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Williamson Co. native wins bareback riding; champions crowned at 70th annual Franklin Rodeo

Franklin, Tenn. (May 18, 2019) – A Williamson County native took home a win at the seventieth annual Franklin Rodeo.

Logan Corbett, who grew up in Thompson’s Station, won the bareback riding with an 83 point ride.

During his high school days, he competed in the Tennessee High School Rodeo Association, in the bareback riding, saddle bronc riding and bull riding, crediting Tim and Diane McPeake with helping him throughout high school rodeo. After graduation from Page High School in 2007, Corbett attended Murray State  University in Kentucky and competed collegiately, graduating with an animal science degree.

Three years ago, he and his wife, Lacey, moved to New Mexico, where Corbett is the rodeo coach for New Mexico State University. He has sixty students on the New Mexico State University rodeo team, with twelve of them having qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo, held in Casper, Wyo., in June. “It’s a full time job,” he said, with that number of students on the team, and he’s pleased with the twelve who are going on to College Finals. “We’re excited about that.”

Corbett is working on his master’s degree in agricultural education at New Mexico State, hoping to be able to teach introductory college courses.

Corbett and his wife came back home a few days before he rode, to visit his mom, who lives in Bellevue, so grandma could see her grandkids: a daughter, who is two years old, and a son, who is three weeks old. While he is in the area, he visited the high school rodeo in Scottsville, Kentucky. “I ran up there to do some recruiting, talk to some kids, and see if I can’t get them to come to New Mexico State,” for the rodeo team. He has already recruited a saddle bronc rider from east Tennessee to compete for him.

He remembers coming to the Franklin Rodeo as a kid. The Franklin Rodeo “has always been one of my favorites,” he said. “In high school, I wasn’t old enough to have a PRCA card, so I’d come watch and hang out with my friends. I’ve been coming to this rodeo for years and years. It’s really a blessing to be able to get to come here and do well. It’s awesome.”

The thirty-year-old cowboy rode the J Bar J Rodeo bronc Freckled Doll for his win.

The Franklin Rodeo was the first pro rodeo that Blake Ash competed at, ten years ago, when he was a PRCA permit member. He filled his permit, winning the required $1,000, in Franklin.

Ten years later, he won the tie-down roping at the same rodeo with a time of 8.5 seconds.

The Aurora, Mo. man credited his horse with the good run. Sancho, a thirteen year old bay gelding, “worked really good,” Ash said. “He keeps getting better and better.”

The horse is owned by Mike Reade of Arkansas, and Ash has been riding him for the last two years. He makes sure the horse is in top health. “I don’t win anything if he doesn’t feel good.” In late June, Ash will hit the rodeo trail hard, and he’s had Sancho checked out by a veterinarian and equine chiropractor. “We did all the regular maintenance. We do it twice a year, at the beginning of the summer, and right before circuit finals. If I want to win anything, I want him to feel good.”

Ash has competed close to home the past ten years but this spring, went to the California rodeos and won the Clovis, Calif. rodeo, which has given him a good start to the rodeo year. He plans on competing farther from home this summer. A run at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, the pinnacle of the pro rodeo world, where world champions are crowned, might be in the plans. “I think I’m going to try the best I can,” he said.

Ash has competed at the Great Lakes Circuit Finals Rodeo eight times, winning the year-end title once and the average title once. His dad, Greg Ash, was a perennial circuit finals qualifier, first in the Prairie Circuit and later in the Great Lakes Circuit.

He is currently ranked twenty-first in the PRCA world standings.

Other champions from the Franklin Rodeo are steer wrestler Justin Raburn, Lafayette, Ga.(4.3 seconds); saddle bronc rider Jade Blackwell, Rapid City, S.D. (83 points); team ropers Nelson Wyatt, Llano, Texas/Levi Lord, Sturgis, S.D., and Marcus Theriot, Poplarville, Miss./Chase Graves Bogalusa, La. (4.2 seconds for each team); barrel racer Nicole Love, Morton, Miss. (16.39 seconds); and bull rider Coleton Greninger, Rose Bud, Ark. (85.5 points).

