Moore, Cassidy already banking five figures

Field set for Sunday’s final round
Susan Kanode

 

 

CHEYENNE, Wyo.; July 31, 2010 --- Who is Cody Moore? Just the most dominating steer wrestler in Cheyenne this week.

The bulldogger from Artesia, N.M., followed up his 6.6-second run Friday with a 6.2 on Saturday to win the second round and take the lead in the average by a whopping three seconds. Moore has already earned $10,882 in Cheyenne in his first-ever time entering the Daddy of ’em All.

He’s riding the same horse Jace Melvin used to place third at the National High School Finals Rodeo last week, also in Wyoming, and said he plans to stick to his game plan in the finals.

“It's Cheyenne,” he told the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. “You have to lay your ears back and go after it every run.”

Bull riders Howdy Cloud and Kanin Asay put on clinics on Saturday, scoring 89 and 88 points, respectively, to finish first and second in the second round and advance to the finals. Cloud rode Mosbrucker’s Carter Ward to earn $6,277, while Asay banked $4,812. Surprisingly, of the 17 bull riders in the finals, just two – Wesley Silcox and Matt Pojanowski – covered both long-round bulls.

Wrangler National Finals Rodeo steer wrestler Curtis Cassidy won the second round of tie-down roping with a 12.0-second run, but it was Cody Ohl who recorded the only qualified time Saturday. Ohl’s 12.8 placed third in the round and, more importantly, pushed him into the short round in third place behind leaders Hunter Herrin and Cimarron Boardman.

Ohl, a 37-year-old six-time world champion, is ranked 27^th in the PRCA world standings. A second-straight win at Cheyenne Frontier Days will put him solidly in contention for an NFR qualification, just as it did last year.

Meanwhile, Cassidy also placed second in the second round of steer wrestling. Although he didn’t qualify for the short round in either event, the Canadian earned a total of $12,946 and has only to sweat Trevor Brazile’s finals performance en route to a Frontier Days all-around title.

Defending world champion saddle bronc rider Jesse Kruse suffered a low score in the first round but followed it up with a 86-point ride on Franklin Rodeo’s Flat Out on Saturday to split first in the second round. Heith DeMoss also clinched his spot in Sunday’s short round with an 83-point ride to join his brother, Cody DeMoss, and fellow world champs Chad Ferley and Taos Muncy, among others.

          Trevor Brazile squeaked into the 12^th-place slot in steer roping to become the only cowboy competing here Sunday in two events (he also qualified in tie-down roping in 7th place). Dee Kyler Jr. won the second round with the fastest time of the rodeo and leads the pack into the short round, which includes CFD rodeo announcer Justin McKee.

  

In bareback riding, Will Lowe and Steven Dent tied for the second-round victory with 80-point rides to earn $4,710 each. On Saturday, Bee Jay Scott and Clint Cannon scored 79 and 77 points to land in fourth and fifth place heading into the short round, which also includes world champs Lowe, Kelly Timberman, and Bobby Mote.

The barrel race has turned into a two-woman showdown in the finals between leader Sherry Cervi and former world champ Lindsay Sears, who are about three-tenths ahead of the rest of the pack.

The short round of the 114^th Cheyenne Frontier Days begins at 12:45 p.m. on Aug. 1.