OMAHA, Neb. \u2013 Self-doubt has never been a big problem for J.R. Vezain. He tends to think big and make lofty goals. He\u2019s 20 with a world of talent, so he doesn\u2019t see any reason to set limits. On Sept. 27, he made believers of the 6,374 fans in the CenturyLink Center.<\/p>\n
The Cowley, Wyo., cowboy with the wild shock of red hair, won the bareback riding in the first round of the Justin Boots Championships with an 87-point ride on Southwick Rocky Mountain Rodeo\u2019s Hard Times, beating all the sport\u2019s biggest names.
\n\u201cThis is a huge boost in confidence,\u201d Vezain said. \u201cThese are the big dogs, the guys I\u2019ve looked up to since I was a little kid. Riding with them, competing with them, hanging out with them in the locker-room is all really cool.
\n\u201cBut winning here is huge, just huge. It tells you that you can compete with the best. I mean Will Lowe won the world title at 19 (he was 20 actually) and has been great for a decade. Everybody wants to ride as consistently as Bobby Mote. And Kaycee Feild is one of the greatest bareback riders ever to walk the earth. You watch what all of them do and try to learn.\u201d
\nVezain\u2019s goals, in this his second full season on the ProRodeo trail, were to finish the regular season in the top five in the world standings and to have more than $100,000 in earnings going to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Dec. 6-15.
\nAs of today he is fifth with $104,546. And he has a new goal.
\n\u201cI\u2019m looking at winning the world championship, you betcha,\u201d Vezain said. \u201cI can tell you when the turning point was, exactly. It was when I won in Cody (Wyo.) back in July. The cutoff for making the Wrangler NFR is usually about $60,000 and the win in Cody bumped me over that mark.
\n\u201cMy dad (Justin) said, \u2018You\u2019re gonna do it.\u2019 Since then I\u2019ve been trying. The big goal is to get there and win it, so I\u2019m going to shoot for the stars, and if you miss it, shoot again. The whole goal is to break every record ever set, and so that\u2019s what we\u2019ll try. God willing, we\u2019ll do it, but I might as well go try.\u201d
\nOn Sept. 27 it was a marriage of a Wyoming cowboy and a Wyoming horse that got the job done, what Vezain described as \u201can older horse that still behaves like colt,\u201d matched with the field\u2019s youngest bareback rider who behaves like a veteran.
\nThe other young gun who made an impression on the first night of this $637,188 rodeo was team roping heeler Paul Eaves, who paired with Dustin Bird, 30, to capture the first-place check with a time of 5.1 seconds.
\nThey joined forces in late May and have been moving steadily up the standings ever since, winning major titles in St. Paul, Ore., and Innisfail, Alberta.
\n\u201cI was probably somewhere between 25 and 30 in the world when we started,\u201d Bird said.
\n\u201cOh, I was lower than that \u2026 somewhere in the 30s,\u201d Eaves said. \u201cIt is hard to say why we have done so well together right from the start. It\u2019s started to hit home a little bit (about what they\u2019ve done) \u2026 and winning a round here is a great accomplishment.\u201d
\nJ.W. Harris, a three-time world champion who is coming off a big win in the Justin Boots Playoffs in Puyallup, Wash., two weeks ago, had an 86-point ride on Dakota Rodeo\u2019s My Space to tie Trevor Kastner for the first-round win in the bull riding.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s just going in there and taking care of your business,\u201d Harris said. \u201cYou don\u2019t worry too much about what\u2019s in front of or behind you (in the standings). What you draw helps, too, sometimes. It\u2019s easy to ride these bulls \u2013 the turn-back spinners, so if you do those all year, then you\u2019ll be there every time. It played into my strength. If they run they\u2019re harder to ride.\u201d
\nIt was otherwise a night dominated by the veterans, the 30-something crowd.
\nFive-time tie-down roping World Champion Cody Ohl, 38, and Clint Robinson, 30, tied for the first round title with runs of 7.3 seconds apiece.
\nThree-time steer wrestling World Champion Luke Branquinho, 32, and Casey Martin, 31, split the first-place check after each stopped the clock in 3.9 seconds.
\nChad Ferley, 32, who won the 2006 gold buckle, held off twin brothers Jesse and Jake Wright with his 86-points on JS Rodeo\u2019s Bald Lie.