Next year’s rodeo will be held May 14-16, 2020. This is the seventieth anniversary of the rodeo, which is a service project for the Franklin Noon Rotary Club. Since the rodeo began, it has raised over $3 million for local and international charities.

 

 

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Results, Franklin Rodeo, May 16-18, 2019

 

Bareback riding

1. Logan Corbett, Las Cruces, N.M. 83 points on J Bar J Rodeo’s Freckled Doll; 2. Bryce Sifford, Martin, Tenn. 82.5; 3. (tie) Trey Moore, III Chatchee, Ala., Houston Herbert, College Grove, Tenn., and Jesse Pope, Marshall, Mo. 81 each; 6. Taylor Broussard, Estherwood, La. 80.5.

 

Steer wrestling

1. Justin Raburn, Lafayette, Ga. 4.3 seconds; 2. Will Lummus, Byhalia, Miss. 4.4; 3. Zack Varner, Livingston, Ala. 4.7; 4. Jordan Thrasher, Culleoka, Tenn. 4.8; 5. Justin Thigpen, Waycross, Ga. 4.9; 6. Juan Alcazar Jr., Okeechobee, Fla. 5.0.

 

Team roping

1. (tie) Nelson Wyatt, Llano, Texas/Levi Lord, Sturgis, S.D. and Marcus Theriot, Poplarville, Miss./Chase Graves, Bogalusa, La. 4.2 seconds each; 3. Coy Rahlmann, Ellsinore, Mo./Ryan Von Ahn, Palmyra,Mo. 4.5; 4. Cory Kidd V, Statesville, N.C./Clay Futrell, Union Grove, N.C. 4.7; 5. (tie) Mason Boettcher, East Bernard, Texas/Trace Porter, Leesville, La. and Kaston Peavy, Bay Minnette, Ala./Brad Culpepper, Poulan, Ga. 4.9 each; 7. Will Clark, Erin, Tenn./Tanner Ward, Wister, Okla. 5.3; 8. Kyle Letzelter, Canyon, Texas/Casey Cox, Ballston Spa, N.Y. 5.6.

 

Saddle bronc riding

1. Jade Blackwell, Rapid City, S.D. 83 points on J Bar J Rodeo’s Dirty Bugger; 2. Justin Browning, Lake Charles, La. 79; 3. Riggin Smith, Winterset, Iowa 78; 4. Briar Dittmer, Runnells, Iowa 77; 5. (tie) Roper Kiesner, Riley, Okla. and Ryder Sanford, Beaumont, Texas 76 each.

 

Tie-down roping

1. Blake Ash, Auora, Mo. 8.5 seconds; 2. Tim Pharr, Resaca, Ga. 8.9; 3. Hadley DeShazo, Ash Flat, Ark. 9.1; 4. Alex Caudle, Livingston, Ala. 9.2; 5. (tie) Justin Smith, Leesville, La. and Blake Chauvin, Raceland, La. 9.6 each.

 

Barrel racing

1. Nicole Love, Morton, Miss. 16.39 seconds; 2. Sadie Wolaver, Fayetteville, Tenn. 16.55; 3. Caroline Kelly, Auburn, Ala. 16.64; 4. Alishea Broussard, Estherville, La. 16.79; 5. Taylor Carver, Broxton, Ga. 16.81; 6. Laura Kennedy, Quitman, Ark. 16.87; 7. Ashley Parks, Dania Beach, Fla. 16.90; 8. Beth Ann Thomas, Hoboken, Ga. 16.91; 9. Nicole Helm, Tulsa, Okla. 16.95; 10. Sondra Conklin, Fayette, Mo. 16.96.

 

Bull riding

1. Coleton Greninger, Rose Bud, Ark. 85.5 points on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Two High; 2. (tie) John Young, Orient, Iowa and Trevor Reiste, Linden, Iowa 85 each; 4. (tie) Corey Atwell, Moravian Falls, N.C. and Denton Fugate, Niangua, Mo. 83 each; 6. Creek Young, Fordland, Mo. 81.