PUYALLUP, Wash. – It was a family affair for the Braziles in Puyallup, and the patriarch of the family left town a very happy man. Photo provided by Todd Brewer
Trevor Brazile won the tie-down roping finals at the Justin Boots Playoffs Sept. 8 with a 7.9-second run, but he wasn’t the only Brazile competing at the rodeo.
“This event is a lot of fun for my family; my wife (Shada) was here barrel racing, my son (Treston) was mutton bustin’ and I was team roping and tie-down roping,” said the 17-time world champion. “It was a great time for the family and we know where every single vendor is on the way back to the trailer.”
Brazile placed third in the semifinal round on Sept. 8 to advance to the final round as one of the top four tie-down ropers.
He was up against veterans Cody Ohl, Timber Moore and Clif Cooper in the final round. The win earned him $7,369, along with the $1,957 he made in the semifinals.
“Winning here is always big,” said Brazile, who moved from seventh to fourth in the world standings as he chases his fourth tie-down roping gold buckle. “Everybody wants to make it to the (Wrangler) NFR, but once you’re there you want to have a chance to win it. It adds a lot more drama, fun and excitement when you have a good chance to win the whole thing.”
Not that a man who has the second most world titles in the history of the sport would need a confidence boost, but Brazile says a large haul and movement up the standings was just what he needed in the tie-down roping.
After finishing 23rd in the event last year, he was determined to improve in 2013.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, confidence is always important,” Brazile said. “After the kind of year I had in the tie-down roping last year – it was the worst year I’ve had since I started – it was really nice to get back to doing decent this year.”
Brazile was more than decent on Sunday, and he hopes to keep that momentum going through the last few weeks of the regular season and into the Sept. 26-28 Justin Boots Championships in Omaha, Neb.
“Although I was pretty much guaranteed a spot in the Finals before this weekend, it’s great to have a chance to move up in the standings,” he said.
Total earnings of $16,221 also made Brazile the all-around champion in Puyallup. With additional checks in Lewiston, Idaho, and Fort Madison, Iowa, he had total earnings for the week of $19,352. Brazile leads the all-around world standings by $76,616 over Tuf Cooper, is second in the steer roping, fourth in tie-down roping and 14th among team roping headers.
Other winners in this $422,000 rodeo at the Washington State Fairgrounds were bareback rider Jessy Davis (87 points), steer wrestler Trevor Knowles (3.2 seconds), team ropers Brandon Beers and Jim Ross Cooper (6.2 seconds), saddle bronc rider Wade Sundell (84 points), bull rider J.W. Harris (88 points) and barrel racer Sherry Cervi (14.81 seconds).
* Trey Benton III, who finished second in the bull riding with an 87, suffered a broken left leg when he was stepped on by Growney Brothers’ Blue Light Special after the completion of the ride. Benton underwent surgery on Sunday night at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, where surgeons inserted a rod in his femur. “It was a clean break,” Trey’s father, Thomas, said, “and when I talked to Trey, he said they were going to start him on some sort of physical therapy right away. He’s still hoping to make it to the (Wrangler) NFR if he’s able to stay in the top 15. Getting to Vegas is No. 1 on his list.” Benton earned $11,775 with his second-place finish in Puyallup and a tie for third place in Lewiston, Idaho, to move from 14th to 12th in the world standings. His lead over the bull rider in 16th place, Chris Roundy, is $9,962 with three weeks left in the regular season. Bobby Welsh is 17th, trailing Benton by $13,404.
* Trevor Knowles’ win in Puyallup, along with a tie for second at the Spokane (Wash.) Interstate Rodeo and a tie for fourth at the Lewiston (Idaho) Round-Up, brought his weekend earnings total to $18,323 and allowed him to take over the world standings lead from Casey Martin by a margin of $205. Martin had been in first place since winning the National Western Stock Show Rodeo in Denver in January. It was the only lead change in the world standings, although four-time World Champion Bareback Rider Bobby Mote moved to within $1,090 of leader (and two-time defending champion) Kaycee Feild.
* Sept. 8 was a big day for the Beers family of Powell Butte, Ore. Brandon, 27, and partner Jim Ross Cooper had their biggest win of the season in Puyallup, just hours before his dad, Mike (aka the 1984 world champion team roper), was inducted into the Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up Hall of Fame. “Unfortunately, the timing didn’t work out so I would be able to be there,” Brandon Beers said. “We didn’t get done until 4:30 or 5 o’clock (in Puyallup) and the ceremony in Pendleton started at 5:30. It would have been great to be there, but if anybody would understand, it would be him. Actually, he called me at 6 o’clock to congratulate me on the win. I’m in Pendleton now and I think there’s a chance he’ll show me the plaque (the hall of fame is across the street from the arena).”
* And talking about big days: Team roper Charly Crawford got engaged to girlfriend (and three-time WPRA All-Around Champion) Jackie Hobbs during the Sunday finals in Puyallup. In the arena. On the big screen. “I asked (rodeo clown) Keith Isley how I could set it up,” Crawford said. “I told him I didn’t mind a little public humiliation. We just needed to come up with something out there and get the girl to marry me. I told Jackie that (Isley) was going to give me his spud launcher (potato gun) and that’s how I got her down to the arena. We were supposed to pick it up after the barrel racing and then leave. The only thing that kept me calm walking down there was thinking about what I might shoot with that spud launcher. When we go down there, (announcer) Randy Corley and Keith worked out this deal where they were asking for somebody knowledgeable about rodeo who could answer a trivia question.” Corley pointed out that Crawford was in the arena, Isley delivered the microphone and Crawford was up. He dropped to one knee, produced a ring and popped the question. “The sad part,” Crawford said, “was how long it took to get a response. People were yelling from the stands and Randy finally said, ‘I think we need to get an answer.’ Jackie took the mic said, ‘I guess so.’ She’s still saying ‘yes’ today, so I think we’re good.” Hobbs’ Facebook page posting demonstrated she was truly just stunned into silence in the arena, saying, “So in my life I have been able to see and experience things that most people only dream about! But today I am reassured that I am one of the luckiest girls in the world! Charly proposed to me in front of a grandstand full of people.” They are looking at a possible spring wedding.