The hottest ticket in Vegas is the 2005 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo with another sell-out and excited crowd. Round 3 was great to watch with average leaders establishing themselves. It's still early though and anything can happen. Trevor Brazile still leads the All-Around standings with about $180,000, but Ryan Jarrett sits close by with about $153,000. Cash Myers can easily make this a 3-way race as only about $4,000 separate him and Jarrett.
Bareback Riding:
Kelly Timberman aboard Blue Steel (Burns Rodeo) and Rowdy Buechner on Spotted Bird (Powder River Rodeo) split for first with 87 point rides.
Wes Stevenson leads in the early average race and finished in third one point behind with and 86. His draw was Oakey Robin (Bar T Rodeo).
Steer Wrestling:
Bob Lummus collected his first check of the NFR with a textbook run of 3.90 for the win.
Lee Graves posted in the second spot again with a run of 4.00. Graves leads in the early average race.
Ronnie Fields and Dean Gorsuch split the third spot with 4.10 runs.
Team Roping:
Clay Tryan and Patrick Smith changed their luck and retook the standings lead with a 4.00 time and picked up their first check of the NFR.
The other brother wouldn't be out done and Travis Tryan and Allen Bach roped their way into second with a 4.20 time.
The team of Wheatley and Lockett split third with Schwenke and Johnson, both with times of 4.50.
Jake Barnes and Kory Koontz lead in the early average after Round 3.
Saddle Bronc Riding:
The ride of the night was Billy Etbauer riding Skitzo (Sankey Rodeo) for 90-points, only 3-points off his arena record. This ride brought the whole arena to its feet and proved that the 5-Time World Champion still has the juice for a number 6.
Jeffery Willert padded his lead by about $30,000 with a solid ride on Blue Too (Franklin Rodeo) for 87 points and second in the round.
Cody Wright scored an 85.5 on Charlie Russell (Powder River Rodeo) for third place on the night.
Rusty Allen is ahead in the early average after Round 3.
Tie-down Roping:
Justin Maass took home his first paycheck of the rodeo courtesy of an 8.00 second run.
Average leader Blair Burk split second with Jerome Schneeberger both with times of 8.30.
The tie-down might shape up to be one of the closest races we see this year.
Barrel Racing:
Shali Lord made a statement with her second consecutive win and leads in the early average. Her time was 14.04 seconds.
Sheri Sinor Estrada took second place with a time of 14.19.
Teri Kaye Kirkland placed third in the round with a 14.21 second run.
Bull Riding:
The top story was Jason McClain's wicked face-wreck on Mr. USA (Diamond G Rodeo) which left him knocked out in the arena. He will be questionable for Round 4.
With only 6 qualified rides, the judges seemed to be stingy with the points but that didn't stop Zeb Lanham from making a back to back win riding Satan's Own (Bad Company). 90-points posted after this hellish ride.
Bryan Richardson drew Rompus (Andrews Rodeo) and rode him to an 86.5-point score and a nice paycheck.
Third place went to Zack Oakes on White Line Fever (Frontier Rodeo) with an 85.
News of the night was that Matt Austin might have plans on working both ends of the arena in an attempt at an All-Around run.
Sunday proved to be one more great night of rodeo. Well see the pressure build as we head closer to the midway mark. Round 4 awaits us!