get an ice sculpture for his wedding in two weeks. Three days in the CenturyLink Center put more than $34,000 in his bank account, a nice little windfall for Wright and fiancée Aubrey Bailey.

Wright's win in the saddle bronc riding at the Justin Boots Championships on Sept. 29 paid him $26,739, and because he moved into first place in the final regular-season standings here he also got a $7,500 PRCA bonus check for what he calls "this awesome season."

After twin brother Jake Wright won the semifinal round with an 88-point ride, Jesse Wright climbed on Burns Rodeo's Big Wig in the four-man final for 85 points and the win that "sends me to the Wrangler NFR sitting where I want to be sitting."

"I feel like I'm No. 1 every time I go to a rodeo, and being at the top of the standings is great," Jesse Wright said. "Every one of us comes out here feeling the same way. When you are going against the best in the world, it brings out the best in you.

"The ultimate goal is to go for that gold buckle, to be the best of the best. This has been my best season, the most consistent season. I can't wait to get out to Vegas and try to win the gold buckle."

But first there is the business with a gold ring. He is marrying his high school sweetheart in the barn they use for dances in Minersville, Utah, just 14 miles down the road from his home in Milford. The wedding festivities were planned prior to the full rodeo schedule being announced, so brothers Jake, Alex and Spencer won't be able to attend; they'll be in Waco, Texas, for the All-American ProRodeo Finals.

"My friend from high school days, (bull rider) Chris Roundy, is going to be best man because Jake can't be there," Jesse Wright said, "and my older brother (two-time World Champion) Cody will be able to be there. When a Wright gets married there is always a big crowd of family members."

Wright's fellow Utah native Kaycee Feild was the only other cowboy to parlay a win in Omaha into a first-place finish in the regular standings. Feild's 90-point ride on Lancaster & Pickett Rodeo's Top Flight won the bareback riding final and his $16,603 in total earnings here put him $858 ahead of Steven Dent.

Feild, the reigning world champion, had not led the world standings for a single day until this final weekend of the season.

"My whole goal coming here was to go into the lead," Feild said. "I led last year and was last out on the first night of the NFR. You are mentally ready to ride, you're not thinking ‘I need to do this or that.' You just go out and try to dominate.

"I got a great horse tonight. I've seen Top Flight four times and it always seemed like I was one away from drawing him. He does that same thing every time, where he jumps three feet in the air. He reminds me of MGM Deuces Night."

Like Feild, steer wrestler Wade Sumpter closed out his season in a big way with wins in both the Justin Boots Playoffs two weeks ago in Puyallup, Wash., and then in the $637,188 Justin Boots Championships here.

He even posted the same winning time in the finals of both rodeos - 3.7 seconds.

"I had an ugly start there and here, but I finished well," Sumpter said. "It was frustrating not making it to the NFR last year, so this was a relief. There was no big change in how I did things this year. I was just more consistent. My horses are working good and (traveling partner) Billy Bugenig has done a great job hazing for me."

Tuf Cooper repeated as the tie-down roping champion here with a 6.8-second run in the final round and he's hoping that the momentum gained here can help him repeat as world champion at the Dec. 6-15 Wrangler NFR.

The big accomplishment here was cutting Justin Maass' once-daunting lead in the world standings to a little less than $18,000 - or about the prize money for winning one round at the NFR.

"My dad (eight-time World Champion Roy Cooper) told me to just come out here and win about $25,000," Cooper said. "I didn't exactly do that ($20,781), but it worked out OK. Now, I've got two months to practice and nobody will practice harder than me."

J.W. Harris continued his hot streak, winning both the semifinal and final rounds to finish with rodeo-best earnings of $30,066. He closed it out with a 91-point ride on Rafter H Rodeo's Wicked Spot after both Trevor Kastner and Cody Teel had put 89s on the board.

"This is probably the best run I've ever had to close the year," Harris said. "I've been riding well and drawing perfect. You get pumped up in the four-round when everybody's riding great. I didn't want to be the only that got bucked off.

"When you are on a hot streak like this, you just want to keep going."

The other champions were team ropers Luke Brown and Martin Lucero, who won the finals in 4.0 seconds, and Sherry Cervi, who had a 13.72-second run in the barrel racing finals.

