Colorado’s Brad O’Neal and Justin Storms roped four steers in 41.19 seconds to take the $200,000 victory lap at the 2011 Reno Rodeo Invitational.  (Kirt Steinke Photo)

Reno Rodeo Invitational (cont.)…

     “We’d made a plan just to be smooth and make them beat us,” said Storms, who lives in Nathrop with his wife, Tracy, daughters, Tory, 13, and Shelby, 10, and son, Tucker, 8. “God’s blessed me. I’m going to spend this money on family. My dad’s (Dennis) a horse trainer, and he taught me to rope. He’s had a big impact on a lot of lives. I’m going to pass this blessing along, and invest in my family. That’s where my heart is.”
     The pair of 45-year-old friends, both of whom played college football, live about 10 miles apart, which makes plenty of practice as a team possible.
“I have a lot of confidence roping with Brad, because I know where steers are going to be,” said Storms, who lost his right thumb to a roping accident at the Nebraska State Fair when he was 17 and played defensive back at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. “We’ve roped a lot together at home since Brad moved to Salida (from Kansas) in 2003. We wanted to be aggressively smart at this roping. That’s the way we practiced for it.”
     It was O’Neal’s first and last trip to the RRI, as he who cashes the $100,000 per-man champ’s check is not allowed to return, so as to spread the wealth around the roping community. “I’d like to come back, but I guess I can’t,” laughed O’Neal, who played defensive back at Southwestern Kansas State in Winfield and didn’t start roping until he was 30. “If I have any advice it’s that you don’t need to win every round here. Going out there and being consistent is the deal. Make them beat you.”
Storms, who grew up competing in everything from roping to cutting, reining, pleasure and halter classes at Quarter Horse shows, is an RRI veteran who was taking his sixth shot at the title. He previously roped at the RRI three times with Stewart Thompson and twice with Greg Schalberg. Going into the short round eighth high back, he said they didn’t dream they’d win it all. But they were the only team in the top 15 in the short round that made a clean run, and their 9.32-second closer was enough.
     “We heard we won it when we were out back taking our horses’ boots off,” said Storms, who roped as a kid, then left the sport for 12 years (1983-95) after cutting his thumb off to golf, play football and ski before returning to roping. “We couldn’t believe it. There’s no more prestigious roping to win. We high-fived each other over our horses’ backs. I have really enjoyed this roping. Perry’s made it a very level playing field, so everybody has an opportunity to win. It’s very prestigious to get invited to come, and I’ve made so many friends here over the years. All the glory to God for what happened here today.”
     O’Neal and Storms’ horses were awarded Montana Silversmiths bronzes crafted by Steve Miller in honor of being the high money-winning head and heel horses of the day. O’Neal rode his 14-year-old sorrel head horse, Dino, whom he bought from Dennis Storms in 2004. “He’s a nice horse,” O’Neal said of the American Quarter Horse Association-registered Simply Nugget. “He can really score and really face. A guy can get by on a decent heel horse, but not on an average head horse. And once you find a good one, you need to find one that fits you.”
     Storms rode JH Rockys Blue Duck, aka “Vegas,” who’s a 13-year-old red dun. “He’s the best heel horse I’ve ever ridden,” he said. “I’ve had him six years, and I brought him here the first year I owned him. He’s amazing.”
     O’Neal’s a U STRC No. 5 ro-per who’s an 8-handicap golfer (the equivalent to about a No. 9 roper). Storms is a USTRC No. 6 who is anything but a slick insurance salesman. “I’m not a salesman,” he said. “If people don’t need it, they don’t get it from me. I’m just there to meet people’s needs.”
     Both thanked their friend Bob Shalit, who made the trek to Colorado from Texas to spin steers for Storms to take some pressure off of O’Neal’s head horse.
“This win is way up there for me,” O’Neal said. “This has been a great business year for me (he’s been in the business for 22 years, and this year finished 80th out of the 12,000-plus financial advisers who work for Edward Jones). This’ll be a tough year to top. This is a good day and a great roping—first class all the way. And besides being a great roping, it’s for a great cause.”
     The current RRI cause of choice is close to O’Neal’s heart, as he lost a nephew, 23-year-old sniper Tyler Juden, on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan last year. “It’s an honor that Perry recognizes our troops,” O’Neal said.
     “A lot of roping producers put the profits in their pocket,” Storms added. “Not Perry. This roping benefits a great cause. Guns, guts and God won this country’s freedom. That’s what it’s all about.”

