Austin clinches first world title in front of a sea of
pink at the Thomas & Mack Center
LAS VEGAS, Dec. 9, 2005 – It was a sea of pink at
the Thomas & Mack Center on Friday night as part of Wrangler’s Tough Enough To
Wear Pink initiative to raise awareness for breast cancer. The majority of the
17,765 in attendance were wearing pink items to show their support and remember
those who have been affected by breast cancer.
It was also a night in which bull rider Matt Austin officially clinched the 2005
bull riding world title. Austin, of Wills Point, Texas, didn’t win the round
with his 78-point ride on Beutler and Son Rodeo’s Stick Marsh, but his title was
official when his best friend Bryan Richardson slapped Stace Smith Pro Rodeo’s
Sports Center before the eight-second whistle and therefore failed to post a
qualified ride.
“I can’t put it into words how it feels and it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” said
Austin of clinching the world title. “Every year, I set a goal and rodeo all
year with that goal in mind, and the year I’ve had this year is a dream come
true. I’ve still got a lot to prove to myself and still have two rounds left,
and I’ve still got a chance to break Ty Murray’s earnings record, so I’m still
going to go out there and act like I’m in second place.”
Austin, who broke the single-season earnings record in bull riding after his win
at the inaugural Xtreme Bulls National Finals produced by Lazy E Productions in
Reno, Nev., in October, is in striking distance of setting a new record for the
highest single-year earnings in PRCA history. Ty Murray holds the record at
$297,896, which was set in 1993. Murray competed in all three roughstock events
to set the record.
Austin has won a total of $265,742 and still has two days of competition to go.
He is currently fourth in the average race with 412 points on five head, and a
fourth-place finish in the average pays $18,930.
Wesley Silcox of Payson, Utah, won the eighth round with an 86.5-point ride on
Big Bend Rodeo’s Keller Special.
Ryan Jarrett of Summerville, Ga., overtook the lead in the all-around race on
Thursday night and extended that lead in Round 8 by finishing fourth in the
tie-down roping with an 8.0-second run. Jarrett collected a check totaling
$6,563, while three-time and reigning All-Around World Champion Trevor Brazile
finished with a no time.
Jarrett moved to the top of the leaderboard in the tie-down roping average race
with a total time of 72.5 seconds on eight head. Jarrett took the lead from
Blair Burk of Durant, Okla., who was unable to post a time in Round 8.
Tie-down roper Matt Shiozawa, who grew up in Moapa Valley, Nev., and now lives
in Chubbuck, Idaho, won his second consecutive round with a time of 7.2 seconds.
Shiozawa edged Stran Smith of Childress, Texas, who finished with a 7.3-second
run.
“My draws are coming around, and I’m getting good calves that are proven,”
Shiozawa said. “I gained some confidence after last night’s win, and I feel like
my horses are performing well.”
Bareback rider Cimmaron Gerke rode Wayne Vold Rodeo’s Awesome for 87.5 points to
win the eighth round. Gerke, of Fort Worth, Texas, knew he would have a chance
to win the round if he could last the eight seconds on the horse that PRCA
judges voted the rankest bareback horse of the fourth round after he bucked off
Rowdy Buechner.
“I have never been on him before, but have seen him,” Gerke said of the horse.
“He does something different every time, so I just wanted to keep weight on each
side and my head in the middle and luckily it worked out for me. I was excited
to have the horse, and I had a pretty good feeling I could ride him. I just
needed to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes and just went at him the best I
could.”
Reigning World Champion Bareback Rider Kelly Timberman holds the average lead
with 669.5 points on eight head. Gerke trails him by just one-half of a point.
Will Lowe is ranked first in the Jack Daniel’s World Standings with $148,887,
with Ryan Gray in second with $140,607.
It was a few days coming for steer wrestler Stockton Graves, but he found
himself in the winner’s circle on Friday night during the eighth round when he
stopped the clock in 3.3 seconds. Graves, of Newkirk, Okla., finished just ahead
of Dean Gorsuch of Gering, Neb., who posted a 3.4-second run.