Justin Boots Championships
CenturyLink Center, Omaha, Neb., Sept. 27-29

Bareback riding: Semifinals: 1. Wes Stevenson, Lubbock, Texas, 87 points on Lancaster & Pickett Pro Rodeo's Night Bells, $6,190; 2. Winn Ratliff, Leesville, La., 84, $4,642; 3. Kaycee Feild, Payson, Utah, 83, $3,095; 4. Bobby Mote, Culver, Ore., 82, $1,547; 5. Caleb Bennett, Morgan, Utah, 75; 6. (tie) Casey Colletti, Pueblo, Colo., J.R. Vezain, Cowley, Wyo., and Steven Dent, Mullen, Neb., NS. Finals: 1. Kaycee Feild, 90 points on Lancaster & Pickett Pro Rodeo's Top Flight, $11,651; 2. (tie) Winn Ratliff, Leesville, La., and Wes Stevenson, Lubbock, Texas, 87, $7,282 each; 4. Bobby Mote, Culver, Ore., 84, $2,913. Total Money: 1. Wes Stevenson, $18,785; 2. Kaycee Feild, $16,603; 3. Winn Ratliff, $15,845; 4. J.R. Vezain, $12,999; 5. Casey Colletti, $8,511; 6. Steven Dent, $7,892; 7. Bobby Mote, $5,079; 8. Steven Peebles, Redmond, Ore., $2,837; 9. Caleb Bennett, $1,857; 10. Brian Bain, Culver, Ore., $619.

Steer wrestling: Semifinals: 1. (tie) Wade Sumpter, Fowler, Colo., and Ethen Thouvenell, Napa, Calif., 3.5 seconds, $5,416 each; 3. Trevor Knowles, Mount Vernon, Ore., 3.7, $3,095; 4. K.C. Jones, Decatur, Texas, 3.8, $1,547; 5. Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., 3.9; 6. Casey Martin, Sulphur, La., 4.4; 7. Dean Gorsuch, Gering, Neb., 4.5; 8. Gabe Ledoux, Kaplan, La., 4.7. Finals: 1. Wade Sumpter, 3.7 seconds, $11,651; 2. Trevor Knowles, 3.9, $8,739; 3. K.C. Jones, 4.0, $5,826; 4. Ethen Thouvenell, 4.7, $2,913. Total Money: 1.Wade Sumpter, $19,853; 2. Casey Martin, $13,463; 3. Trevor Knowles, $13,381; 4. Ethen Thouvenell, $11,656; 5. K.C. Jones, $9,926; 6. Dean Gorsuch, $8,511; 7. Luke Branquinho, $8,047; 8. Gabe Ledoux, $5,107; 9. Matt Reeves, Cross Plains, Texas, $1,083.

Team roping: Semifinals: 1. Derrick Begay, Seba Dalkai, Ariz./Cesar de la Cruz, Tucson, Ariz., 4.8 seconds, $6,190 each; 2. Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas/Patrick Smith, Midland, Texas, 5.3, $4,642; 3. Chad Masters, Cedar Hill, Tenn./Clay O'Brien Cooper , Gardnerville, Nev., 5.7, $3,095; 4. Luke Brown, Stephenville, Texas/Martin Lucero, Stephenville, Texas, 9.6, $1,547; 5. Travis Tryan, Billings, Mont./Jake Long, Coffeyville, Kan., 14.5; 6. (tie) Dustin Bird, Cut Bank, Mont./Paul Eaves, Millsap, Texas, Keven Daniel, Franklin, Tenn./Chase Tryan, Helena, Mont., and Kaleb Driggers, Albany, Ga./Jade Corkill, Fallon, Nev., NT. Finals: 1. Luke Brown/Martin Lucero, 4.0 seconds, $11,651; 2. Chad Masters/Clay O'Brien Cooper, 4.5, $8,739; 3. Trevor Brazile/Patrick Smith, 9.5, $5,826; 4. Derrick Begay/Cesar de la Cruz, NT. Total Money: 1. Luke Brown/Martin Lucero, $18,073; 2. Chad Masters/Clay O'Brien Cooper, $16,708; 3. Derrick Begay/Cesar de la Cruz, $14,701; 4. Trevor Brazile/Patrick Smith, $12,325; 5. Dustin Bird/Paul Eaves, $10,213; 6. Travis Tryan/Jake Long, $6,499; 7. Keven Daniel/Chase Tryan, $5,726; 8. Kaleb Driggers/Jade Corkill, $2,166; 9. Colby Lovell/Russell Cardoza, $928.

Saddle bronc riding: Semifinals: 1. Jake Wright, Milford, Utah, 88 points on Rafter H Rodeo Livestock's Spade, $6,190 2. (tie) Isaac Diaz, Desdemona, Texas, and Jesse Wright, Milford, Utah, 84, $3,869 each; 4. Taos Muncy, Corona, N.M., 78, $1,547; 5. Cole Elshere, Faith, S.D., 74; 6. Cort Scheer, Elsmere, Neb., 73; 7. (tie) Sterling Crawley, College Station, Texas, and Chad Ferley, Oelrichs, S.D., NS. Finals: 1. Jesse Wright, 85 points on Burns Rodeo's Big Wig, $11,651; 2. Isaac Diaz, 77, $8,739; 3. (tie) Jake Wright, and Taos Muncy, NS. Total Money: 1. Jesse Wright, $26,739; 2. Isaac Diaz, $13,536; 3. Jake Wright, $9,904; 4. Taos Muncy, $8,743; 5. Chad Ferley, $8,434; 6. Cody DeMoss, Heflin, La., $5,107; 7. Sterling Crawley, $4,642; 8. Cort Scheer, $3,095; 9. Cole Elshere, $2,089.

