SALT LAKE CITY (July 22, 2019) – It was a hot night at the Komatsu Equipment Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo presented by Zions Bank in Salt Lake City on Monday night both in temperature and rodeo action.
An 18-time WPRA World Champion Jackie Crawford turned in a blistering fast run in the new event of women’s breakaway on Monday night at the Days of ’47 Arena. Crawford of Stephenville, Texas, has never had a chance to compete for an Olympic-style medal and would definitely be a highlight of her storied career if she could leave Salt Lake City as the winner. She stopped the clock in 2.95 seconds to win the performance on night No. 3.
“It was a fast round tonight,” said Crawford, who drew up fourth in the performance order. “I had a chance to watch it on Saturday, so I had an idea on how it could go. Obviously a lot of girls are leaving without the game plan they came in with. I just tried to make the best run I could as I knew how it could play out. We could have never imagined we would be having this opportunity to run for money like this.”
WPRA Rookie and current world standings leader Taylor Munsell will join Crawford in looking to make history on Wednesday night for the event of breakaway roping. Munsell of Alva, Okla., stopped the clock in 3.97 seconds to advance.
Possibly the hottest barrel racer going down the road right now is Lisa Lockhart and she kept it hot on Monday night with a winning time of 17.291 on her great buckskin An Oakie with Cash “Louie.” The Oelrichs, S.D., just won the $100,000 round at the Calgary Stampede and has had success in this arena the last two years. In fact, the first year in 2017 she won bronze and in 2018 she won silver. Will 2019 be her year to win gold?
Last year’s bronze medalist Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi will be looking to add to her medal collection as well finishing second on the night with a time of 17.384. Pozzi Tonozzi of Lampasas Texas, will join her husband Garrett Tonozzi on Wednesday as he will be competing for a gold medal in the team roping after having qualified on opening night.
A total of 288 competitors will take their shot at a share of the over $1 million in prize money and a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal that will be awarded on Wednesday, July 24. There will be 32 competitors in each of the following events: bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, women’s breakaway roping, barrel racing and bull riding.
Bareback rider Ty Breuer got the night started with an 86.25-point ride on Sankey Rodeo’s Exotic Blonde. Breuer, of Mandan, N.D., easily advanced to the Gold Medal Round on Wednesday as the top two in each event receive an automatic qualification. Joining Breuer will be two-time and defending Gold Medalist Wyatt Denny. He is trying to make history here as well being the first one to ever win three consecutive gold medals. Denny of Minden, Nev., finished with an 84 on Sankey Rodeo’s Great Nation to ride again at Days of ’47 Arena on Wednesday.
Tyler Pearson saved the best for last in the steer wrestling as he was the last to compete on Monday night but he brought his A-game stopping the clock in a time of 4.56 seconds to advance for a shot at $50,000. The 2017 PRCA World Champion Steer Wrestler from Atoka, Okla., would love to add a gold medal to his world champion gold buckle. He will be joined by Elko, Nevada’s Dakota Eldridge that stopped the clock in 5.01 seconds to advance.
The Minor brothers were the top team in the team roping on Family Night at the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo. Riley and Brady of Ellensburg, Wash., stopped the clock in 5.19 seconds to advance to the final round on Pioneer Day at the rodeo on Wednesday. They edged Nelson Wyatt, Clanton, Ala., and Jake Long of Morgan Mill, Texas, who finished with a 5.35.
Taos Muncy of Corona, N.M., rode Sankey Rodeo’s Robin Hood for 83 points to take the saddle bronc riding win during performance three of the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo. Muncy will be back in two days to try and add $50,000 to his bank account. It might have taken two tries for Jake Foster but the second ride was definitely worth it as he scored 79.25 on Powder River Rodeo’s Visible Injury to advance to the Gold Medal Round. Foster of Meadow, S.D., will be competing for a shot at Gold, Silver or Bronze Medal on July 24, 2019.
It was a couple of Texan’s atop the Utah leaderboard in the tie-down roping. Timber Moore of Aubrey, was 9.34 seconds, while Sterling Smith of Stephenville was 9.67. They added $3,200 and $2,400, respectively to their bank accounts on Monday night but both would love to add the $50,000 that is awarded to the winner on Wednesday. The times from their first run doesn’t carry forward so will be a clean slate when they return in two days.
Unfortunately by the end of the night things had cooled off so much that there were no qualified rides in the bull riding. Therefore, no one automatically advances from performance three and we will now take four wild card athletes from the field of contestants based on scores or total ride time.