Reno Rodeo President Mike Lucke, First Vice President Clint Thiesse, Executive Director Alan Kingsley, Second Vice President Tom Pagnano, Teresa Di Loreto-Long and Treasurer John Tipton saluted soldier Dylan Gray, his wife, Kelly, and their kids, Conner, Dakota and Alexis, at the 2011 Reno Rodeo. (Photo Fast Photo)

     Di Loreto and his RRI Event Coordinator daughter, Teresa Di Loreto-Long, always make sure the roping benefits the ropers and another worthy cause, which is currently the Nevada Military Support Alliance. Perry serves as president and chairman of the NMSA, which supports Nevada’s soldiers and their families.
Friday night, June 24, was Patriot Night at the Reno Rodeo, and with Perry at the mic and 56 horses in the arena—each bearing a gold star for a fallen Nevada soldier during the war on terror since 9-11—every fan was teary-eyed and on his or her feet. In the arena with his wife, Kelly, and kids, Conner, Dakota and Alexis, stood marine sniper Dylan Gray, who lost both legs in Afghanistan but proudly moves ahead with the help of prosthetics. Reno Rodeo President Mike Lucke, First Vice President Clint Thiesse, Executive Director Alan Kingsley, Second Vice President Tom Pagnano, Di Loreto-Long and Treasurer John Tipton saluted Gray, who has been selected by the national organization Homes for Our Troops for an adapted needs house.
“Our mission statement is to promote the recognition, appreciation and support of our military,” said Di Loreto, who presented a $150,000 check to the NMSA on behalf of the Reno Rodeo Invitational. “We’re not a charity; we’re a non-profit with a very serious mission. We are a grassroots organization, and we support the people who make this country what it is.
     “There are 311 million American citizens, and only a little over two million are in the military. That’s eight-tenths of one percent. The reason we’re doing this is because you can’t appreciate the value of your way of life if you don’t understand what the cost is. We’ve seen more than 4,000 people killed, and so many come home seriously injured. This roping is a lot of work, but this is the reason we do it. The Reno Rodeo Invitational is a labor of love with a purpose. We wouldn’t do this for money, and if we made it a for-profit event it would change the whole thing. Even when people don’t win, they leave here knowing their entry fee money supports some good stuff.”
     Another example of Di Loreto’s heart and all-in commitment to people came in the aftermath of a roping injury to RRI roper Gary Mefford. Mefford, who serves as production foreman for RRI Ladies Only sponsor King Ropes in Sheridan, Wyo., and ties most of the hondos for King Ropes, lost his left thumb and the tips of his middle and ring fingers heeling for Mark Moreland in the second round of this year’s RRI.
     “I fumbled my slack just a touch, and it got to running on my middle two fingertips,” said Mefford, who’s worked for King Ropes since 1974. “As my rope was running out of my left hand, it had to flip a coil over my left thumb, which we found in the gullet of my saddle. It cut my thumb off at the base, and burned my two fingers off at that first joint.”
     Reno doctors reattached the thumb, but it didn’t take. About all they could do for his right hand was clean things up a little. “Perry was calling my partner three or four times a day,” Mefford said. “He flew my wife (Sara) and I home that following Monday. He flew us himself. What he did was way above and beyond a roping producer’s responsibilities. Perry’s just a super nice guy, and sometimes people don’t get enough credit for being nice and doing things like that.”
Mefford is all healed up, and looking forward to a return trip to Reno next June. “I’m fine,” he said. “I’m back to tying hondos and everything else. Life goes on. What happened to me is an inherent danger of the game we play. I’ve team roped for most of 40 years, and up until the 21st of June I could count to 10. Now I can only count to eight and a third. It can happen to anybody, even the top guys in the world, and it happens so quick.”
     What the Di Loretos do is definitely a team effort, and by now most of the ropers realize that Teresa works tirelessly behind the scenes to make the RRI wheel go round. Besides being a wife and mom to a 13-year-old son, Colton, and 6-year-old twins, Aidan and Alivia, and her RRI duties, Teresa serves on the St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation Board, as a Carson City Airport Authority Director, as the executive administrator of the Nevada Military Support Alliance, and as Perry’s right hand at Damonte Ranch/Di Loreto Homes, which is a 2,000-acre master planned community. “Teresa works so hard she worries me,” Perry smiles proudly. “She’s got a lot on her plate, but she gets it all done and done well.”