Tie-down roping: Semifinals: 1. Tuf Cooper, Decatur, Texas, 7.5 seconds, $6,190; 2. Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah, 7.7, $4,642; 3. Houston Hutto, Tomball, Texas, 7.8, $3,095; 4. Hunter Herrin, Apache, Okla., 7.9, $1,547; 5. Fred Whitfield, Hockley, Texas, 10.0; 6. Ryan Jarrett, Comanche, Okla., 14.0; 7. Monty Lewis, Hereford, Texas, 17.7; 8. Shane Hanchey, Sulphur, La., NT. Finals: 1. Tuf Cooper, 6.8 seconds, $11,651; 2. Clint Robinson, 7.3, $8,739; 3. Houston Hutto, 8.7, $5,826; 4. Hunter Herrin, NT. Total Money: 1. Tuf Cooper, $20,781; 2. Clint Robinson, $20,654; 3. Hunter Herrin, $11,606; 4. Houston Hutto, Tomball, Texas, $8,921; 5. Monty Lewis, $8,821; 6. Ryan Jarrett, $5,726; 7. Cody Ohl, Hico, Texas, $4,488; 8. (tie) Justin Maass, Giddings, Texas, and Cory Solomon, Prairie View, Texas, $2,785 each; 10. Shane Hanchey, $1,161; 11. Fred Whitfield, $387.

Barrel racing: Finals: 1. Sherry Cervi, Marana, Ariz., 13.72 seconds, $8,350; 2. Lindsay Sears, Nanton, Alberta, 13.86, $4,231; 3. Kaley Bass, Davenport, Fla., 13.97, $2,798; 4. Mary Walker, Ennis, Texas, 23.86, $1,410. Total Money: 1. Mary Walker, $11,488; 2. Sherry Cervi, $9,559; 3. Lindsay Sears, $8,014; 4. Kaley Bass, $5,574; 5. Carlee Pierce, Stephenville, Texas, $2,104; 6. Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D., $761.

Bull riding: Semifinals: 1. J.W. Harris, Mullin, Texas, 88 points on Rafter H Rodeo Livestock's El Capitain, $6,190; 2. Cody Teel, Kountze, Texas, 87, $4,642; 3. (tie) Trevor Kastner, Ardmore, Okla., Beau Schroeder, China, Texas, Cody Whitney, Sayre, Okla., Cody Samora, Cortez, Colo., Ardie Maier, Timber Lake, S.D., and Seth Glause, Cheyenne, Wyo., NS. Finals: 1. J.W. Harris, 91 points on Rafter H Rodeo Livestock's Wicked Spot, $11,651; 2. (tie) Trevor Kastner and Cody Teel, 89, $7,282 each; 4. Beau Schroeder, 85, $2,913. Total Money: 1. J.W. Harris, $30,066; 2. Trevor Kastner, $21,983; 3. Cody Teel, $18,579; 4. Beau Schroeder, $4,770; 5. Cody Whitney, $3,869; 6. Ardie Maier, $2,631; 7. Seth Glause, $1,857; 8. Cody Samora, $1,083; 9. (tie) Trey Benton III, Rock Island, Texas, and Brett Stall, Detroit Lakes, Minn., $774 each.
Total payoff: $637,188. Stock contractors: Beutler & Son Rodeo Company, Burns Rodeo Company, Cervi Championship Rodeo, Dakota Rodeo Company, Harry Vold Rodeo, Harvey Northcott Rodeo, J Bar J, JS Rodeo, Mo Betta Rodeo Company, Mosbrucker Rodeos, Rafter H Rodeo Livestock Company, Southwick's Rocky Mountain Rodeo Company, Sutton Rodeos and Three Hills Rodeo. Rodeo secretary: Kathy McCloy. Officials: Joe Bob Locke, Steve Knowles, Mike Todd and Marty Jandreau. Timers: Mandy Pickett and Kim Sutton. Announcer: Roger Mooney and Boyd Polhamus. Specialty act: Justin Rumford. Bullfighters: Dusty Tuckness and Cory Wall. Clown/barrelman: Justin Rumford. Flankman: Various. Chute bosses: Binion Cervi and Andy Hilton. Pickup men: Chase Cervi and Tyler Robertson. Photographer: Kerri Allardyce.