Heartland Survives The EHV Panic
By Denny Gentry
Special To Ropers Sports News
At a glance, the bottom line for the 2011 Heartland Finale held Memorial Day weekend at the Lazy E Arena, would read “ Heartland Payoff Drops $100,000.” That is technically correct, but actually not very accurate. The truth is that this roping was poised to increase by over $200,000 and pass the million-dollar mark, and ended up $120,000 behind last year. The EHV panic pretty well took care of that. The panic and early week tornadoes created a secondary drawout panic at the WSTR office. It took some experience and “fancy dancing” for WSTR to hang on to the bulk of the roping. WSTR added the bonus rotations to pump the payoffs back up, allowed late entries, and a few other tricks to end up roughly $120,000 behind the 2010 level. So even though the comparison to last year was not what everyone expected, the World Series folks felt fortunate. The negative perspective could not hide the reality of divisions paying $192,000, $188,000, $175,000, and $160,000 respectively. Total payoff was $715,000 with $70,000 in prizes, and by all accounts the Cactus Saddles were outstanding . For the second time in two years this is the highest paying team roping in the United States for the first six months of the year!
The “Cactus Saddlery #13 Finale” went off without a hitch. The catch ratio was high with nearly half the teams making it to the short round. Nevertheless, the overall times were the same as the WSTR national time average for #13 qualifiers. The big story here was Jacob Griffith. The young man from Louisiana has been in the hunt all spring at the qualifiers without much success. In the #13 the first and second high calls both missed and Spencer Griffith and Hank Brown set young Jacob up to look like a big leaguer. He absolutely attacked both of his short round steers to win first and second, $35,000 and two new saddles. Honorable mention to Kent Shankles of Oklahoma who double dipped and bagged $13,000.
The Fastback Ropes #12 Finale was memorable. Tyler Riggan and Jahew Thorp were the high call and drew a steer that set up in the short round. They qualified the steer in the field, and were deserving of a rerun. However, their qualified run, if accepted, was good for $11,000 and sixth place. The problem was that young Tyler wanted to go for the rerun, and Jahew didn’t think it was smart to risk $11,000 already in the bag. The decision had to be made quickly and Tyler won the argument which resulted in a clean time on the rerun. The team split $38,000 and new saddles. WSTR head man Denny Gentry commented, “I started putting on ropings in 1983 and this is the first rerun situation that I ever recall on a high call.” Side note – Raymond Kerr, SD was high call in the #13 and his heeler missed, was second high call in the #12 and his partner missed. The same thing happened to Mike Carrell in the #11 and #10.
The Fastback Ropes #11 Finale had some nice looping in it, but the short round fell apart a bit with over half the checks won with a 10 second or higher average. Steve Blain and Dwight Cessna did nothing fancy, just rock solid roping. Kudos to Kenny Lemond the only double dipper in the group.
The Bloomer Trailer #10 Finale had an interesting twist. Stacy Kropik and Becky Cannizzaro moved from 7th call to win the roping on a 7 second run. Becky caught her hand in the braided part of her tied on rope and broke her thumb on the short round steer. Certainly the move from 7th to first was aided with two or three well placed misses inside the top five calls. The 10 and 11 second averages pretty well controlled this roping. Side note: Randy Bloomer (Bloomer Trailers) made the short round on a borrowed horse with another sponsor Dennis Schwalbe. They received a turn out when Randy discovered too late that his borrowed ride had gone home.
Results are as follows (payoffs are per team):
#13 WSTR FINALE
Average: 1st. Spencer Griffith and Jacob Griffith, 32.66, $40,000. 2nd. Hank Brown and Jacob Griffith, 33.10, $30,000. 3rd. Jimbo Daniel and Johnny East, 33.76, $20,000. 4th. Wallace Townsend and Kent Shankles, 33.88, $16,000. 5th. Tyler Rigan and Joe Hughes, 34.33, $13,000. 6th. Jimmy Longino and Kent Shankles, 34.35, $11,500. 7th. Ronnie Carter and Brad Amos, 34.40, $9,000. 8th. Kenny Drake and Dustin Drake, 35.13, $7,000. 9th. Natie Johnson and Steve Kinchen, 35.16, $6,000. 10th. James Whitlow and Dennis Motes, 35.28, $4,000.
Short go: 1st. Shane Stapleton and Hunter Herrin, 6.26 $3,000.
Rotation 1, Round 1: 1st. Natie Johnson and Steve Kin-chen, 6.68, $3,000. 2nd. Tyler Riggan and Brad Cottrell, 6.86, $2,000.
Rotation 1, Round 2: 1st. Kelvin Rion and B.J. Thompson, 6.43, $3,000. 2nd. Mike Shaw and Billy Stephens, 6.62, $2,000.
Rotation 1, Round 3: 1st. Tyson Holden and Todd Holden, 6.67, $3,000. 2nd. Wil Brownlow and Paul Griffey, 6.77, $2,000.
Consolation: 1st. Kelvin Rion and B.J. Thompson, 20.59, $5,000. 2nd. Mark Hudson and Will Allen, 22.84, $4,000. 3rd. John Jensen and Jason Furnival, 23.57, $3,000. 4th. Raymond Kerr and Spencer Love, 23.95, $2,000. 5th. Jill Cooper and Jimmy Tanner, 25.33, $2,000.