\nThe barrel racing win went to Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days champion Mary Walker, 53, in a time of 13.68 seconds.<\/p>\n
Justin Boots Championships
\nCenturyLink Center, Omaha, Neb., Sept. 27-29
\nBareback riding: First round: 1. J.R. Vezain, Cowley, Wyo., 87 points on Southwick’s Rocky Mountain Rodeo’s Hard Times, $5,107; 2. (tie) Steven Peebles, Redmond, Ore.; Winn Ratliff, Leesville, La., and Wes Stevenson, Lubbock, Texas, 85, $2,837 each; 5. Kaycee Feild, Payson, Utah, 83, $1,083; 6. Casey Colletti, Pueblo, Colo., 82, $774; 7. (tie) Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas, and Steven Dent, Mullen, Neb., 79 each; 9. Bobby Mote, Culver, Ore., 78; 10. Caleb Bennett, Morgan, Utah, 77; 11. Brian Bain, Culver, Ore., 75; 12. Matt Bright, Azle, Texas, 73.
\nSteer wrestling: First round: 1. (tie) Casey Martin, Sulphur, La., and Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., 3.9 seconds, $4,488 each; 3. Dean Gorsuch, Gering, Neb., 4.1, $2,785; 4. (tie) K.C. Jones, Decatur, Texas and Ethen Thouvenell, Napa, Calif., 4.7, $1,470 each; 6. Trevor Knowles, Mount Vernon, Ore., 5.2, $774; 7. Todd Suhn, Hermosa, S.D., 14.0; 8. Gabe Ledoux, Kaplan, La., 14.3; 9. Les Shepperson, Midwest, Wyo., 14.4; 10. Wade Sumpter, Fowler, Colo., 14.8; 11. Billy Bugenig, Ferndale, Calif., 16.4; 12. Matt Reeves, Cross Plains, Texas, 19.0.
\nTeam roping: First round: 1. Dustin Bird, Cut Bank, Mont.\/Paul Eaves, Millsap, Texas, 5.1 seconds, $5,107 each; 2. Keven Daniel, Franklin, Tenn.\/Chase Tryan, Helena, Mont., 7.9, $3,869; 3. Travis Tryan, Billings, Mont.\/Jake Long, Coffeyville, Kan., 9.8, $2,785; 4. Derrick Begay, Seba Dalkai, Ariz.\/Cesar de la Cruz, Tucson, Ariz., 10.0, $1,857; 5. Kaleb Driggers, Albany, Ga.\/Jade Corkill, Fallon, Nev., 11.7, $1,083; 6. (tie) Erich Rogers, Round Rock, Ariz.\/Kory Koontz, Sudan, Texas; Luke Brown, Stephenville, Texas\/Martin Lucero, Stephenville, Texas; Brock Hanson, Casa Grande, Ariz.\/Ryan Motes, Weatherford, Texas; Colby Lovell, Madisonville, Texas\/Russell Cardoza, Terrebonne, Ore.; Clay Tryan, Billings, Mont.\/Travis Graves, Jay, Okla.; Chad Masters, Cedar Hill, Tenn.\/Clay O’Brien Cooper , Gardnerville, Nev., and Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas\/Patrick Smith, Midland, Texas, NT.
\nSaddle bronc riding: First round: 1. Chad Ferley, Oelrichs, S.D., 86 points on JS Rodeo’s Bald Lie , $5,107; 2. (tie) Jake Wright, Milford, Utah, and Jesse Wright, Milford, Utah, 83, $3,327 each; 4. (tie) Isaac Diaz, Desdemona, Texas; Sterling Crawley, College Station, Texas; Cole Elshere, Faith, S.D., and Cort Scheer, Elsmere, Neb., 79, $928 each; 8. (tie) Cody Wright, Milford, Utah, and Taos Muncy, Corona, N.M., 78 each; 10. Jacobs Crawley, College Station, Texas, 73; 11. (tie) Bradley Harter, Weatherford, Texas, and Cody DeMoss, Heflin, La., NS.
