Editor’s Note: The information enclosed in this release is courtesy of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) for media use. However, if you reprint any of the following information verbatim in your publication, or if you read it verbatim on a radio broadcast, please mention that the information is courtesy of the PRCA.
IN THIS RELEASE YOU’LL FIND:1. Minnesota bull rider’s career anything but Stall-ed 2. Rio Rancho saddle bronc riding takes another Wright turn 3. Two top bull riders sidelined by injury 4. Next Up 5. News and notes from the rodeo trail 6. 2012 PRCA World Standings leaders
7. 2012 PRCA World Standings 8. 2012 Wrangler Million Dollar Tour Standings 9. 2012 PRCA Xtreme Bulls Tour Standings
1. Minnesota bull rider’s career anything but Stall-ed
RAPID CITY, S.D. – The last time Brett Stall climbed aboard Sutton Rodeos’ Crystal Springs Peach, the bull wasn’t yet named. He was a 2-year-old calf on Chris Berends’ Minnesota ranch and Stall was a ranch kid from tiny Detroit Lakes, Minn., competing in an amateur rodeo.
How things have changed for them both.
Crystal Springs Peach made his first appearance at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo last month and Stall, 22, moved a step closer to his Las Vegas debut Jan. 28 when he rode the bull for 89 points in the short go of the PRCA Xtreme Bulls Tour event in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.
Combined with a career-best 90.5-point ride on Burch Rodeo Company’s Death Warrant earlier in the evening, Stall won his first Xtreme Bulls title by 1.5 points over Douglas Duncan, of Alvin, Texas, (179.5 to 178). Stall leads the Xtreme Bull Tour standings and is second in the world standings, just $866 behind Seth Glause.
“I was grinning from ear to ear when I saw I had drawn Crystal Springs,” Stall said. “I was the first to ever get on him when he was a calf owned by Chris Berends up in Minnesota. I was 83 on him at that amateur rodeo and it’s been cool watching him come through the ranks and become one of the top bulls in the game with the Suttons.
“I’ve seen him so many times over the years that I had a pretty good idea what to expect from him. He usually turns out to the right, but he can change up on you … I just felt I was ready for whatever he tried.”
Ironically, both of Stall’s biggest wins since buying his PRCA card two years ago have come in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. A year ago he tied Jarrod Ford for the championship in the Black Hills Stock Show Rodeo, when both had scores of 87 points.
With career-best earnings of $13,326 in the XBulls, he goes into his BHSSR title defense on Feb. 3 with a chance to surpass his single-season earnings best by the end of the week; he earned $17,053 last year before breaking his left leg in June.
“I don’t know what it is about Rapid City,” Stall said, “but it dang sure has been good to me. My goal from the git go this year, has been to work hard and try to get to the (Wrangler) NFR. This is going to help out tremendously in keeping me out on the road.
“I grew up on a ranch and this is what I’ve wanted to do since I was knee high to a grasshopper. This is all like a dream to me.”
Stall’s 90.5-point ride on Death Warrant won the first round and Duncan won the short go with the 90-point ride he put on Gray Squirrel on Jan. 27, a half-point better than Patrick Geipel. Stall and Brent Menz tied for third with their 89s.
2. Rio Rancho saddle bronc riding takes another Wright turn
The New Mexico Stampede in Rio Rancho is rapidly becoming one of the Wright brothers’ favorite destinations.
One of the Utah clan has at least shared the saddle bronc riding title there in each of the last three years.
In 2010, two-time World Champion Cody Wright tied Shaun Stroh for the win and brother Jesse Wright shared third place. A year ago it was Alex Wright who won the event outright with one of the best outings of his career – an 89-point ride on Classic Pro Rodeo’s Big Tex – with Jesse and Cody tied for fourth place.
This time it was Jesse’s turn. He had 86 points on Sadie’s Gal of the Classic Pro Rodeo string and twin brother Jake tied with Cody and Will Smith for second place in the Jan. 27-29 event in the Santa Ana Star Center.
• Townsend Prince, 25, continues to look like he might be a factor in the saddle bronc riding standings this year. The Livermore, Colo., cowboy entered the week 15th in the world and then won the PRCA Championship Rodeo in Lincoln, Neb., to add another $1,037 to his season total and move up to 10th.