     Another popular part of the RRI experience is how the big money gets spread around to fill so many pockets. Every contestant at the 2011 RRI received a custom-embroidered Wrangler shirt, Circle Y headstall and horse blanket, Cactus rope, D-Bar-M gift certificate, Heel-O-Matic DVD, Team Equine gift certificate and Wrangler buy two, get one free offer. Then there’s that even playing field everyone always talks about in the same breath as the RRI. That is thanks in large part to the year-round efforts of Linda Davis.
     This year’s reserve titlists, Chris Cox and Slick Robison, banked $120,000 by roping four steers in 43.98 seconds to finish second only to O’Neal and Storms’ 41.19. Robison lives in Weatherford, Texas, and Cox hangs his hat in Mineral Wells, Texas. Cox, who was born in Florida and raised on Prince of Wales Island off the coast of Australia, is a world-renowned horseman and the three-time and reigning Road to the Horse colt-starting challenge winner. Cox, 43, is three-for-three in the prestigious Road to the Horse competition.
     “It’s one of my goals to be an all-around horseman, so it’s important to put it into practice,” said Cox, who this year headed for Robison, and last year won about $10,000 at the RRI heeling for Forest Wheeler after heading the first two times he entered. “I don’t go to any other ropings, but Perry’s a friend of mine and I love coming to this one. I travel 80 percent of the year, and just spent two weeks in Europe. I entered the Snaffle Bit Futurity and NCHA (National Cutting Horse Association) Futurity this year too. It’s important to me to use my abilities in the competitive arena and compete against the people who do it every day. I’m not afraid to compete, and I’m not afraid to lose. I learn from failure. I learned today to never beat myself and to stay within my limitations.”
     Cox never tires of talking about horses. “You need to have a bond and a rhythm with a rope horse just like those we ride in other disciplines,” he said. “The same principles apply. You need to be one with your horse.
     “I don’t consider myself a roper, even though I won $60,000 today. I was raised on the back of a horse and consider myself a cowboy and a horseman, and a rope is part of it. I have a lot of friends here at this event. It’s an honor to compete with them and be a part of it.”
     Another celebrity in this year’s RRI winner’s circle was six-time World Champion All-Around Cowboy Larry Mahan, who came out on top of the three-steer average heading for Arizona’s Sherrick Grantham. The three-steer average is there for teams who have trouble on any one of their first three steers, and a separate short round is held to decide the three-steer average winners. Mahan and Grantham won the bonus roping in 24.49 seconds for $12,000, and an additional $6,000 for fourth in round three.
     Mahan, 67, whose Hall of Fame career was based on the roughstock end of the rodeo arena, now calls Sunset, Texas, home when not summering in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. “I figured I was in the sunset of my life, so I needed to find an appropriate address,” he laughed. “This is the first time I ever caught three head at a big roping. That’s exciting for me. It makes a big difference that Sherrick lets me ride these good horses.”
Winning never gets old, and Mahan looks forward to his time in Reno every year. “Perry is such a visionary,” he said. “To see how he can take our sport and make it benefit not only our game, but those people who really need our help—that’s powerful. It’s huge. This is a national problem we have. All these men and women who come back from war with major problems—and some of them don’t come back. My hat’s off to Perry. He’s done an amazing job with this event. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. There are so many ways to win money for those of us who like to ride horses and throw ropes. My biggest year rodeoing I won $63,000. So a roping like this, where you can win $100,000 in one day, is so exciting. It’s amazing what this game has come to. I think Perry should run for president.”
     Reno Rodeo Invitational sponsors who helped make it all happen in 2011 include Cactus Saddlery, Cactus Ropes, Wrangler, Circle Y, Heel-O-Matic, Pro Equine, Gist Silversmiths, Myler Bits and Spurs, Montana Silversmiths, Priefert, Southwest Fence, Bob Marcellus/Windmill, D-Bar-M, Classic Equine, Bob Scott, Resistol/Charlie One Horse, King’s Saddlery, Team Equine, Washoe Metal and Rogers Cowboy Supply.
2011 Reno Rodeo Invitational Results:
     1st. Go: 1st. Tony Jardine and Mickey Young, 7.52, $8,000 and Gist buckles. 2nd. Kim Bendickson and Lance Johnson, 7.54, $7,500. 3rd. Dale Cureton and Don Kimble, 7.79, $7,000. 4th. Cliff Garrison and Wade Garrison, 7.84, $6,000.
     2nd. Go: 1st. Jim Rogers and John Parker, 6.59, $8,000 and Gist buckles. 2nd. Bill Fancher and Steve Medlin, 7.31, $7,500. 3rd. Chris Cox and Slick Robison, 7.91, $7,000. 4th. Wade Ward and Ron Stuart, 8.00, $6,000.
