Salt, Sweat and Swagger

Northeast Montana Fair goers were treated to the usual – with a few notable selections – of food and entertainment at the Valley County Fairgrounds last week, but like every year nothing gets the blood pumping, the drinks flowing and the crowd booming like the PRCA Rodeo. In spite of heat, dust and the allure of the lake, this year drew hundreds out to watch cowboys and cowgirls test their grit and determination against some stubborn ranch animals, bulls, broncos and the ever-defeating timer.

The All-Around Cowboy Award went to Hank Hollenbeck, of Belt, Mont., who competed in – and tied for sixth – in both tie-down roping and steer wrestling. The All-Around Award is given to a competitor who is the most successful cowboy or cowgirl in two or more events.

Competition in many events was fierce. The top seven saddle bronc scores were all over 80 points with the top two spots clearing the 85 point mark. In the bareback arena, the top five scores cleared 80 points and in bull riding only the top four riders managed to top 80 points.

Timed events had a great night as well with team roping's first place catch at 3.9 seconds in the second round and tie-down roping's fastest time coming in at 7.9 in the second round of competition. The average time for team roping for the two nights was 10 seconds and for tie-down it was 17.7 seconds.

Steer wrestling had an equally impressive take down with the top four slots in round one and the top five slots in round two pinning steers in under five seconds. The fastest of the steer wrestlers managed a take down of 3.7 seconds – which beat out even the team roping time for fastest catch of an ungulate that day. The average steer wrestling time for the two nights was 8.6 seconds.

On the barrel racing circuit, the top 11 placers finished with less than half a second to spare between them. The top slot came in at 17.27 seconds and the 11th came in at 17.71 seconds making for a tight competition and some exciting racing – especially when the pay-out difference is first place earning $2,085 and 11th earning $235.

Montana PRCA Pro Rodeo Circuit Results

Produced by J Bar J Rodeo Company

All-around cowboy: Hank Hollenbeck, $178, tie-down roping and steer wrestling.

Bareback riding: 1. Ty Breuer, 87 points on J Bar J's Blessed Assurance, $1,774; 2. Buck Lunak, 86, $1,344; 3. Tristan Hansen, 85, $968; 4. Anthony Thomas, 81.5, $645; 5. Richmond Champion, 80, $376; 6. Clint Laye, 79.5, $269.

Steer wrestling: First round: 1. Shawn Downing, 4.2 seconds, $985; 2. Bode Scott, 4.3, $815; 3. Jake Kraupie, 4.5, $646; 4. Cameron Morman, 4.6, $476; 5. Will Stovall, 5.1, $306; 6. Taylor Gregg, 5.2, $170. Second round: 1. Newt Novich, 3.7 seconds, $985; 2. Shawn Downing, 4.4, $815; 3. Jake Nelson, 4.6, $646; 4. Jeff Johnston, 4.7, $476; 5. Tyler Schau, 4.9, $306; 6. (tie) Hank Hollenbeck and Timmy Sparing, 5.1, $85 each. Average: 1. Shawn Downing, 8.6 seconds on two head, $1,478; 2. Jake Kraupie, 9.8, $1,223; 3. (tie) Cameron Morman and Newt Novich, 10.4, $841 each; 5. (tie) Timmy Sparing and Bode Scott, 10.5, $357 each.

Team roping: First round: 1. Erich Rogers/Paden Bray, 4.4 seconds, $1,289 each; 2. (tie) Nolan Conway/Shawn Bird, Jr. Dees/Lane Siggins and Brady Tryan/Clay Futrell, 4.9, $845 each; 5. Dustin Bird/Sid Sporer, 5.0, $400; 6. (tie) Brooks Dahozy/Walt Woodard and Jason Thorstenson/Jace Crabb, 5.6, $111 each. Second round: 1. Brenten Hall/Chase Tryan, 3.9 seconds, $1,289 each; 2. Nelson Wyatt/Levi Lord, 4.0, $1,067; 3. Brent McInerney/Tanner McInerney, 4.5, $845; 4. Jon Peterson/Trae Smith, 4.9, $622; 5. (tie) Alfred Hansen/Levi Tyan and Jr. Dees/Lane Siggins, 5.1, $311 each. Average: 1. Jr. Dees/Lane Siggins, 10.0 seconds on two head, $1,934 each; 2. Dustin Bird/Sid Sporer, 10.4, $1,600; 3. Jason Thorstenson/Jace Crabb, 11.1, $1,267; 4. Erich Rogers/Paden Bray, 11.4, $933; 5. Brady Tryan/Clay Futrell, 11.5, $600; 6. Brooks Dahozy/Walt Woodard, 12.1, $333.

Saddle bronc riding: 1. JJ Elshere, 85.5 points on J Bar J's Pink Painted Lizard, $1,889; 2. Jesse Kruse, 85, $1,449; 3. Brody Cress, 83, $1,071; 4. Cameron Messier, 82.5, $693; 5. Josh Davison, 81.5, $441; 6. (tie) Sage Newman and Shorty Garrett, 81, $283 each; 8. Chase Brooks, 80, $189.

Tie-down roping: First round: 1. Dane Kissack, 8.0 seconds, $1,079; 2. John Douch, 8.4, $893; 3. Tyson Durfey, 8.6, $707; 4. (tie) Matt Peters and Clint Kindred, 9.2, $428 each; 6. (tie) Hank Hollenbeck and Matt Shiozawa, 9.3, $93 each. Second round: 1. Seth Cooke, 7.9 seconds, $1,079; 2. Colton Farquer, 8.1, $893; 3. Taylor Santos, 8.5, $707; 4. Trey Young, 9.0, $521; 5. (tie) Stetson Vest, Clint Kindred and Tyson Durfey, 9.1, $174 each. Average: 1. Tyson Durfey, 17.7 seconds on two head, $1,618; 2. Dane Kissack, 17.9, $1,339; 3. John Douch, 18.2, $1,060; 4. Clint Kindred, 18.3, $781; 5. Matt Shiozawa, 18.5, $502; 6. Stetson Vest, 19.0, $279.

Barrel racing: 1. Maggie Poloncic, 17.27 seconds, $2,085; 2. Dona Kay Rule, 17.30, $1,772; 3. Nikki Hansen, 17.34, $1,459; 4. Ashley Day, 17.36, $1,251; 5. Britany Diaz, 17.41, $1,042; 6. (tie) Brittney Barnett and Kristi Steffes, 17.48, $625 each; 8. Hailey Kinsel, 17.53, $417; 9. Megan Champion, 17.57, $365; 10. Jessica Routier, 17.62, $313; 11. (tie) Alishea Broussard and Kellie Collier, 17.71, $235 each.

Bull riding: 1. Connor Murnion, 88 points on J Bar J's Radar, $1,883; 2. Dalan Duncan, 87, $1,426; 3. Jett Peterson, 83.5, $1,027; 4. Hawk Whitt, 82.5, $685; 5. Dakota Louis, 79.5, $399; 6. Keenan Kvamme, 70, $285.