DENVER, Colo. — It was a duel between traveling partners that highlighted the fourth annual National Western Stock Show Rodeo Super Saturday.
Action started at the morning performance with contestants representing rodeos across North America in the World performance. A different group competed in the matinee rodeo for rodeos in Colorado including the National Western.
The best four from each of those rodeos advanced to the Showdown round on Saturday night and in tournament style winner-take-all action, the best World contestant and best Colorado contestant duked it out for a $10,000 check.
In the bareback riding, R.C. Landingham, from Pendelton, Ore., won the World performance with an 87 point ride representing the “Daddy of ‘em All” at Cheyenne, Wyo., to be a favorite in the Showdown. The top winner out of the Colorado performance was Nick Gutzwiler from Cheney, Wash., who represented Colorado Springs. Landingham was a spectator at that performance cheering on his traveling partner Clint Laye from Ponoka, Alberta who rode for the Larimer County Fair Rodeo in Loveland.
Laye placed third to be among the top four that advanced to the Showdown. That resulted in one of the most dramatic endings of the evening. Laye was 82 points, one point ahead of Landingham. So, Laye got to choose which bucking horse he would ride first and he picked a horse he was very familiar with, Calgary Stampede’s Unfortunate Carma.
“I think he can be 90 points on that horse,” Landingham commented at the time, and he didn’t miss the mark by much. Laye finished the night with an 89-point ride to win an $8,000 check. The duo had trouble getting here when their van broke down so regardless who won, the money has already been spent on auto repairs.
Laye and Landingham are a group of bareback riders that call themselves the “flow riders.” They have let their hair grow out in support of Landingham’s mother who has cancer and are eventually going to donate it to Locks of Love.
The steer wrestling championship was won by the narrowest of margins. Casey Martin from Sulphur, La., was the first to go. He was a Wild Card invitee for the Colorado group and stopped the clock in 4.02 seconds. Then Clayton Hass from Ennis, Texas, knew he needed to step it up. He won the event for Rodeo Austin in Texas by stopping the clock in 4.01.
Other event winners here were Cort Scheer from Elsmere, Neb., in the saddle bronc riding for the National Western Stock Show, Shali Lord from Lamar, Colo., in the barrel racing for Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days and Sage Kimzey from Strong City, Okla., in the bull riding for the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days. They each won $8,000.
Sunday’s events will showcase the rich cultural heritage of neighbors to the south with the Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza at 2 and 6:30 p.m.
The following are results from Super Saturday, Colorado Versus the World rodeo, Jan. 10, 2015
World Performance – (contestant, hometown, rodeo represented)
Bareback Riding: 1, R.C. Landingham, Pendleton, Ore., (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 87 points, $1,000. 2, Seth Hardwick, Laramie, Wyo., (North Platte, Neb.) 85, $700. 3, Bill Tutor, Huntsville, Texas, (San Angelo, Texas) 83.5, $600. 4, Casey Breuer, Mandan, N.D., (Dodge City, Kan.) 83, $500.
Steer Wrestling: 1, Seth Brockman, Wheatland, Wyo., (Fort Worth, Texas) 4.18 seconds, $1,000. 2, Clayton Hass, Ennis, Texas, 4.47, (Austin, Texas) 4.47, $700. 3, Morgan Grant, New Waverly, Texas, (Calgary, Alberta) 5.5, 600. 4, Curtis Cassidy, Donalda, Alberta, (Guymon, Okla.) 5.57, $500.
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1, Rusty Wright,, Milford, Utah, (San Angelo, Texas) 85 points, $1,000. 2, (tie) Ryan MacKenzie, Jordan Valley, Ore.(Austin, Texas) and Cody DeMoss, Heflin, La., (Houston, Texas) 81.5 and $650 each. 4, Jacobs Crawley, Stephenville, Texas, (Dodge City, Kan.) 81, $500.
Women’s Barrel Race: 1, Sabrina Ketcham, Yeso, N.M., (San Angelo, Texas) 15.56, $1,000. 2, Shali Lord, Lamar, Colo., (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 14.67, $700. 3, Jean Winters, Texline, Texas, (Calgary, Alberta) 15.84, $600. 4, Jessica Miller, Panguitch, Utah, (Austin, Texas) 15.97, $500.
Bull Riding: Three Rides: 1, Brennon Eldred, Sulphur, Okla., (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 87.5, $1,000. 2, Josh Koschel, Nunn, Colo., (Austin, Texas) 82, $800. 3, Sage Kimzey, Strong City, Okla., (Guymon, Okla.) 72, $700.
Colorado Performance – (contestant, hometown, rodeo represented)
Bareback Riding: 1, Nick Gutzwiler, Cheney, Wash., (Colorado Springs) 87.5, $1,000. 2, Austin Foss, Terrebonne, Ore., (Denver) 87, $700. 3, Clint Laye, Ponoka, Alberta, (Loveland) 85.5, $500. 4, Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, Minn., (Wild Card) 83, $500.
Steer Wrestling: 1, Ty Erickson, Helena, Mont., (Greeley) 3.98, $1,000. 2, Austin Courmier, Oakwood, Texas, (Denver) 4.33, $700. 3, Casey Martin, Sulphur, Okla., (Wild Card) 4.67, $600. 4, Aaron Vosler, Cheyenne, Wyo., (Elizabeth) 4.73, $500.
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1, Cort Scheer, Elsmere, Neb., (Denver), 85.5, $1,000. 2, (tie) Spencer Wright, Milford, Utah, (Estes Park) and Bradley Harter, Loranger, La., (Loveland) 83 and $650 each. 4, Troy Crowser, Whitewood, S.D., (Denver) 82, $500.
Women’s Barrel Race: 1, Kim Schulze, Larkspur, Colo., (Greeley) 15.40, $1,000. 2, Bennette Little, Ardmore, Okla., (Wild Card) 15.52, $700. 3, (tie) Mary Walker, Ennis, Texas, (Denver) Jane Melby, Burneyville, Okla., (Denver) 15.60 and $550 each.
Bull Riding: 1, Tyler Bingham, Honeyville, Utah, (Pueblo) 84 points, $1,000. 2, Bobby Welsh, Gillette, Wyo., (Denver) 81.5, $700. 3, Jarrod Craig, Hillsboro, Texas, (Estes Park) 81, $600. 4, Elijah Mora, Wiggins, Colo., (Greeley) 80.5, $500.
Showdown – Colorado Vs. The World —
Bareback Riding: (semifinals)1.Clint Laye, Colorado, 82, $1,000. 2, R.C. Landingham, World, 81, $1,000. (champion) 1, Laye, 89, $8,000. 2, Landingham, 84.
Steer Wrestling: (semifinals) 1, Clayton Hass, World, 4.04, $1,000. 2, Casey Martin, Colorado, 4.57, $1,000. (champion) 1, Hass, 4.01, $8,000. 2, Martin, 4..02.
Saddle Bronc Riding: (semifinals) 1, Rusty Wright, World, 88.5, $1,000. 2, Cory Scheer, Colorado, 83, $1,000. (champion) 1, Scheer, 87, $8,000. 2, Wright, 80.
Women’s Barrel Race: (semifinals) 1, Mary Walker, Colorado, 15.51, $1,000. 2, Shali Lord, World, 15.52, $1,000. (champion) 1, Lord, 15.75, $8,000. 2, Walker, 20.62.
Bull Riding: (semifinals) 1, Sage Kimzey, World, 90.5, $1,000. 2, Bobby Welsh, Colorado, 89, $1,000. (final round no rides, champion given by time ridden) 1, Kimzey, 6.13 seconds $8,000. 2, Welsh, 3.26 seconds.