     3rd. Go: 1st. Denver Gilbert and Cory Clark, 6.31, $8,000 and Gist buckles; Gilbert and Clark also received D-Bar-M spurs for having the overall fast time of the roping. 2nd. Ralph Romo and Ted Morales, 6.58, $7.500. 3rd. Brock Bilden and Mike Limberhand, 6.76, $7,000. 4th. Larry Mahan and Sherrick Grantham, 6.88, $6,000.
     Short Round: 1st. Reed Rider and Dan Gann, 7.79, $8,000. 2nd. Bill Phillips and Nick Nichols, 8.31, $7,500. 3rd. Dick Yates and Jim Brinkman, 8.56, $7,000. 4th. Jim Helzer and Tom Hirsig, 9.34, $6,000.
     3-Steer Average (the top five received USTRC regional shoot-outs): 1st. Larry Mahan and Sherrick Grantham, 24.49, $12,000 and Gist buckles. 2nd. Jaafe Kellis and Jim Titsworth, 25.31, $10,000. 3rd. Scott Thomas and Kelly Slayton, 25.72, $8,000. 4th. Pedro Perez and Jim Pratt, 27.36, $7,000. 5th. Sandy McLeod and Herb Smith, 28.93, $7,000. 6th. Tom Fabrizio and Debbie Fabrizio, 29.24, $7,000. 7th. Dale Cureton and Don Kimble, 29.48, $7,000. 8th. Bill McDowell and Jimmy Garcia, 30.32, $7,000.
     4-Steer Average (USTRC national shoot-outs to first and second; USTRC regional shoot-outs to third-27th place): 1st. Brad O’Neal and Justin Storms, 41.19, $200,000 and Cactus saddles, Gist buckles, D-Bar-M saddle pads, Resistol hats and Bob Scott rope frames. 2nd. Chris Cox and Slick Robison, 43.98, $120,000 and Gist buckles, Myler bits, Resistol hats and Team Equine saddle pads. 3rd. Bob Scott and Roy Dee Fort, 44.05, $55,000 and Myler spurs, Resistol hats, Team Equine saddle pads, and a Cactus headstall, breast collar and nose band. 4th. Bill Phillips and Nick Nichols, 44.28, $50,000 and a Resistol hat, Team Equine saddle pads, and a Cactus headstall, breast collar and nose band. 5th. Reed Rider and Dan Gann, 45.46, $25,000 and Resistol hats, Team Equine saddle pads, and a Cactus headstall, breast collar and nose band. 6th. Jim Helzer and Tom Hirsig, 46.95, $20,000 and Resistol hats, Team Equine saddle pads, and a Cactus headstall, breast collar and nose band. 7th. Dick Yates and Jim Brinkman, 47.15, $19,000. 8th. Kent Winterton and Gary Mayfield, 48.26, $17,000. 9th. Jared Udy and Mark Sorensen, 48.92, $15,000. 10th. Alison Grantham and Pat Molnar, 48.95, $14,000. 11th. Mike Zacher and Jay Woodford, 49.88, $13,000. 12th. Nick Griggs and Scott Venable, 53.44, $10,000. 13th. Micah McKinney and Gary McKinney, 54.14, $10,000. 14th. Pete Miller and Jerry Lunde, 55.49, $9,000. 15th. Peter Keller and Everett Lombard, 56.2, $9,000. 16th. Mark Lucchetti and Brian White, 57.81, $9,000. 17th. Neil Trammell and Mike Qualls, 59.26, $8,000. 18th. Dean Bannahan and Dirk Peterson, 59.4, $8,000. 19th. Jeff Nielsen and Chris Castello, 60.07, $8,000. 20th. Lonny Bartling and Dewaine Carlsen, 27.61 on three, $8,000. 21st. Todd Schafer and Joey Rezzonico, 29.04 on three, $7,000. 22nd. Melinda McDaniel and Doug Funk, 30.61 on three, $7,000. 23rd. Heavy Sursa and Chad Craig, 31.45 on three, $7,000. 24th. Robbin Rowley and Nick Wilkinson, 31.71 on three, $7,000. 25th. Ross Gosney and Steve Whinnery, 32.36 on three, $7,000. 26th. C.L. Oats and Jeff Busby, 32.38 on three, $6,000. 27th. Michelle Rezzonico and Ty Reidhead, 33.34 on three, $6,000.