CHEYENNE, Wyo. — July 20, 2013 — Ask Casey Colletti what is favorite rodeo is and he’s likely to say Cheyenne. The Pueblo, Colo., resident won the bareback riding championship Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo in 2011, came back in 2012 and finished fourth.
His win here in 2011 put him on track for his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualification. Colletti, who was ranked 14th in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) World Standings prior to competing here took the early lead in the first round of bareback riding on Saturday. He had an outstanding effort on a horse named Borrowed Angel from the Burns Rodeo Company at Laramie, Wyo.
Borrowed Angel is young and Colletti didn’t know much about her. A little research gave him hopes that she would be good for him. Borrowed Angel made her first appearance here as a five year old in last year’s rookie bronc riding futurity. She caught the eye of Blaze Hamaker from Centennial who purchased her to add to Burns Rodeo’s bucking horse string.
Saturday at Cheyenne was her fourth PRCA performance and perhaps her best. She bucked off Jake Brown at the Elizabeth (Colo.) Stampede. Then she took Jared Smith to an 84 at the Cody (Wyo.) Stampede and Morgan Heaton to an 82 at Laramie (Wyo.) Jubilee Days. Knowing that, Colletti was hopeful but not too optimistic because there is always the unknown with a young horse. Borrowed Angel was good in the bucking chute waiting for Colletti to set down and nod his head. When the gate opened, she was all business Colletti is now atop the leaderboard in the first round of competition with an 87-point ride.
“Honestly, I didn’t know anything about that horse before I got here (to Cheyenne),” Colletti said. “I can tell you if she keeps doing what she did today and has been doing, she’ll be at the NFR. I wish that I could get on one like that every day. Guys grow up dreaming about competing here, then you set a goal of winning. It would be amazing to win here again.”
There is a tie at the top of the leaderboard in saddle bronc riding. Tyrell Smith from Cascade, Wyo., who made his first appearance at the NFR last December and former College National Finals Rodeo qualifier RayTom Meiers from Mills, Wyo., each had 83 point scores. Smith was on Andrews Rodeo Company’s Wide Open and Meiers rode Smith Pro Rodeo’s Painted Feathers.
All of these contestants will have their second round of competition at Sunday’s rodeo. The grand entry kicks off the competition starting at 12:15 p.m.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. —The following are current leaders after the first performance of the 117th Annual Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, Saturday, July 20, 2013
Bareback Riding: (first round) 1, Casey Colletti, Pueblo, Colo., 87 points on Burns Rodeo’s Borrowed Angel. 2/3 (tie), Seth Hardwick, Laramie, Wyo., and Matt Lait, Stavely, Alberta, 83 points each. 4, Craig Wisehart, Kersey, Colo., 82. 5, Chance Madsen, Pine Bluffs, Wyo., 79. 6, Morgan Heaton, Paradise, Utah, 78.
Steer Roping: (first round) 1. Jess Tierney, Hermosa, S.D., 16.1 seconds. 2, Randy Wells, Cisco, Texas, 16.4. 3/4 (tie), Clay Cameron, Canyon, Texas, and JoJo Lemond, Andrews, Texas, 19.1 each. 5, Ty Herd, Irene, Texas, 19.2. 6, Shandon Stalls, McLean, Texas, 19.4. (second round) 1, Tim Abbott, 15.0. 2, Bobby Joe Hill, Mexia, Texas, 16.2. 3, J.B. Whatley, 16.6. 4, Garrett Hale, 16.8. 5, K.C. Jones, 17.3. 6, Bobby Harris, Gillette, Wyo., 17.4. (average on two) 1, Joe Wells, Cisco, Texas, 41.8. 2, Bobby Harris, Gillette, Wyo., 45.3. 3, Jim Locke, Miami, Texas, 45.7. 4, J. Paul Williams, Burbank, Okla., 47.7.
Tie-Down Roping: (first round) 1, Stran Smith, Childress, Texas, 12.3 seconds. 2, Trell Etbauer, Goodwell, Okla., 12.6. 3, Trevor Thiel, Greeley, Colo., 12.7. 4, Blake Ash, Aurora, Mo., 13.3. 5/6 (tie), Joe Schmidt, Belfield, N.D., and Jake Booze, Miami, Texas, 13.4 each. (second round) 1,Clayton Shaw, Alvord, Texas, 10.9. 2, Roger Nonella, Klamath Falls, Ore., 11.2. 3, Blair Burk, Durant, Okla., 12.0. 4, Jared Kempker, Eugene, Mo., 12.1. 5, Fred Whitfield, Hockley, Texas, 12.2. 6, Cody Saculla, Bryan, Texas, 12.4. (average on two) 1, Trevor Thiel, Greeley, Colo., 26.2. 2, Fred Whitfield, Hockley, Texas, 26.8. 3, Reese Riemer, Stinnett, Texas, 27.0. 4, Jarred Kempker, Eugene, Mo., 27.1. 5, Michael Akins, Whitesboro, Texas, 28.8. 6, Blake Ash, Aurora, Mo., 29.1.