“The steers have been good all week, and the guys know the steers now,” Graves
said. “Tonight, every one of the guys were making good runs, and nobody made any
mistakes. Tonight, I just wanted to go out and be fast, but I didn’t know I was
going to have to be that fast. I guess it was just a quick little pen.”
Lee Graves of Calgary, Alberta, leads the average race with a total time of 30.3
seconds on eight head, as well as the Jack Daniel’s World Standings with
$159,721. Graves has won almost as much in the eight days of the Wrangler NFR as
he did the entire 2005 regular season. Graves entered the 2005 Wrangler NFR with
a total of $80,003 in earnings and thus far has collected $79,718 in Las Vegas.
Eight-time world champion team ropers Speed Williams and Rich Skelton took their
first trip to the winner’s circle at the 2005 Wrangler NFR on Friday night after
turning in a 3.7-second run, which tied the arena record. Williams and Skelton,
both of Llano, Texas, are roping together for the final time at this year’s
Wrangler NFR and will be matched with different partners for the 2006 season.
“This year has been a very frustrating year for me horse-wise,” Williams said.
“We kind of got things going pretty good at Dallas (Pace Classic), and my horse
slipped and fell with me and hurt my knee. Then a week before we left to come to
the Finals, I had another horse fall and hurt my left shoulder.
“My hamstring, calf, a lot of my body parts are not functioning well, and that
was the reason I didn’t start off on my other horse, Viper. We went out of the
average last night, and it’s time to roll the dice. The horse I’m riding now has
had 80 runs on him here. He ducks pretty hard and doesn’t leave you much room
for error. So, you’re either fast or a no time, and it worked tonight.”
Tee Woolman and Cory Petska took over the lead in the average race with a total
time of 62.1 seconds on eight head. Clay Tryan leads the heading world standings
with $139,187, while Kory Koontz leads the heeling standings with $142,237.
Trevor Brazile, who is filling in for the injured Jake Barnes, and Koontz
finished fourth in the round with a time of 4.4 seconds.
Five-time and reigning World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider Billy Etbauer won his
third round of the 2005 Wrangler NFR aboard Kesler Championship Rodeo’s Coffee
Break. Etbauer, of Edmond, Okla., posted a score of 87.5 to win the round.
“Josh (Reynolds) had him the other day,” said Etbauer about the horse. “I knew
it was a good horse, and I was worried about taking care of my end. I was just
glad my rear end was in there when the whistle blew.”
Etbauer was one of the 119 contestants sporting a pink Wrangler shirt for the
Tough Enough to Wear Pink night.
“I might put it in my wardrobe,” Etbuaer said. “I did really well in the same
round last year. Hopefully it is helping Breast Cancer Research, and we are
happy to do it.”
Canadian Rod Warren maintained his lead in the average standings with 632.5
points on eight head. Warren, of Big Valley, Alberta, is the only saddle bronc
rider to have lasted the eight seconds on all of his broncs.
Jeffery Willert, of Belvidere, S.D., continues to lead the world standings with
$240,561. Willert, who finished second in the round with 85 points on Bar T
Rodeo’s Round Robin surpassed Glen O’Neill’s single-season earnings record in
saddle bronc riding after Round 8. O’Neill won $236,031 during his 2002 world
championship campaign and after Friday night’s competition, Willert has
collected $240,561. He has won $81,022 at this year’s Wrangler NFR.
California’s Linda Vick won her first round in the barrel racing with a
13.95-second run. Vick, of Hesperia, entered her first Wrangler NFR as the No. 1
barrel racer in the world. She finished just ahead of reigning World Champion
Kelly Kaminski, who stopped the clock in 14.05 seconds.
“Well, I kind of woke Hollywood up tonight as I was warming him up,” Vick said.
“I wanted him a little more snappy, and I think it worked. All five of my
grandchildren are here tonight, and I wanted to do well for them.”
