By Susan Kanode
DENVER (January 14, 2016) — The Cinch Super Shootout at the National Western Stock Show ended with five very happy rodeo contestants – they earned championships and $10,000 in the Denver Coliseum on Thursday.
Eight of the most prestigious rodeos in North America had teams in the competition. Each team consisted of a bareback, saddle bronc and bull rider as well as a steer wrestler and barrel racer. They also accumulated points for the team with Wyoming’s Cheyenne Frontier Days winning the team championship. There were four Texas rodeos representing Fort Worth, San Angelo, Austin and Houston. The National Western Stock Show had a team as well as the Calgary Stampede.
Those seven contestants all competed once in hopes of being one of the three best who advanced to a final round. In the finals, the high score or fast time in each event earned a $10,000 bonus. The second place winner got $5,000. Third place earned $2,500. A grand total of $94,000 was paid at the one-night event.
There has been some luck in the Denver Coliseum for contestants Mary Walker and Riker Carter. Walker, from Ennis, Texas, won the barrel racing title at the rodeo here in 2014 and has had success Walker won Colorado VS. the World here in 2013 and left with the Shootout title this year representing Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Riker Carter, a bull rider from Stone, Idaho, emerged as the Colorado Vs. the World champion last Saturday then won the Cinch Super Shootout on Thursday night. The rising star in bull riding has won over $18,000 here and will have the opportunity to add to that when he competes in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association event next week. Carter rode for Rodeo Austin in the Shootout.
Cheyenne Frontier Days had two other event winners along with Walker. Winn Ratliff from Leesville, La., won the bareback riding and Dakota Eldridge from Elko, Nev., won the steer wrestling.
Sam Spreadborough won the saddle bronc riding title for Rodeo Houston. Spreadborough is originally from Australia but makes his home in Snyder, Texas, now.
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association action starts in the Denver Coliseum on Friday with performances at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m.
The following are results from the Cinch Super Shootout at the National Western Stock Show, January 14, 2016. (contestant, hometown, rodeo represented)
Bareback Riding: First Round: 1, Orin Larsen, Inglis, Manitoba, (San Angelo) 85.5 points. 2, (tie) Winn Ratliff, Leesville, La., (Cheyenne) and Tim O’Connell, Zwingle, Iowa, (Denver) 85 each. 4, Tyler Nelson, Victor, Idaho, (Fort Worth) 83.5. 6, (tie) Yvan Jayne, Rockwell, Texas, (Houston) and Clint Laye, Pocatello, Idaho, (Calgary Stampede) 83. 7, David Peebles, Redmond, Ore., (Austin) 82. Final round: 1, Ratliff, 82, $10,000. 2, Larsen, 80, $5,000. 3, O’Connell, 76, $2,500.
Steer Wrestling: First round: 1, Kyle Irwin, Robertsdale, Ala., (Austin) 4.94 seconds. 2, Nick Guy, Sparta, Wis.,(San Angelo) 6.25. 3, Dakota Eldridge, Elko, Nev., (Cheyenne) 6.90. 4, Baylor Roche, Tremonton, Utah, (Fort Worth) 14.12. 5, (tie) Clayton Hass, Terrell, Texas, (Denver); Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., (Houston) and Trevor Knowles, Mount Vernon, Ore., (Calgary); no time. Final round: 1, Eldridge, 3.76, $10,000. 2, Irwin, 4.09, $5,000. 3, Guy, 13.69, $2,500.
Saddle Bronc Riding: First round: 1, Sam Spreadborough, Snyder, Texas, (Houston) 81.5 points. 2, Clay Elliot, Nanton, Alberta, (Denver) 81. 3, Joe Lufkin, Sallisaw, Okla., (Fort Worth) 80.5. 4, Chuck Schmidt, Keldron, S.D., (Austin) 78. 5, 5, (tie) Jacobs Crawley, Boerne, Texas, (Calgary) and Jesse James Kirby, Dodge City, Kan., (San Angelo) 77 points each. 7, Sterling Crawley, Stephenville, Texas, (Cheyenne) 73. Final Round: 1, Spreadborough, 86, $10,000. 2, Elliott, 82.5, $5,000. 3, Lufkin, no score, $2,500.
Women’s Barrel Race: First round: 1, Kyra Stierwalt, Leedey, Okla., (Fort Worth) 15.73 seconds. 2, Mary Walker, Ennis, Texas, (Cheyenne) 15.76. 3, Kirkpatrick, Post, Texas, (San Angelo) 15.98. 4, Christy Loflin, Stonington, Colo., (Calgary) 16.69. 5, Carlee Pierce, Lowndesboro, Ala., (Houston) 20.59. 6, Carley Richardson, Pampa, Texas, (Austin) 20.71. 7, Meghan Johnson, Deming, N.M., (Denver) 21.12. Final round: 1, Walker, 15.58, $10,000. 2, Kirkpatrick, 20.76, $5,000. 3, Stierwalt, 20.83, $2,500.
Bull Riding: First round: 1, Riker Carter, Stone, Idaho, (Austin) 82.5 points. 2, Clayton Savage, Yoder, Wyo., (Fort Worth) 82. 3, (tie) Zeb Lanham, Sweet, Idaho, (Denver); Kody Lostroh, Ault, Colo., (Calgary); Dalan Duncan, Ballard, Utah, (San Angelo); Trevor Kastner, Ardmore, Okla.; (Cheyenne); and Lon Danley, Tularosa, N.M., (Houston); no score. Danley advanced based on time ridden. Final Round: 1, Carter, 83, $10,000. 2, Danley, 79, $5,000. 3, Savage, 0, $2,500.