The full field of 32 competitors is divided into four groups of eight each and compete in one of the first four performances (July 19-20, 22-23). The top two from each performance, along with two via the Wild Card category will advance to the Gold Medal Round on July 24. The 10 competitors in each event in the Gold Medal Round will compete in a sudden-death format with the winner collecting a Gold Medal and $50,000 cash.
The Komatsu Equipment Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo presented by Zions Bank, is taking place at the $17.5 million state-of-the-art Days of ’47 Arena at the Utah State Fairpark, custom designed and built for rodeo. The venue—an outdoor arena located in the heart of Salt Lake City—features over 10,000 stadium-style seats.
For only the fifth time in the history of rodeo, riders will have an opportunity to compete for Gold, Silver or Bronze Medals. The first two times were in conjunction with the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary (1988) and Salt Lake City (2002), when rodeo was part of the Cultural Olympiad and the other two times being the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo in 2017 and 2018. This will be the first time for breakaway ropers as they were not part of the aforementioned events. The medals that will be awarded at the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo will be produced by OC Tanner, the same company that made the Olympic medals for the champions of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
Tickets are still available at smithstix.com for the final two performances. For more information on the event visit www.daysof47cowboygames.com.
For those unable to attend in person the Komatsu Equipment Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo will broadcast live nightly at 8 p.m. MT exclusively on RidePass via RidePass.com or the RidePass mobile app. RideTV will air each round, excluding the finals, nightly at 8 p.m. MT. CBS Sports Network will air a recap of each performance on tape delay with the third performance on July 23 at 9:30 a.m. MT, the fourth on July 24 at 9:30 am., and fifth performance at 10:30 am MT. CBS will air a highlight show of the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo on July 28 at 10 a.m. MT.
Action at the Day of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo continues July 23 at 8 p.m. MT.
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Results: – Performance 3 – July 22, 2019
Bareback riding: 1. Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D., 86.25 points on Sankey Rodeo’s Exotic Blonde, $3,200; 2. Wyatt Denny, Minden, Nev., 84, $2,400; 3. Trenton Montero, Winnemucca, Nev., 81.5, $1,600; 4. Tanner Aus, New London, Minn., 80.75, $800
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: Ty Breuer and Wyatt Denny
Steer wrestling: 1. Tyler Pearson, Atoka, Okla., 4.56 seconds, $3,200; 2. Dakota Eldridge, Elko, Nev., 5.01, $2,400; 3. Tyler Waguespack, Gonzales, La., 5.20, $1,600; 4. Levi Rudd, Chelsea, Okla., 5.80, $800.
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: Tyler Pearson and Dakota Eldridge
Team roping: 1. Riley Minor/Brady Minor, Ellensburg, Wa., 5.19 seconds, $3,200 each; 2. Nelson Wyatt, Clanton, Ala./Jake Long, Morgan Mill, Texas, 5.35 seconds, $2,400 each; 3. David Key, Stephenville, Texas/Jason Warner, Congress, Ariz., 14.85, $1,600; 4. Justin Thigpen, Waycross, Ga./Kyle Crick, Lipan, Texas, 20.83, $800.
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: Riley Minor/Brady Minor and Nelson Wyatt/Jake Long
Saddle bronc riding: 1. Taos Muncy, Corona, N.M., 83 points on Sankey Rodeo’s Robin Hood, $3,200; 2. Jake Foster, Meadow, S.D., 79.25, $2,400; 3. Ross Griffin, Tularosa, N.M., 77.5, $1,600; 4. Dustin Hausauer, Dickinson, N.D., 75.75, $800.
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: Taos Muncy and Jake Foster
Tie-down roping: 1. Timber Moore, Aubrey, Texas, 9.34 seconds, $3,200; 2. Sterling Smith, Stephenville, Texas, 9.67, $2,400; 3. Marty Yates, Stephenville, Texas, 10.50, $1,600; 4. J.C. Malone, Plain City, Utah, 10.73, $800.
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: Timber Moore and Sterling Smith
Breakaway roping: 1. Jackie Crawford, Stephenville, Texas, 2.95 seconds, $3,200; 2. Taylor Munsell, Alva, Okla., 3.97, $2,400; 3. Kelsie Chace, Cherokee, Okla., 4.74, $1,600; no other qualified times
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: Jackie Crawford and Taylor Munsell
Barrel racing: 1. Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D., 17.291 seconds, $3,200; 2. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, Lampasas, Texas, 17.384, $2,400; 3. Jennifer Driver, Garden City, Texas, 17.416, $1,600; 4. Britta Thiel, Belle Fourche, S.D., 17.427, $800.
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: Lisa Lockhart and Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi
Bull riding: No qualified rides
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: No contestant from performance three will automatically advance. A total of four Wild Card athletes will now advance to the Gold Medal Round based on scores or total ride time.
