| IN THIS RELEASE YOU’LL FIND:
1. Eldridge grabs another large victory in Redding 2. Kimzey comes up big at Redding WCC event 3. Skelton seriously injured in road accident 4. Jim Gladstone, Nov. 18, 1942 – May 16, 2015 5. News & Notes from the rodeo trail 6. Next Up 7. 2015 World Standings Leaders 8. 2015 Windham Weaponry High Performance PRCA World Standings 9. 2015 Wrangler Million Dollar Tour Standings 10. 2015 PRCA Xtreme Bulls Standings |
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| 1. Eldridge grabs another large victory in Redding
REDDING, Calif. – Dakota Eldridge is quickly putting together a résumé which shows he’s one of the best young bulldoggers in the game today. The 23-year-old Elko, Nev., native won his third big rodeo of the 2015 season when he took the steer wrestling average title at the May 13-15 Redding (Calif.) Rodeo, a Wrangler Million Dollar Tour Silver rodeo, presented by Justin Boots. Eldridge tied for fourth in the first round, and was fourth in the second round en route to a time of 9.7 seconds on two head, which was enough for the average title and total earnings of $4,039 in Redding. “I’ve never had as great of a spring as I’m having right now, and this year I’ve done things better and taken advantage of the steers that I drew,” Eldridge said. “I’ve practiced a little more at home this season, and I’ve tried to mount my horse (Rusty) out less. It’s paid off so far.” Eldridge won the Kissimmee (Fla.) Wrangler Champions Challenge event in October 2014, and then took the title at the Clark County Fair & Rodeo in Logandale, Nev., last month. Aboard 16-year-old Rusty, Eldridge is brimming with confidence – and with good reason. Rusty has helped make Eldridge one of the most dangerous bulldoggers in the world in a short amount of time. “I used to calf and team rope a lot, and didn’t really focus as much on steer wrestling, but I knew I had to capitalize on having this horse right now while he can still go,” Eldridge said. “The cards that were dealt to me were to bulldog, and I stuck my neck out on the line and went all-in, and luckily it worked. “Everything has happened pretty fast for me. I’m only 23, but I got in with the right guys and I’ve had things fall into place. Now, my goal is a gold buckle. I have the horsepower and crew to do it, and I want to have as much won as I can before the Finals.” Entering the weekend, Eldridge sat 13th in the Windham Weaponry High Performance PRCA World Standings, but he moved up to seventh with his win in Redding, a fourth-place finish at the Redding Wrangler Champions Challenge and a sixth-place result in Hayward, Calif. He’s qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo the past two years, finishing third in the WNFR average race in 2014, and second in 2013. He and traveling partner Sterling Lambert – a Fallon, Nev., native – are in their third year of hitting the road together. Lambert hazes for Eldridge, and he has as much confidence in Lambert as he does in Rusty. “Sterling has this great new haze horse, so we have quite a bit of horsepower behind us, which is what it’s all about,” Eldridge said. “Having good horses is the only way to be successful. I couldn’t ask for a better hazer, which is another thing that’s helped me out this spring – his horse can keep up with Rusty.” Other winners at the $171,737 rodeo were all-around cowboy Trevor Brazile ($5,422 in team roping and tie-down roping), bareback rider Luke Creasy (85 points on Four Star Rodeo’s Rusty Slim), team ropers Bubba Buckaloo and Russell Cardoza (11.5 seconds on two head), saddle bronc rider Jacobs Crawley (86 points on Growney Brothers Rodeo’s Blazing Gun), tie-down roper Clint Robinson (17.1 seconds on two head), barrel racer Brittany Kelly (17.29 seconds) and bull riders Wesley Silcox (87 points on Corey & Lange Rodeo’s Big Cool) and Brennon Eldred (87 points on Growney Brothers Rodeo’s No. 922).
