Koontz & Rogers Win 20th
Annual Sandhills Invitational

Kory Koontz (second from left) and Erich Rogers (right) are awarded for their win of the
Open at the 20th annual Sandhills Invitational held in January. Presenting
are Gary Don McCain and Nancy McCain. (Dudley Barker photo)

By Kent Lynch
Special To Ropers Sports News

      Twenty years is a milestone in anything.  When you’re talking about a roping event that has just gotten better over that time period, it’s a real milestone. But, that’s exactly what the Sandhills Invitational has done…gotten better.

     The event, dubbed Super Tuesday, began in 1993 in conjunction with the Sandhills Stock Show & Rodeo.  The day consists of an Open Team Roping, Match Team Roping, Match Tie-Down Roping and for the past 16 years, a Pro-Am Team Roping…everything a fan would want.
     Over the years, the January event has wrestled with Mother Nature on several occasions, fighting ice storms and blizzards, but the ropers brave the elements to get there.  This year’s roping featured over a foot of snow in the Odessa area, and the show went on.
     The Sandhills Invitational has been affiliated by the USTRC for several years, but this year featured an added bonus for the Open ropers.  With the USTRC’s new Tour Program, points were awarded to the top 10 teams toward the US Open Tour, which awards a huge cash bonus in October and crowns the US Open Tour Champion header and heeler.

     “We’ve been an affiliate roping for several years,” said outgoing roping co-chair Nancy McCain. “And we were excited this year to finally be able to award tour points to our contestants.  It’s something they’ve been asking for and we’re happy to host the first event in the Tour Program.”

     McCain was honored at the Tuesday night event for 20 years of service to the Sandhills Invitational.  She and husband Gary Don have co-chaired the event for years. “This roping has grown so much in 20 years,” continued McCain. “We finally had to cut off our Pro-Am with 63 teams or we would have been there all night.”
     The first four rounds of the Open Roping are held Tuesday afternoon with the top 20 teams returning Tuesday night for a short round in front of a packed house. This year, Garrett Tonozzi and Kinney Dale Harrell kicked off the the roping with a first round win of 5.13 seconds.
     When the lights came on Tuesday night, it was Caleb Smidt and Cole Davison who brought the crowd to their feet with a blistering 4.35 to win the short round. But, the NFR team of Erich Rogers and Kory Koontz took the big prize of the day, a $15,806 check for the average win. Rogers and Koontz were 30.33 on five head for the championship. Smidt and Davison took the reserve title with a 30.97 and won over $10,000.
     This year’s Pro-Am title went to Tyrell Paul of Lamesa, Texas who was heading for Jett Hillman. Paul and Hillman roped three steers in 20.77 seconds for $3,850. Speed Williams turned three for Nathan Barriga of Odessa for second place.
     The 2012 Sandhills Team Roping Match pitted Clay Tryan and Travis Graves against Derrick Begay and Cesar De La Cruz on eight head.  After the first steer, only .02 seconds separated the two teams, but a 30-second no-time on Begay and De La Cruz pretty much ended the match after two. Tryan and Graves finished on top with 59.03 seconds to 104.81.
     Jeff Chapman won the Shawn McMullan Memorial Tie Down Match over Josh Peek. Chapman finished four head in 47.42 seconds to Peek’s 61.42.
     Results are as follows (payoffs are per team).
OPEN ROPING (total payout $53,704).
Average: 1st. Erich Rogers and Kory Koontz, 30.33, $15,806. 2nd. Caleb Smidt and Cole Davison, 30.97, $10,536. 3d. Kaleb Driggers and Caleb Twisselman, 31.66, $8,342. 4th. Colby Lovell and Russell Cardoza Jr., 32.34, $6,146. 5th. Arky Rogers and Jim Cooper, 32.51, $3,074.
Short go: 1st. Caleb Smidt and Cole Davison, 4.35, $1,000.
1st. go: 1st. Garrett Tonozzi and Kinney Dale Harrell, 5.13, $5,500. 2nd. Travis Tryan and Allen Bach, 5.28, $3,300.
PRO AM (total payout $12,662).
Average: 1st. Tyrell Paul and Jett Hillman, 20.77, $3,850. 2nd. Speed Williams and Nathan Barriga, 25.26, $2,634. 3rd. Cody Scott and Patrick Smith, 26.13, $1,924. 4th. Matt Kiker and Jhett Johnson, 26.79, $1,114. 5th. Lucas Salcido and Jade Corkill, 27.09, $608.
1st. go: 1st. Jim Breck Bean and Jade Corkill, 5.79, $1,266.
2nd. go: 1st. Chad Masters and Bubba Kennedy, 6.01, $1,266.

2011 WNFR team ropers Erich Rogers and Kory Koontz started the new year off with a win
at the prestigious Sandhills Invitational in Odessa, Texas.  (Dudley Barker Photo)