The Wrangler National Finals is just around the corner and this year’s team roping roster will include four new team ropers (two headers and heelers) who will be making their first appearance at the Thomas and Mack Arena. For a while it looked like Tom Richards would be there as a rookie heading for Cesar de la Cruz, but they have both been moved out of the top 15.
This all came about on a technicality that the team had been to too many rodeos and therefore the last big win for the team did not count, as they had gone over the number of rodeos allowed to be claimed in a single season. They have a period in which to appeal, according to the following news release dated October 17, 2014 from the PRCA.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - An official challenge to the team roping world standings has been determined to have merit after a detailed audit by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and will result in a change in the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo lineup.
As of our press time, no final decision has been reported on the appeal.
As a result of the changes, made per the by-laws of the PRCA, header Chad Masters of Cedar Hill, Tenn., and heeler Kinney Harrell of Marshall, Texas, will be added to the WNFR lineup, each finishing in the 15th spot in the Windham Weaponry High Performance PRCA World Standings. Header Tom Richards of Humboldt, Ariz., drops to the 16th position and heeler Caesar de la Cruz of Tucson, Ariz., moves from 15th to 18th.
In the heading it will be Coleman Proctor who has been in the PRCA since 2004 and this year paid off for him as he went a little more and placed at some very good rodeos to earn a seat at the WNFR. In the years past, he has been a big name in many of the larger ropings around the country winning his fair share of the big bucks and now this year he will have a chance to go for some big dollars at the Big Show.
The other header going to his first WNFR is Aaron Tsinigine of Tuba City, Ariz. This young roper has been very impressive over the past couple of years and should be a force at the Finals for some time to come. In 2013 he won the Rodeo at Rancho Mission Viejo with the great Clay O’Brien Cooper and this year he won the same rodeo with partner Cole Davison. This rodeo is the richest two day rodeo in the PRCA and proves to be a big win in all events and sometimes is the shinning factor in one making the WNFR. Unfortunately his partner finished 16th in the standings and missed making this year’s WNFR, but I am sure we will see him there in the future.
The two heelers who made this years WNFR for the first time are Shay Carroll of La Junta, Colo. along with Junior Nogueira, Scottsdale, Ariz. Junior has quite a story behind him. He was a super star in South America winning Brazil’s biggest roping competition seven times and in the course of his young roping career he won nine cars, 54 motorcycles, and two horse trailers. These are common awards in South America rather than buckles. Many of the bull riders who come over here in the PBR have also won many motorcycles, cars, and trucks for their victories.
Junior has been roping behind the master Jake Barnes all year and will be roping with him at the Finals. This team roped at the The American Rodeo in March, where Junior was going for the Million Dollar win. They were certainly a crowd favorite.
This year will be good watching as the race for the world titles is going to be close in both the heading and the heeling. Clay Tryan commands the heading going into the Finals teamed with Jade Corkill. This seasoned team has almost a $9,000 lead to start off the ten performance rodeo but are being closely challenged by Erich Rogers and Cory Petska. The team of Trevor Brazile and Travis Graves will also be making a big move to the world title sitting in third coming into the Finals. We all know how Trevor can collect world titles and this may just be another for his record books.
Many things will be happening at this years WNFR and a lot of it will be at South Point Hotel and Casino including the World Series of Team Roping Finale that will payout a record $8.5 million to the winners. Congratulations to the Gentry family and staff for this great accomplishment.
Be sure to stop by and pick up a complimentary copy of Ropers Sports News in the all newly updated Equestrian Center at the South Point. The Steer Gear booth will have some issues of RSN on hand as will Ropes Galore located at the Sands Expo’s Stetson Cowboy Christmas.
This will be the 30th year in Las Vegas and there will be a special celebration at the Palms on December 12th, 11am-4pm. Check out the advertisement in this issue for all the details.
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The Biggest Roping in the World West of Half Moon Bay, California will be hosted by Brian Anderson in Kamuela, Hawaii, so if you are looking for a reason to go to the Islands, this is the time to plan it and maybe get mounted and pay for your trip. The roping will be a World Series Roping. See the ad on page 15 telling all about the event which will be held on January 16th & 17th, 2015.
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Congratulations to all of the ropers who recently placed in Reno, NV at the ACTRA Finals. The weather was good and many ropers enjoyed the weeklong roping that attracted ropers from many different states to the Biggest Little City in The World. Also, congrats to the winners of the USTRC National Finals of Team Roping going on at press time in Oklahoma City, Okla. Complete results and photos can be seen in the December issue of Ropers Sports News.
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Good news has been heard from Robert Simpson, Director of Events for the Lazy E Arena. Be sure and read about the Timed Event Championship changes for 2015 in this issue. This year the historical event will pay $100,000 to the winner which is double what it has paid in the past. This is one of my favorite events of the year as it features 20 of the best timed event cowboys in the business as they compete in five events on 25 head of livestock in three days. If you have never been to this event you need to make it this year to witness this prestigious event. Thanks to the owners, the McKinney family, for making this possible.
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See you all in Vegas if not sooner. Be sure and get your ads and stories into to us for the December issue which will be widely distributed at the Wrangler National Finals. Ad deadline is November 10th. You can check out ad rates and more info at www.roperssportsnews.com.