8th Annual Average Joe Finals Held At Madonna Inn

Danny Leslie (r) presents saddles to Ross Rivera and Colton White, winning the #10 roping at the Average Joe Finals.

By Elly Leslie
Average Joe Productions

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIF. – Our 8th annual Average Joe Finals were held at beautiful Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. Thank you to the Pearce family for being the most welcoming hosts.
We lucked out and had beautiful weather for our original date for the Breakaway. The short round of this breakaway is the best we have ever seen! In the top 15, 10 of the runs were in the 2’s! It was so fun to watch.
We ended up with 82 entries.
Round 1: 1. Kaitlyn Anderson, 2.2, $600. 2. Adrienne Steffen 2.30 $300.
Round 2: 1, Adrienne Steffen, 2.07, Average Joe jacket
Fast Time in Short Round: Alissa Erickson, $300
Average: 1. Adrienne Steffen, 6.84, $2,780, custom rope can by Emerson Periera, Average Joe Jacket, Charlie 1 Horse Felt and Ultra Cruz Supplement. 2. Cayden Holland, 7.39, $1,900, Average Joe jacket, Cactus protective boots and Ultra Cruz Supplement. 3. Whitley Burgess, 7.72, $1,500, Average Joe jacket and Ultra Cruz Supplement. 4. Whitley Burgess, 7.78, $1,200, Cactus Rope and Ultra Cruz Supplement. 5. Haleigh Grant, 7.80, $800.
We had high hopes the rain would hold off right up until the bitter end. We so badly wanted to keep our date, we knew everyone had traveled so far and made plans, but God had other plans. Unfortunately, we had to postpone the remainder of the ropings til Sunday the November 26.
We are so blessed by these ropers who support us. So many are our close friends and they drove back and came and roped! We can’t tell you how much we appreciate the understanding and gratitude everyone showed us. We are proud to put on an event for these kinds of people. The 26th ended up being a beautiful day!
We had 149 teams in the #10.5; payoffs are per man:
1st go: 1. Jose Machado and Francisco Cruz, 4.36, $700. 2. Owen Redfeairn and Edgar Machado, 4.81, $400. 3. Sergio Silva and Adrian Macias Sr., 5.24, $300.
Average: 1. Ross Rivera and Colton White, 23.34, $2,300 + Best Ever Custom saddles and Ultra Cruz Supplement. 2. Sergio Silva and Adrian Macias Sr., 24.54, $1,920 + Molly Custom Buckle and Ultra Cruz Supplement. 3. Vince Nino and Tanner Patino, 26.89, $1,520 + Best Ever Pads and Ultra Cruz Supplement. 4. Vince Nino and Caleb Carpenter, 29.43, $1,120. 5. Jimmy Gardner and Jeremy Pinhero, 29.99, $720. 6. Haleigh Grant and Ryan Wheatley, 30.75, $40.

We can’t thank our sponsors enough. We were excited to offer them the opportunity to rope in this NFR setup and had 66 teams in our sponsor roping.
1st go: 1. Keith Johnson and Tucker Donlon, 4.88, $100 + Cactus Ropes
Average: 1. Fidel Ramirez (West Coast Auto) and Andy Holcomb (Cactus), 19.98, $300 + Average Joe jackets, Molly Custom Buckles, Cactus Boots and Ultra Cruz Supplement. 2. Meghann Pearce (Madonna Inn) and Clint Pearce (Madonna Inn), 25.81, $100 + Average Joe jackets and Ultra Cruz Supplement. 3. Tucker Robinson (Wittstrom Hay) and Chad Wittstrom (Wittstrom Hay), 25.53, + Cactus Ropes and Ultra Cruz Supplement.

The Average Joe Open roping had 77 teams:
1st go: 1. Blake Texiera and Spencer Mitchell, 4.39, $1,000 + Average Joe jackets. 2. Lane Karney and Jason Johe, 4.62, $500.
2nd go: 1. Lane Karney and Dalton Pearce, 3.74, $1,000 + Average Joe jackets. 2. Lane Karney and Mark Scobie, 4.09, $500.
3rd go: 1. Lane Karney and Jason Johe, 4.25, $1,000 + Average Joe jackets. 2. Blake Texeira and Andy Holcomb, 4.64, $500.
Average: 1. Lane Karney and Jason Johe, 19.10, $4,120 + BullKelp bedrolls, Resistol hats, Best Ever pads and Average Joe jackets. 2. Jose Machado and Edgar Machado, 20.44, $3,100 + Best Ever Pads. 3. Andy Holcomb and Jake Bourdet, 21.02, $2,060 + Cactus boots. 4. Cutter Machado an Jason Johe, 21.93, $1,030 + Yetis.

Top Head Horse: “Jake” ridden by Jose Machado; Top Heel Horse: “Butters” ridden by Dalton Pearce, both receiving BullKelp bedrolls and BullKelp horse blankets.
Dummy roping winners were: Sterling Machado, 5 & under; Cooper Higgins, 6-9; and Kelton Martinez, 10-13.
Thank you again to everyone who came and roped, came and watched and stuck with us through the rain. Thank you again to all our sponsors, we couldn’t have this event without you. Mark your calendars for next year, November 15-17, at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.

Fidel Ramirez and Andy Holcomb won the sponsor roping at the Average Joe Finals.