Liz Pinkston of San Antonio, Texas, leads the average race with a total time of
113.68 seconds on eight runs. She leads Sherry Cervi of Marana, Ariz., who has a
total time of 114.25 seconds. Kaminski, of Bellville, Texas, continues to hold
the lead in the Jack Daniel’s World Standings with $150,560.
Saturday night’s action gets under way at 5:45 p.m. PT and will be broadcast
live on ESPN. All performances are being broadcast in high definition.
Performance 8 of 10
Bareback Riding
1. Cimmaron Gerke, Fort Worth, Texas, 87.5 points on Wayne Vold Rodeo's Awesome,
$15,649; 2. Cody DeMers, Kimberly, Idaho, 83.5, $12,368; 3. (tie) Will Lowe,
Canyon, Texas, 83.0, $7,951 and Kelly Timberman, Mills, Wyo., 83.0, $7,951; 5.
Royce Ford, Kersey, Colo., 82.0, $4,038; 6. Rowdy Buechner, Sandpoint, Idaho,
81.5, $2,524.
Aggregate
1. Kelly Timberman, Mills, Wyo., 669.5 points on eight head; 2. Cimmaron Gerke,
Fort Worth, Texas, 669.0; 3. Scott Montague, Fruitdale, S.D., 662.5; 4. Wes
Stevenson, Kaufman, Texas, 662.0; 5. Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas, 656.0; 6. Andy
Martinez, Pavillion, Wyo., 649.0; 7. Bobby Mote, Culver, Ore., 633.0; 8. Cody
DeMers, Kimberly, Idaho, 628.0.
Steer Wrestling
1. Stockton Graves, Newkirk, Okla., 3.3 seconds, $15,649; 2. Dean Gorsuch,
Gering, Neb., 3.4, $12,368; 3. (tie) Garrett Nokes, Mccook, Neb., 3.5,
$6,647; Lee Graves, Calgary, Alberta, 3.5, $6,647 and Bob Lummus, Folsom, La.,
3.5, $6,647; 6. (tie) Ronnie Fields, Oklahoma City, Okla., 3.9, $1,262 and Jeff
Corbello, Iowa, La., 3.9, $1,262.
Aggregate
1. Lee Graves, Calgary, Alberta, 30.3 seconds on eight head; 2. Cash Myers,
Athens, Texas, 34.1; 3. Jeff Corbello, Iowa, La., 37.9; 4. Trevor Knowles,
Mount Vernon, Ore., 41.6; 5. Ryan Jarrett, Summerville, Ga., 45.0; 6. Jason
Lahr, Emporia, Kan., 49.8; 7. Birch Negaard, Buffalo, S.D., 65.7; 8. Beau
Franzen, Sidney, Mont., 68.0.
Aggregate
1. Rod A Warren, Big Valley, Alberta, 632.5 points on eight head
2. Cody Wright, Milford, Utah, 583.5 on seven
3. Chet Johnson, Gillette, Wyo., 567.5
4. Rod Hay, Wildwood, Alberta, 563.0
5. Dan Mortensen, Billings, Mont., 555.0
6. Ryan Mapston, Geyser, Mont., 554.0
7. Jeffery Willert, Belvidere, S.D., 520.0 on six
8. Billy Etbauer, Edmond, Okla., 517.0
Tie-Down Roping
1. Matt Shiozawa, Chubbuck, Idaho, 7.2 seconds, $15,649; 2. Stran Smith,
Childress, Texas, 7.3, $12,368; 3. Fred Whitfield, Hockley, Texas, 7.5, $9,339;
4. Ryan Jarrett, Summerville, Ga., 8.0, $6,563; 5. Jerome Schneeberger, Ponca
City, Okla., 8.1, $4,038; 6. (tie) Mike Johnson, Henryetta, Okla., 9.4, $1,262
and Cade Swor, Winnie, Texas, 9.4, $1,262.
