Montana-raised ropers dominate slack at Rapid City
Julie Mankin

            RAPID CITY, S.D. --- Montana team roping fans were never prouder than when Travis Tryan and Matt Robertson followed in the foot steps of  Montana cowboys Shane Shwanky and Kory Mytty (who won a round in 1994) and became only the second pair from Big Sky country to win a round at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo eight years ago. At the time, Robertson, of Augusta, was just 19 and had been named that year’s PRCA Heeling Rookie of the Year. The rising superstar didn’t surface again, however, because he chose to go to college rather than remain on the rodeo trail.

Finally, in 2010, having spent the past few years at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas (for whom he won the 2007 national collegiate championship), Robertson is back with a vengeance – and it’s with a Tryan again, but this  time on the opposite  end. Robertson is heading for Travis and Clay Tryan’s young cousin, Chase, of Helena, who skipped the fall semester at Montana State University to live and rope with Clay in Texas.

Fresh off taking the lead in the second go-round at Fort Worth, Matt and Chase traveled to Rapid City and posted a 4.4-second run on their first steer to lead that round by nearly a half-second. A hard-running second draw gave them a longer 8.0-second time, but it was enough to land them second in the average race so far.

Another 4.4-second run by Erich Rogers and Monty Joe Petska is leading round two, but the most dominant team during slack in Rapid City was eight-time NFR qualifier Clay Tryan himself, and his new partner from Oklahoma, 25-year-old Travis Graves. Clay owns an NFR average title (2004), a heading world championship (2005), more than $1 million in earnings, and has broken or tied the NFR arena record twice. More recently, he missed rodeo’s Super Bowl in 2008 and finished a dismal 13^th there last year. Graves missed rodeo’s Super Bowl last year after competing there in 2008 with Turtle Powell.

But the new pair came out firing at the PRCA’s first Silver Million-Dollar Tour stop in Rapid City, making runs of 5.1 and 5.2 seconds, respectively, to take the lead in the average by more than two seconds with 30 teams left to compete Feb. 4-6.

All timed-event contestants in Rapid City compete in two long rounds, with roughstock riders competing just once. In team roping, tie-down roping and steer wrestling, 54 have competed during slack, with the remaining contestants scheduled to perform in back-to-back performances starting Thursday at 7 p.m. The rodeo concludes Saturday, Feb. 6 with matinee and evening performances. 

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