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| 2. Kimzey comes up big at Redding WCC event
REDDING, Calif. – Sage Kimzey’s 2014 rookie season was one for the ages. The Strong City, Okla., cowboy capped his amazing campaign with a bull riding gold buckle after winning $318,631. This year, he hasn’t missed a beat. Kimzey has been atop the Windham Weaponry High Performance PRCA World Standings most of the season, and remained there after he won the May 16 Wrangler Champions Challenge, presented by Justin Boots, with an 84-point ride on Growney Brothers Rodeo Company’s Mr. Big. “I had been on him before at Puyallup (Wash.) last year, but he bucked me off,” Kimzey said of Mr. Big. “He’s a good bull, and he usually is out to the left, and that’s kind of what I was expecting, but bucking bulls are animals, and they have a mind of their own. He actually went to the right, and was a good bull to get on.” Kimzey, 20, who has $59,966 in the May 18 standings, stayed in the No. 1 position after collecting a $5,440 check at the Redding WCC. “This year has been awesome,” Kimzey said. “I haven’t gone to as many rodeos and it’s kept me real fresh for the ones I’ve been to. Last year, I got on over 300 head of bulls, and it definitely took a toll on my body. This year, I’m just picking and choosing the (rodeos) I’m going to, and it’s really working out.” Although Kimzey has had immense success the last 18 months, he hasn’t quenched his thirst at all. “I’m taking care of myself and getting ready for the summer run,” Kimzey said. “I’m craving bull riding like I’ve never craved the sport before. I have a fire inside me, and it can’t be matched as far as my motivation to ride bulls right now.” Other winners at the $123,600 rodeo were all-around cowboyTrevor Brazile ($1,280 in tie-down roping and team roping), bareback rider Seth Hardwick (87.5 points on Growney Brothers Rodeo’s Raggidy Ann), steer wrestler Ty Erickson (4.4 seconds), team ropers Clay Tryan and Jade Corkill (5.2 seconds), saddle bronc rider Heith DeMoss (86.5 points on Big Stone, Moreno & Growney Rodeo’s Big Muddy), tie-down roper Matt Shiozawa (7.8 seconds) and barrel racers Nancy Hunter and Meghan Johnson (17.50 seconds each). |
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| 3. Skelton seriously injured in road accident
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Eight-time World Champion Team Roping Heeler Rich Skelton was seriously injured in a road accident May 15 near the Llano (Texas) Municipal Airport on Highway 16 North. According to a report in the Llano County News, a truck pulling a livestock trailer was unable to slow down and rear-ended a passenger vehicle, slamming it into the rear of the tractor that Skelton was driving. He was ejected through the top of the canopy on the tractor as it was knocked on its side. Skelton was located about 25 feet from the tractor and was airlifted to an Austin, Texas-area hospital for treatment, along with the driver of the passenger vehicle. Skelton’s family reported on Facebook that he is awake, the ventilator has been removed and he is breathing on his own in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The family appreciates the messages of concern and good wishes, but requests that people please refrain from calling them or the hospital at this time. |
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| 4. Jim Gladstone, Nov. 18, 1942 – May 16, 2015
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Jim Gladstone, the first Canadian to earn a world championship in a timed event, and still the only Canadian to have won a tie-down roping gold buckle, died at his home on the Blood Reserve May 16. He was 72. A versatile athlete as a youth who excelled in basketball, and track and field before finally concentrating on rodeo, Gladstone won the 1969, 1971 and 1973 Canadian tie-down roping championships and went on to win the world championship in 1977, upsetting Roy Cooper and Tom Ferguson at the National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City. Gladstone roped 10 calves in 119.7 seconds, setting an NFR record and beating the previous mark by almost five-and-a-half seconds, all while competing with a broken finger. He was carried out of the arena on the shoulders of his countrymen, waving the maple leaf flag. He would ultimately qualify for the NFR four times (1972-73 and 1977-78), always as a tie-down roper, but he also competed in steer wrestling and team roping. He is an inductee in both the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Professional Rodeo Hall of Fame. The funeral service will be held at noon May 23 in the Cardston (Alberta) Agridome. Friends may meet the family for a visitation from 10-11:30 a.m. May 23 at the Legacy Funeral Home in Cardston. Interment will be in the family plot at the Blood Reserve. Condolences may be e-mailed to legacycardston@gmail.com. Gladstone is survived by his six children: Stacey (Greg) Schmidt, Quincey (Troy) Atkin, Chad (Kim) Gladstone, Skye (Martin) Carroll, Lincoln Gladstone and Zac Gladstone; and 12 grandchildren, Trentin and Trey Atkin; Ashton and Tennison Schmidt; Madi, Miles, Chase and Callay Gladstone; and Solia, Atalya, Steele and Azure Carroll. |
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| 5. News & Notes from the rodeo trail
The Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days Hall of Fame has announced its 2015 class, headlined by nine-time PRCA World Champion Ty Murray.Murray, a ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee, won the 1990 all-around and 1993 saddle bronc riding titles in Cheyenne. Joining Murray are Bobby Romer (bullfighter), Reva Gray (winner of the Denver Post Ladies Relay Race event in 1932, 1934 and 1936), Dr. Norman Swanson (arena veterinarian for Cheyenne Frontier Days for 44 years), Spiro ‘Sam’ Contos (longtime cook/volunteer), Kay Jessen (30 plus-year volunteer with the CFD Western Art Show and Sale) and the W.E. Dinneen Family.The induction ceremony will take place Sept. 11 at 5 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in Cheyenne. For more info, visit www.oldwestmuseum.org… Bull rider Joe Frost, who finished second in both the world and WNFR average standings in 2014, suffered a concussion when he was bucked off Growney Brothers Rodeo’s Sweet Sinner