Saddle Bronc Riding: (first round) 1/2 (tie), Tyrell Smith, Cascade, Mont., and RayTom Meiers, Mills, Wyo., 83 points each on Andrews Rodeo’s Wide Open and Smith Pro Rodeo’s Painted Feather, respectively. 3, Tyrel Larsen, Inglis, Manitoba, 82. 4, Jeremy Ray Melancon, Huntsville, Texas, 78. 5/6 (tie), Brandon Biebelle, San Lorenzo, N.M., and Cody DeMoss, Heflin, La., 77 each.
Team Roping: (first round) 1, JoJo Lemond, Andrews, Texas, and Josh Patton, Lubbock, Texas, 9.2 seconds. 2, Paul Beckett, Laramie, Wyo., and Clayton Van Aken, Descanso, Calif., 9.7. 3, Mark Morrison, Eaton, Colo., and Tory Shaffer, Fort Lupton, Colo., 11.7. 4, Cody Lee, Gatesville, Texas, and Chance Kelton, Mayer, Ariz., 16.0. 5, Arnold Felts, San Angelo, Texas, and Brad Smith, Stephenville, Texas, 16.5. 6, Bobby Joe Hill, Mexia, Texas, and Will Gasperson, Decatur, Texas, 19.2.
Steer Wrestling: (first round) 1, Tom Lewis, Lehi, Utah, 7.7 seconds. 2, Jake Kraupie, Bridgeport, Neb., 8.2. 3, Sean Santucci, Prineville, Ore., 8.5. 4, Curtis Cassidy, Donalda, Alberta, 8.9. 5, Tony Larsen, Sheridan, Wyo., 9.0. 6, Joe Busch, Neola, Iowa, 9.4.
Women’s Barrel Race: (first round winners) 1, Sydni Blanchard, Albuquerque, N.M., 17.45 seconds, $5,637. 2, Nikki Steffes, Vale, S.D., 17.51, $4,831. 3, Michelle McLeod, Whitesboro, Texas, 17.54, $4,026. 4, Paige Conrado, Hudson, Colo., 17.61, $3,489. 5, Christy Loflin, Franktown, Colo., 17.63, $2,684. 6, Brittany Pozzi, Victoria, Texas, 17.73. $2,147. 7, Sarah Kieckhefer, Prescott, Ariz., 17.78, $1,610. 8, Victoria Williams, Kiln, Alberta, 17.79, $1,074. 9, Chandler Markel, Scottsbluff, Neb., 17.83, $805. 10, Marisa Simpson, Eagar, Ariz., 17.84, $537. (second round) 1, Elaine Hollings, Pavillion, Wyo., 18.02. 2, Sadee Wheeldon, Jackson, Wyo., 18.17. 3, Taylor Reneau, Surry, Texas, 18.27. 4, Christy Davidson, San Angelo, Texas, 18.53. 5, Mandi Jo Fox, George West, Texas, 18.54. 6, Stevi Hillman, Weatherford, Texas, 18.61. (average) 1, Sadee Wheeldon, Jackson, Wyo., 37.07. 2, Elaine Hollings, Pavillion, Wyo., 37.08. 3, Taylor Reneau, Surry, Texas, 37.25. 4, Mandi Jo Fox, George West, Texas, 37.41. 5, Layna Kight, Willspoint, Texas, 37.45. 6, Christy Davidson, San Angelo, Texas, 37.59.
Bull Riding: (first round – one ride) 1, John Young, 70 points on Brehmer Rodeo’s Big Winner.
Rookie Bronc Riding: (first round – four rides) 1/2 (tie), Peter White II, Amarillo, Texas, and Travis Nelson, Philip, S.D., 65 points each. 3, Taygen Schuelke, Newell, S.D., 64. 4, Blakey Wildcat, Okeechobee, Fla., 37.
Wild Horse Race: 1, Welding & Machine, $600. 2, Graves Team, $450. 3, Double JD, $300. 4, Andy Mariano Team, $150.