NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Brock Radford of Dewinton, Alta. holds on for his ride on the bull 'Enter the Dragon' during the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede's championship rodeo on Saturday. - NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
sports@medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews
The Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede’s rodeo provided fans with a bucking good time over the weekend.
The three-day rodeo featured some of the world’s top talent on full display at the grandstand for those who sat through the usual Stampede-heat and cheered on the cowboys and cowgirls trying to earn their buck.
Championship Saturday decided four of the eight rodeo events, with the remaining four winning scores/times coming from the first two days of rodeo action.
Carlee Rae Otero’s 17.30-second ride in Thursday’s ladies barrel racing competition finished as the weekend’s quickest time, putting the Collinsville, Tex. product in first place with $3,149 in winnings. Kate Beierbach of Maple Creek came in second place with her 17.48 ride on Friday night, earning her $2,676.65. Medicine Hat’s Kareen Warren competed in the slack performance race Thursday morning and her 17.60 ride held strong across the weekend, giving her a third-place finish and $2,204.30 in winnings.
Jesse Brown of Baker City, Ore. won the steer wrestling competition with his 3.7-second ride under the Friday night lights, earning $2,952.54. Two steer wrestlers tied for second as Stephen Culling of Fort St. John, B.C. and Dakota Eldridge of Elko, Nev. both had 3.8-second rides to split $3,053.12 in winnings.
The tie-down racing winner also came from Friday night’s action, with Beau Cooper of Stettler finishing in first with his 9.2-second run, earning $3,396.69 in winnings. Garrett Jacobs (Bosque Farms, NM) and Jesse Popescul (Glentworth, Sask.) tied for second place with 9.4-second rides and $2,924.92 in earnings each.
There were two winners in the breakaway roping competition, with Macy Auclair of Eckville, Alta.’s Friday ride and Jessie Armstrong of Big Valley, Alta.’s run of Saturday both lasting 2.8 seconds for $1,232.81 in winnings each.
The tie-down roping competition was the first event Saturday to crown a champion as Dawson Graham and Dillon Graham of Wainwright put together a five-second run for $2,794.38 in winnings each. Derek Hadland and Jackson Braithwaite earned second place with their Friday night 5.3-second ride, good enough for $2,429.90 in winnings each. Third place and $2,065.41 in winnings each went to the duo of Kolton Schmidt of Barrhead, Alta. and Logan Spady of Alliance, Alta. for their 5.5-second run.
Pascal Isabelle of Claresholm, Alta. took first place in bareback riding for his 87-point ride on Duane Kesler Championship Rodeo’s 06 Showboy, earning $2,526.72. Second place went to Kody Lamb of Sherwood Park for his 86.5-point ride Friday night, winning $2.075.52. Dantan Bertsch of Ponoka took third place for his Friday night 83.5-point ride, good enough for $1,624.30 in earnings.
The saddle bronc riding competition, and $3,053.12 in winnings, went to Kolby Wanchuk of Sherwood Park for his 89.5-point ride on Duane Kesler Championship Rodeo’s 476 Double Red. Melstone, Mont.’s Sage Newman took second place with his Saturday afternoon 89-point ride, earning himself $2,507.92 in winnings. Quinten Taylor of Parkland, who also rode on Saturday, came in third place with an 87.5-point ride, earning $1,962.72.
Wyatt Gleeson of Sundre, Alta., capitalized on Saturday afternoon to take first place in bull riding. He earned $2,921.52 after his 88.5-point ride on Duane Kesler Championship Rodeo’s 826 Fallen Angel. Second place, and $2,399.82 in earnings, went to Edgar Durazo of Moctezuma, Sonora, Mex. after his 87.5-ride on Thursday. Tanner Eno of Coronation, Alta., who also rode on Thursday, took third place, as his 83-point ride held on and he took home $1,878.12 in earnings.