at the Redding (Calif.) Wrangler Champions Challenge May 16. Frost is also set to undergo arthroscopic surgery on both his knees May 19 in Bountiful, Utah. He expects to return to PRCA action at the Reno (Nev.) Rodeo, June 19-27. Frost is 10th in the May 18 world standings. WNFR bull rider Brett Stall is expected to be sidelined six weeks after suffering a broken right ankle at the Redding Rodeo May 13. He is 11th in the May 18 world standings. WNFR steer wrestler Ethen Thouvenell suffered a herniated disc in Redding, and will visit a spine specialist to decide whether surgery will be necessary … Paul Luchsinger, a gifted multi-sport athlete who qualified for the National Finals Rodeo five times as a steer wrestler, died May 12 of cancer. He was 59. Luchsinger attended a Walt Linderman steer wrestling school in Bozeman, Mont., in 1976, bought his PRCA permit in 1977 and started competing full time as a card-holder the following year. He qualified for the NFR in 1979-81 and 1984-85, enjoying his best season in 1981 when he finished seventh in the world standings … Greg Rumohr, the 1990 world champion freestyle bullfighter and a three-time reserve world champion, died May 11 when a piece of heavy equipment he was delivering to a ranch in Cranfills Gap, Texas, fell on him. He was 53. Rumohr, a native of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, joined the PRCA in May 1988 and spent the next 24 seasons developing a reputation for being one of the toughest and most athletic bullfighters the sport has ever seen. Rumohr worked the Buffalo Bill Rodeo in North Platte, Neb., for 23 years, until his retirement in 2011, when he was presented with the committee’s Trail Boss Award for his longtime service. He also worked the 2003 Tour Finale in Dallas and served as a bullfighter at the RAM Texas Circuit Finals Rodeo in 1991 … Robert “Bobby” Adair, the leading rider at Los Alamitos (Calif.) Race Course for much of the 1970s, one of Quarter Horse racing’s leading all-time jockeys and a PRCA team roper, died on May 16 after a lengthy battle with cancer, according to a statement released by Los Alamitos. Adair, a PRCA Gold Card member, was 71. He won 1,705 Quarter Horses races at Los Alamitos, including 114 stakes. He won his first race at a recognized racetrack in 1962 and rode until 1984 when he sustained a shoulder injury in a wreck at Los Alamitos …The Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame has announced three new inductees for 2015. Five-time World Champion Lewis Feild headlines the 2015 class, being inducted in the rodeo contestant category. Feild won six Pendleton titles in his career (bareback riding in 1984, 1989-90; saddle bronc riding in 1989 and all-around in 1989-90). He also served as a pickup man in Pendleton from 2001-04. The other two inductees are Cecelia Bearchum in the Native American participant category and Leo Moomaw in the early years’ category. The Hall of Fame banquet is Sept. 13. Tickets can be purchased at the Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon office, or by calling 1-800-45-Rodeo beginning Aug. 1 … The Ellensburg (Wash.) Rodeo Hall of Fame has elected board member Joel Smith as president for a two-year term. Smith is a lifelong Ellensburg area resident and past Ellensburg Rodeo Board director. He is also a founding member of the Ellensburg Rodeo Hall of Fame. Others elected included Jack Wallace, vice president; Joe Crawford, treasurer and Joe Powell, recorder … Edge of Tomorrow and Into the Woods actress Emily Blunt is set to star as the bull riding lead role in the upcoming rodeo movie Bronco Belle. Blunt will play the role of Raylene Jackson, a spirited woman who dreams of becoming a champion in bull riding. First-time writer-director Khurram Longi says the idea for the script came during a road trip. “We were driving down from New York and ended up in Texas where, by chance, we stumbled across the world of rodeo,” Longi said. “I had never been to one before. We started to follow the rodeo trail and the world inspired me to write this script.” Production is set to start this fall … Montana State University is looking for a head rodeo coach. For more details, visit https://jobs.montana.edu/postings/2103 … The city of Wolf Point (Mont.) is planning a celebration marking its 100th anniversary around the Wild Horse Stampede, July 8-11. In addition to the rodeo, a parade and carnival will also be included in the festivities … The California Rodeo Salinas Heritage Museum will open its doors to 1,000 local elementary school students from May 18-29 to tour the facility and learn about the history of California Rodeo Salinas. Members of the Museum Committee will serve as tour guides to the students and teachers, and answer questions. To learn more about the museum visit www.CARODEO.com.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK “It feels nice to come home and see my family and friends. It’s nice to come home from time to time and relax, go down memory lane, and remember all the things I used to do. It’s important to remember where you come from. That’s why I always say I’m from Jay (Okla.). I think that’s the way it’s supposed to be. If it wasn’t for the people around here, and all the support, I wouldn’t be where I am now.” -Team roper Travis Graves talking to the Grand Lake News about what it’s like to go home to Jay, Okla. |
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| 6. Next Up
May 21 Rodeo Killeen (Texas) begins May 22 Pony Express Rodeo, Eagle Mountain, Utah, begins May 22 Ringgold (La.) Round-Up begins May 22 Bandera (Texas) ProRodeo begins May 22 Will Rogers Stampede, Claremore, Okla., begins May 23 Cowtown Rodeo, Woodstown Pilesgrove, N.J. May 23 PRCA Last Stand Rodeo, Coulee City, Wash., begins May 23 Marysville (Calif.) Stampede begins May 23 Crown Motors Ram Regional Rodeo, Park Hills, Mo., begins
PRCA WORLD STANDINGS Unofficial through May 18, 2015
*2015 Barrel Racing (through May 18, 2015) Barrel racing standings, provided by the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA), are unofficial, subject to audit and may change. Unofficial WPRA Standings are published by the PRCA as a courtesy. The PRCA is not responsible for the verification or updating of WPRA standings.
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