• First Frontier Circuit all-around champion Clovis Crane of Lebanon, Pa., extended his usual travel radius a bit this past weekend and made it work. Crane won the all-around title at the Homestead (Fla.) Championship Rodeo by sharing the bareback riding title with James Hughes and finishing sixth in the bull riding for total earnings of $1,046. The only repeat champion at Homestead was steer wrestler Juan Alcazar Jr., who won a year ago in 4.0 seconds and repeated this time with a 3.9.
3. Two top bull riders sidelined by injury
A pair of top PRCA bull riders – Clayton Foltyn and Travis Atkinson – will be out for an extended period of time after suffering injuries at the National Western Stock Show & Rodeo in Denver last week.
Foltyn fractured his right (riding) hand during his ride on Powder River Rodeo’s Black Attack, the same bull that broke Shane Proctor’s left arm in Round 10 of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo last month.
“He yanked me up underneath him and then stepped on my hand,” said Foltyn, who will be sidelined for six weeks. “I have it in a hard cast right now, so I can’t really move it or do therapy or anything yet.”
It was a tough break for the El Campo, Texas, cowboy because if it had been his left hand he could’ve continued to ride. Now, he has a lot of time to sit around until he can return in March.
“I guess I’ll just be hanging around and waiting for the Super Bowl,” he said of his plans until the hard cast comes off.
But don’t think the time off will dull Foltyn’s desire to hit the road when he’s recovered. He says he “plans to hit it harder than before I was injured.”
For Atkinson, Denver didn’t create a new injury; it just aggravated one that he has been battling for quite a while.
Last summer Atkinson felt a pop in his groin while on a bull, and since then things haven’t been right. He has been diagnosed with an Athletic Pubalgia, or sports hernia, where the muscle is ripped from the bone.
“It happened last June, but I thought it was a sprained groin so I kept riding until the end of the year,” said Atkinson, who finished 17th in the 2011 word standings. “I had surgery to repair it on Oct. 7, and then I rested up all winter. But between Denver and the Fort Worth Xtreme Bulls it started to hurt and I need more time to let the scar tissue heal.”
Atkinson hopes to be back for San Antonio, and thinks that being completely healed up will help his bull riding ability.
“Having it healthy will help a lot,” he said. “I rode with it hurt for four months last year and I think it’ll make a huge difference to finally be feeling better again.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I’ve been out a couple of times, but hadn’t gotten anything done yet. I’ve been drawing good bulls, but haven’t been able to put anything together until tonight. This last week, my traveling partner, Cody Rostockyj, and I went over to Bobby Welsh’s place (in Gillette, Wyo.) and got on some practice bulls. It helped me relax and slow everything down a little bit. I’d been trying to make things happen and it wasn’t working out.”
– Four-time Wrangler NFR qualifier Kanin Asay, telling the Rapid City (S.D.) Journal about his comeback from season-ending hip surgery last year. Asay tied for fifth in the PRCA Xtreme Bulls Tour event in Rapid City, Jan. 27-28, and earned $4,442.
4. Next Up
Jan. 30 Southwestern Exposition & Livestock Show, Fort Worth (Texas), ongoing Jan. 30 Black Hills Stock Show Rodeo, Rapid City, S.D., ongoing Feb. 2 SW District Fat Stock Show & Rodeo, Lake Charles, La., begins Feb. 3 Los Fresnos (Texas) PRCA Rodeo begins Feb. 9 Bell County PRCA Rodeo, Belton, Texas, begins Feb. 9 Dixie National Rodeo, Jackson, Miss., begins Feb. 9 San Antonio (Texas) Stock Show & Rodeo begins Feb. 10 PRCA Championship Rodeo, Bismarck, N.D., begins Feb. 10 Coors ProRodeo, Gillette, Wyo., begins Feb. 10 Rotary Classic Rodeo, Starkville, Miss., begins Feb. 10 Yuma (Ariz.) Jaycees Silver Spur Rodeo begins
5. News and notes from the rodeo trail
