ROUND #2

Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR)
Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas
December 2, 2006

Pause on ‘Q'
Prior to last night’s bull riding section Bill Larsen told Bobby Welsh: “Let’s get a first place buckle.” Larsen and his wife Dona run the Triple V Rodeo Company of Casper and their bull Q was drawn by Welsh who lives in Gillette. Had Q not taken a pause by stumbling to his knees Bobby might have won the round. Somehow Welsh kept aligned and the rest of the ride was classic. “That sucker really bucked,” said Welsh. He was pleased with his performance too and on most nights there would have been a payday for the 89 score. Not in Round 2. “I talked with a few stock contractors after it was over and they said they’d never seen a section like that,” said Bobbie with a confident smile. Every ride was an edge of your seat gas to watch whether a no score or a 94.5. That’s right there was a 94.5, 93.5, 92.5 and so on. You had to ride 89.5 to get paid. Bobby was just under but he has ridden two and is second in the average which is where it counts. Hold your seat Bobby. Wyoming is with you and wants to root you on to ten in a row.
Everbody Antes Up
Bareback rider Kelly Timberman of Mills has already been on four horses and we’ve only had two rounds of rodeo. Think of the punishment his very strong arm and body has had to endure after riding his drawn animal and then taking a re-ride horse out each time. It’s beginning to show on his hat but the rest of Kelly is fine and raring to head to Round 3. His second outing last night was on Sankey Rodeo Company’s ‘Ladies Man’ and it worked for a 77.5 and a Timberman payoff of $3,300. The fourth ride represented Kelly’s first money in the pocket from the WNFR. Brandie Halls, barrel racer-Carpenter WY, also ran to the pay window last night. She collected about $2,600 for a sixth-place finish. Now all Wyoming contestants are off the dime and looking to return for many more checks.
Reach For The Sky
Commotion, Sky Reach and Holy Roller. Their names say it all. The horses out for Round 2 are also known as “eliminators.” If you ride them for the eight seconds, that is about all you could ask. Most in the bareback competition succeeded in staying on last night including Andy Martinez, Pavillion, WY. “I’m glad that round is over,” said Andy. He held onto Sky Reach for a 74. No money but satisfaction. “Eliminators are really strong. They jump away and drop - very hard to put a spur on. There’s no real consistency either. They are put in this pen at the WNFR because they’ve been bucking people off all year long,” Martinez added.
Stock contractors gather animals for each night of the WNFR by not only how they buck but how they look. The “pretty” ones come out in Rounds 5 and 10. Those are the “TV” rounds named for the early days of the national finals when only those two rounds were broadcast on television.