3 Head short go FT: 1st. Rook Rawls and Brandon Danker, 6.34, $2,000.
#12 WSTR FINALE
Average: 1st. Tyler Riggan and Jahew Thorp, 32.73, $38,500. 2nd. Mike Row and Steve Mauldin, 33.10, $29,000. 3rd. Boon Daniel and Scott Venable, 33.71, $19,500. 4th. Walter Mainka and Will Allen, 34.10, $15,500. 5th. Steve Blain and Matt Yocham, 34.18, $12,500. 6th. Phillip Shurden and Perry McCance, 34.28, $11,000. 7th. Donnie Helmer and Chad Helmer, 35.07, $9,000. 8th. Ben Pierce and Taylor Pettigrew, 35.46, $7,000. 9th. Michael Snooks and Joaquin Huntington, 35.82, $6,000. 10th. Ryan Leatherwood and Terry Leatherwood, 37.34, $4,000.
Short go: 1st. Cody White and Tyson Campidilli, 5.84, $3,000.
Rotation 1, Round 1: 1st. Blane Chapman and Tommy Smithson, 7.19, $3,000. 2nd. Roy Cooper and Justin Walker, 7.27, $2,000.
Rotation 1, Round 2: 1st. Richard Johnson and Jesse DeBord, 6.26, $3,000. 2nd. Ronnie Carter and Perry McCance, 6.69, $2,000.
Rotation 1, Round 3: 1st. Cody White and Eric Flurry, 6.16, $3,000. 2nd. (tie) John Wiggins and Eddie Cole, 6,69, $1,000; and Jill Cooper and Jimmie Cooper, 6.69, $1,000.
Consolation: 1st. Stacy Kropik and Dustin Mueller, 22.37, $5,000. 2nd. Shad Beebe and Trey Mitchell, 22.65, $4,000. 3rd. Blane Chapman and Tommy Smithson, 23.24, $3,000. 4th. Phillip Harrison and Kenneth Wooten, 23.35, $2,000. 5th. Witt Crowser and Todd Holden, 23.73, $2,000.
3 Head short go FT: 1st. Stacy Kropik and Dustin Mueller, 6.09, $2,000.
#11 WSTR FINALE
Average: 1st. Steve Blain and Dwight Cessna, 34.30, $35,000. 2nd. Dusty Leatherwood and Kenny LeMond, 35.91, $27,000. 3rd. Mel Smith and Robert Wood, 36.28, $18,000. 4th. Boon Daniel and Scott Venable, 38.19, $14,000. 5th. Ross Long and Rudy Benavidez, 38.28, $12,000. 6th. Kenny Carlin and Eddie Cole, 40.34, $10,000. 7th. Chris Thomas and Kenny LeMond, 40.46, $8,000. 8th. Ron Baucke and Merrill Bond, 41.18, $6,000. 9th. Matt Scogin and Sammy Barton, 41.20, $5,000. 10th. Gary Murphy and Jim Huffman, 41.55, $4,000.
Short go: 1st. Gary Kiehne and Glenn Girard, 6.90, $3,000.
Rotation 1, Round 1: 1st. Billy Vaught and Andrew Jones, 7.46, $3,000. 2nd. Mel Smith and Robert Wood, 7.78, $2,000.
Rotation 1, Round 2: 1st. Doug Harrigal and Kenny Richardson, 7.00, $3,000. 2nd. Jennifer Williams and Jahew Thorp, 7.49, $2,000.
Rotation 1, Round 3: 1st. Zane Edmondson and Scott VanderHamm, 6.37, $3,000. 2nd. Larry Cohorn and Rex Nichols, 6.77, $2,000.
Consolation: 1st. Donnie Helmer and Jody Mahaney, 24.86, $5,000. 2nd. R.T. McElreath and Joaquin Huntington, 26.01, $4,000. 3rd. Jennifer Williams and Jahew Thorp, 26.59, $3,000. 4th. Nate Mohar and Bob Mohar, 27.57, $2,000. 5th. C.L. Oats and Sparky Stephens, 27.61, $2,000.
3 Head short go FT: 1st. Doug Burbridge and Kevin Canterbury, 6.34, $2,000.
#10 WSTR FINALE
Average: 1st. Stacy Kropik and Becky Cannizzaro, 38.74, $32,000. 2nd. Dustin Williams and Skip Morton, 39.48, $24,000. 3rd. John Arkley and Rick Sinclair, 40.68, $16,000. 4th. Doug Harrigal and Scube Waggoner, 41.84, $12,000. 5th. Larry Thaggard and David Fletcher, 43.55, $10,000. 6th. Harold Brown and Perry Patterson, 43.87, $8,000. 7th. Dawn Higgins and Deon Masters, 44.22, $7,000. 8th. Michael Snooks and Larry Klinger, 44.33, $6,000. 9th. Sissy Rieken and Steve Taylor, 44.61, $5,000. 10th. Dave Carlile and Chuck Gieck, 45.52, $4,000.
Short go: 1st. Chris Thomas and Wade Lewis, 7.90, $3,000.
Rotation 1, Round 1: 1st. Michael Snooks and Larry Klinger, 7.89, $3,000. 2nd. Mel Smith and Arnold Felts, 7.95, $2,000.
Rotation 1, Round 2: 1st. Bobby Hull and Ryan Gieck, 7.16, $3,000. 2nd. Nate Mohar and Bob Mohar, 7.30, $2,000.
Rotation 1, Round 3: 1st. Jim Rogers and John Parker, 7.00, $3,000. 2nd. Terrell Shelley and Bill Porter, 7.48, $2,000.
Consolation: 1st. Wayne Shaw and Ray Douglass, 25.02, $5,000. 2nd. Lance Brown and Ellis Longfellow, 27.27, $4,000. 3rd. Mike Carrell and Sammy Barton, 27.35, $3,000. 4th. Phillip Harrison and Jahew Thorp, 27.72, $2,000. 5th. Curt Akin and Gary Jacobs, 29.00, $2,000.
3 Head short go FT: 1st. Bobby Hull and Ryan Gieck, 7.60, $2,000.