Looking beyond their careers in ProRodeo, tie-down ropers Clif Cooper and World Champion Tuf Cooper have just launched their own business, Tuf-E-Nuf Healthy Energy Juice, with an eye to earning market share in the multi-million dollar energy drink industry. Tuf-E-Nuf is primarily being marketed online (www.tufenufenergy.com) initially, but the product is being offered in select Western stores and the Coopers are looking to introduce it in chain stores nationwide. It is bottled by ProCore Labs in Coppell Texas, and distributed by Coopers’ Tuf E Nuf LLC. Clif, who turned 24 last week, is the CEO and Tuf, who turns 22 tomorrow (Jan. 31), is the vice president. They are the primary shareholders (Clif also designed the product label) with additional shares being held by their mother, Sheri Rivera, and Jerry White. “We have already had offers to buy the company,” Rivera said, “but we all believe in the idea of producing a healthy energy drink and want to do it ourselves.” Tuf will sign autographs from 2-4 p.m. on Feb. 2 at the Black Hills Stock Show Rodeo in Rapid City, S.D., to promote the rodeo and spread the word about the energy drink … A good portion of country-western singer Ronnie Dunn’s newly released video Let the Cowboy Rock (www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqEO-WNQuC4) was shot during the 2011 Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up. Two-time Wrangler NFR steer wrestler Blake Knowles appeared prominently in the video portraying a heartbroken cowboy who lets the good times roll while trying to forget “a pretty little thing who put a whooping on his heart.” … Singer-songwriters Tommy Alverson and Jason Manning have recorded a sort of unofficial anthem for the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, called Fat Stock Show (www.stockshowsong.com). It was released digitally on Jan. 24 and all proceeds are being donated to the John R. Manning Scholarship Fund, to help students pursuing higher level agricultural education degrees … A Sacramento County (Calif.) Superior Court judge rejected a lawsuit on Jan. 24 that challenged the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds board’s right to hold a PRCA rodeo. The plaintiffs, Citizens for Environmental Responsibility and Stop the Rodeo, had argued that the fair board, under the California Environmental Quality Act, should have conducted a review of potential impacts before approving the rodeo in Watsonville last spring. Judge Lloyd Connelly ruled that the rodeo did not represent a change from the 70-year-old fairgrounds’ historic practices … Organizers of the April 12-15 Clark County Fair & Rodeo in Logandale, Nev., have decided to return to the Wrangler Million Dollar Tour as a Silver event (committee purse of at least $10,000 per event), bringing the total number of WMDT stops to 20 this year, nine Gold and 11 silver … While the 2012 ProRodeo season will conclude with any rodeo ending on or prior to Sunday, Sept. 30, the All American ProRodeo Series season will conclude with rodeos on or prior to Monday, Sept. 10 … The re-broadcast of the Wrangler MDT rodeo in Kansas City last October has been scheduled to air at 9 p.m. (ET) Feb. 25 on Pursuit Channel (DISH Network 240, DirecTV 608) … Attendance for the National Western Stock Show & Rodeo in Denver hit 636,662 over the event’s 16-day run this year, the sixth highest total in its 106-year run … Preliminary numbers indicate the current Black Hills Stock Show Rodeo in Rapid City is running about 5 percent ahead of last year’s pace, and with about one-third of attendees coming from out of town, the BHSSR generates an estimated $37.5 million economic boost to the city through hotel rentals, food and shopping … The PRCA’s biggest regular-season prize money rodeo, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, also produces what locals claim is the world’s biggest free breakfast each year to kick off the $1.12 million rodeo. An estimated 50,000 people showed up on the Northeast Side, outside Cowboys Dance Hall, Jan. 27 – some arriving as early as 4:15 a.m. for chorizo and egg tacos, sausage and egg tacos, coffee and other treats … ProRodeo Hall of Fame saddle bronc rider Bud Munroe and wife Jimmie Gibbs Munroe, president of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association, appeared at the Jan. 28 fundraiser in Billings, Mont., to benefit the Montana Pro Rodeo Hall and Wall of Fame Scholarship Program … U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) issued a formal statement on Jan. 26, congratulating home-state team ropers Ty St. Goddard and Ryle Whitford for the surprise victory at the National Western Stock Show & Rodeo in Denver … The next PRCA cowboy to reach $1 million in career earnings is likely to be a steer wrestler. Two-time World Champion Dean Gorsuch has $979,239 and 2007 World Champion Jason Miller is just $134 behind him at $979,103. Next in line are Clint Robinson, who is a steer wrestler and tie-down roper, with $973,541, team roper Brad Culpepper ($969,037) and steer wrestler Stockton Graves ($969,021).