\nTie-down roping: First round: 1. (tie) Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah, and Cody Ohl, Hico, Texas, 7.3 seconds, $4,488 each; 3. Justin Maass, Giddings, Texas, 7.6, $2,785; 4. Monty Lewis, Hereford, Texas, 7.9, $1,857; 5. Hunter Herrin, Apache, Okla., 8.8, $1,083; 6. Tuf Cooper, Decatur, Texas, 9.0, $774; 7. Shane Hanchey, Sulphur, La., 9.1; 8. Houston Hutto, Tomball, Texas, 9.3; 9. Ryan Jarrett, Comanche, Okla., 9.6; 10. Fred Whitfield, Hockley, Texas, 11.2; 11. Cory Solomon, Prairie View, Texas, 26.0; 12. Matt Shiozawa, Chubbuck, Idaho, NT.
\nBarrel racing: First round: 1. Mary Walker, Ennis, Texas, 13.63 seconds, $5,107; 2. Kaley Bass, Davenport, Fla., 13.93, $3,869; 3. Lindsay Sears, Nanton, Alberta, 13.94, $2,785; 4. Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D., 14.03, $1,857; 5. Sherry Cervi, Marana, Ariz., 14.08; 6. Christina Richman, Glendora, Calif., 14.21; 7. Benette Little, Springer, Okla., 14.22; 8. Kelli Tolbert, Hooper, Utah, 14.33; 9. Brittany Pozzi, Victoria, Texas, 14.66; 10. Lee Rust, Stephenville, Texas, 18.90; 11. Carlee Pierce, Stephenville, Texas, 19.10; 12. Nikki Steffes, Vale, S.D., 19.13.
\nBull riding: First round: 1. (tie) Trevor Kastner, Ardmore, Okla., on Mo Betta Rodeo’s All the Kings Men, and J.W. Harris, Mullin, Texas, 86 points on Dakota Rodeo’s My Space, 86 points $4,488 each; 3. Cody Teel, Kountze, Texas, 85, $2,785; 4. Seth Glause, Cheyenne, Wyo., 83, $1,857; 5. Cody Samora, Cortez, Colo., 81, $1,083; 6. Trey Benton III, Rock Island, Texas, 78, $774; 7. Beau Schroeder, China, Texas, 77; 8. (tie) Brett Stall, Detroit Lakes, Minn.; Cody Whitney, Sayre, Okla.; Tate Stratton, Kellyville, Okla.; Ardie Maier, Timber Lake, S.D.; and Kanin Asay, Powell, Wyo., NT.
\nTotal payoff: $637,188. Stock contractors: Beutler & Son Rodeo Company, Burns Rodeo Company, Cervi Championship Rodeo, Dakota Rodeo Company, Harry Vold Rodeo, Harvey Northcott Rodeo, J Bar J, JS Rodeo, Mo Betta Rodeo Company, Mosbrucker Rodeos, Rafter H Rodeo Livestock Company, Southwick\u2019s Rocky Mountain Rodeo Company, Sutton Rodeos and Three Hills Rodeo. Rodeo secretary: Kathy McCloy. Officials: Joe Bob Locke, Steve Knowles, Mike Todd and Marty Jandreau. Timers: Mandy Pickett and Kathy McCloy. Announcer: Roger Mooney and Boyd Polhamus. Specialty act: Justin Rumford. Bullfighters: Dusty Tuckness and Cory Wall. Clown\/barrelman: Justin Rumford. Flankman: Various. Chute bosses: Binion Cervi and Andy Hilton. Pickup men: Chase Cervi and Tyler Robertson. Photographer: Kerri Allardyce.<\/p>\n
News Release
\nProfessional Rodeo Cowboys Association
\n101 ProRodeo Drive
\nColorado Springs, CO 80919
\nwww.prorodeo.com
\nContact: Jim Bainbridge, 719.244.6037
\nSeptember 27, 2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
OMAHA, Neb. – Self-doubt has never been a big problem for J.R. Vezain. He tends to think big and make lofty goals. He’s 20 with a world of talent, so he doesn’t see any reason to set limits. On Sept. 27, he made believers of the 6,374 fans in the CenturyLink Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[52,2044,98],"tags":[115,83],"class_list":["post-1753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events-magazine","category-magazine","category-western-events-magazine","tag-prca","tag-rodeo"],"yoast_head":"\n