Round 2 was a shake up of sorts as competitors put the nerves of the first night behind them and looked ahead to the rest of the rounds. The All-Around race is still open but changes in the tie-down and team roping standings show that this is going to be an exciting and interesting WNFR.
Bareback Riding:
Scott Montague aboard Pop A Top (Franklin Rodeo Company) scored 85.5 points.
Rowdy Buechner rode Tipped Off (J Bar J Ranch) for an 85 and second place.
Bobby Mote finished in a strong third place with an 84-point ride on Alley Trail (Kesler Championship Rodeo).
Steer Wrestling:
The eliminator pen couldn’t put the brakes on the big boys of rodeo who made some crazy superhero style catches and turned in some spectacular runs in Round 2.
Ronnie Fields made a solid statement with a 3.20 second win.
Canadian Lee Graves is still in the mix with a second place run of 3.40.
Dean Gorsuch rounded out the top three with a 3.60 second run.
In a disappointing turn, Garrett Nokes dropped his run after last night’s impressive win.
Team Roping:
A pen of smaller and faster steers gave the team ropers some good competition in Round 2.
Even a slight stumble of the lead horse couldn’t deny the team of Shain Sproul and 'Skinny' Kinney Harrell a split at the top with the team of Steve Purcella and Britt Bockius, both teams with 4.40 second runs.
Jake Barnes and Kory Koontz took a lucky leg for third place and a time of 4.60 seconds and moved into the #1 spot in the World Standings.
Word is that next year we will see a team roping duo of Trevor Brazile and Rich Skelton in the arena. Wow!
Saddle Bronc Riding:
Rusty Allen made a move to the top in the round and the average with an 89-point ride on Kool Toddy (Big Bend Rodeo). I think Allen's on fire and the whole NYC Fire Department wouldn't be able to put him out.
87-points posted by Cody Wright on Secret Agent (Beutler and Son Rodeo) for second in the round.
Billy Etbauer scoring an 83.5 on Surprise Party (Sankey Rodeo) was no surprise for third in the round.
The ouch moment of the night came when Canadian Rod Hay riding the firecracker known as Miss Congeniality (Powder River Rodeo), took an involuntary dismount into the arena fence and rung his bell solid. My hat’s off to Hay for being able to stand up after that wham-bang.
Tie-down Roping:
With stronger, faster calves causing the top ropers problems, Mike Johnson split fourth place money in the round to replace Fred Whitfield in the tie-down roping World Standings. Things just don't seem to be going Whitfield's way, but it's still early.
After a lot of speculation, was it any wonder that Cody Ohl would return in Round 2, groin tear and all, to rope a 10.6 which was out of the money but proof to all that Ohl is still in contention.
Cade Swor roped his way to first in the round with a time of 7.90.
Blair Burk roping with a torn ACL split the next spot with 2004 Champ Monty Lewis with times of 8.00 flat.
Barrel Racing:
Shali Lord took the top spot with a run of 13.96 seconds on her horse Slider who is running like he owns all of Las Vegas.
Sheri Sinor Estrada took second place with a time of 13.99.
Molly Powell scored third in the round with a 14.00 second run. Interestingly, it was Molly who rode Shali's horse Slider in last years NFR to win an average race victory.
Bull Riding:
Only 4 qualified rides in the bull riding as the stock pen got that much tougher for the bull riders in Round 2.
It was Zeb Lanham who had something to prove and scored a whooping 94 points aboard Fender Bender (Andrews Rodeo Company) only two points off the arena record.
Nerves didn't bother Steve Woolsey tonight and he scored a 91.5 on Super Cool (David Bailey Rodeo).
Third place went to D.J. Domangue on Cat Daddy (Andrews Rodeo) with 87 points.
The match up of the night between Matt Austin and Reindeer (Flying U Rodeo) turned out to fizzle with Matt barely making 4 seconds on the awesome bull.
This was a great second night for the 47th running of America's top rodeo. Round 3 here we come!