CHEYENNE, Wyo., (July 22, 2015) – At the midway point of the 119th Cheyenne Frontier Days, rodeo fans had a rare treat. They watched as the first-round leaders changed in seven of eight events.
The biggest jump on the leaderboard was in saddle bronc riding. 2012 World Champion Jesse Wright catapulted to the first-round lead with the highest score so far in any event at the “Daddy of ‘em All.”
His ride on David Bailey Rodeo’s Spider was eight points higher than previous leader Justin Caylor. Wright is one of four brothers who competed in saddle bronc riding at last year’s National Finals Rodeo (NFR). His younger brother Spencer is the reigning world champion, oldest brother Cody has won two world titles and his twin brother Jake was reserve world champion in 2013. Nephew Rusty is sixth in the 2015 world championship standings.
None of the bronc riding Wrights have won a Cheyenne Frontier Days championship, a title that is on every professional rodeo cowboy’s bucket list.
Kyle Irwin of Robertsdale, Ala., was the first cowboy to change the leader board when he wrestled his steer in 6.3 seconds, seven-tenths of a second faster than the previous leader, Wisconsin’s J.D. Struxness. Irwin, the 2014 Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo champion, learned from three-time world champion Steve Duhon who was the 1986 champion steer wrestler here.
Texan Aaron Pass had held the bull riding first-round lead since the opening performance on Saturday. That was until former collegiate champion Tim Bingham of Honeyville, Utah, conquered Championship Pro Rodeo’s Swamp Dog with 85 points. Bingham won his college title while attending Hill College, a powerhouse of collegiate bull riding whose cowboys have won six championships in the past decade.
Marty Yates of Stephenville, Texas, took the lead in the first round of tie-down roping with a 10-second run. Yates, who qualified for his first NFR last year, is one of the toughest young tie-down ropers in the business.
Two-time college national champion bareback rider Orin Larsen of Inglis, Manitoba, rode Stace Smith Rodeo’s Storm Cloud for 85 points. That edged him into the first-round lead by one point over Minnesota cowboy Tanner Aus. Larsen won his collegiate titles as part of the Oklahoma Panhandle State University team.
While Texans Trevor Brazile and Patrick Smith didn’t take the team roping outright, their time of 8.3 seconds tied them for the first-round lead with father-son duo J.B. and Levi Lord of Sturgis, S.D. Brazile, the 21-time world champion, won the team world title in 2010. Smith has two team roping world championships, one while roping with Brazile in 2010.
Whit Peterson of Torrington, Wyo., scored 75 points to take the first-round lead in the rookie saddle bronc riding event.
All competition on Thursday will be in the second round. Rodeo action gets underway at 12:15 p.m.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (July 22, 2015) — The following are current leaders at Cheyenne Frontier Days:
Bareback riding: (first round) 1, Orin Larsen, Inglis, Manitoba, 85 points on Stace Smith Rodeo’s Storm Cloud. 2, Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, Minn., 84. 3, George R. Gillespie IV, Hamilton, Mont., 82. 4, (tie) Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D., Richmond Champion, The Woodlands, Texas; Mason Clements, Sandy, Utah; Josi Young, Buhl, Idaho; Caleb Bennett, Tremonton, Utah; Ty Fast Taypotat, Regina, Saskatchewan; Kyle Charley, Lukachukai, Ariz., and Seth Hardwick, Laramie, Wyo., 79 each. (second round) 1, Kaycee Field, Spanish Fork, Utah, 81 points on Smith, Harper & Morgan Rodeo’s Baby Doe. 2, Richmond Champion, The Woodlands, Texas, 80 points. 3, (tie) Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, Minn., and Jake Vold, Ponoka, Alberta, 79 each. 5, (tie) Jessy Davis, Power, Mont.; Wyatt Denny, Minden, Nev.; Clint Laye, Cadogan, Alberta; Justin Miller, Billings, Mont., and Caleb Bennett, Tremonton, Utah, 78 each. (total on two) 1, Tanner Aus, Granite Falls, Minn., 163 points. 2, Richmond Champion, The Woodlands, Texas, 159. 3, Caleb Bennett, Tremonton, Utah, 157. 4, Jessy Davis, Power, Mont., 156. 5, (tie) Mason Clements, Sandy, Utah; George R. Gillespie IV, Hamilton, Mont., and Clint Laye, Cadogan, Alberta, 155 each.
Tie-down roping: (first round) 1, Marty Yates, Stephenville, Texas, 10.0 seconds. 2, Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah, 10.4. 3, (tie) Justin Macha, Needville, Texas and Chris Demasas, Boyd, Texas, 10.5 each. 5, (tie) Riley Pruitt, Gering, Neb., and Adam Gray, Seymour, Texas, 10.8 each. (second round) 1, Riley Pruitt, Gering, Neb., 10.2. 2, Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo., 10.6. 3, Garrett Hale, Snyder, Texas, 10.9. 4, Marcos Costa, Childress, Texas, 11.5. 5, Don Coffell, Iredell, Texas, 11.6. 6, Bradley Bynum, Sterling City, Texas, 11.8. (total on two) 1, Riley Pruitt, Gering, Neb., 21.0. 2, Justin Macha, Needville, Texas, 22.6. 3, Ryan Jarrett, Comanche, Okla., 23.3. 4, (tie) Marcos Costa, Childress, Texas, and Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah, 23.6 each. 6, Robert Mathis, Mart, Texas, 23.9.
Saddle bronc riding: (first round) 1, Jesse Wright, Milford, Utah, 87 points on David Bailey Rodeo’s Spider. 2, Justin Caylor, Sulphur Springs, Texas, 79. 3, (tie) Allen Boore, Axtell, Utah, and Steven Dent, Mullen, Neb., 78 each. 5, (tie) Audy Reed, Spearman, Texas, and Chuck Schmidt, Keldron, S.D., 77 each. (second round) 1, (tie) Isaac Diaz, Desdemona, Texas, on Andrews Rodeo’s Tiger Touch and Brad Rudolf, Winnemucca, Nev., on Rocky Mountain Rodeo’s Angel Flight, 83 points each. 3, Tyrel Larsen, Inglis, Manitoba, 81. 4. Joe Lufkin, Sallisaw, Okla., 79. 5, Samuel Kelts, Millarville, Alberta, 78. 6, (tie) Rusty Wright, Milford, Utah; Cody Taton, Corona, N.M., and Tyrell Smith, Great Falls, Mont., 77 each. (total on two) 1, Brad Rudolf, Winnemucca, Nev., 156 points. 2, (tie) Joe Lufkin, Sallisaw, Okla., and Isaac Diaz, Desdemona, Texas, 154 each. 4, Allen Boore, Axtell, Utah, 152. 5, Audy Reed, Spearman, Texas, 151. 6, Samuel Kelts, Millarville, Alberta, 150.
Steer wrestling: (first round) 1, Kyle Irwin, Robertsdale, Ala., 6.3 seconds. 2, J.D. Struxness, Appleton, Wisc., 7.0. 3, Trevor Knowles, Mount Vernon, Ore., 9.0. 4, Blake Knowles, Heppner, Ore., 9.6. 5, Stockton Graves, Alva, Okla., 9.7. 6, Jake Rinehart, Highmore, S.D., 9.8. (second round) 1, Kyle Whitaker, Chambers, Neb., 8.0 seconds. 2, Jacob D. Edler, State Center, Iowa, 9.5. 3, Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo, 9.6. 4, Sean Mulligan, Coleman, Okla., 10.0. 5, Chris Berry, Valley View, Texas, 10.6. 6, Chris Berry, Valley View, Texas, 10.6. (total on two) 1, Jared Thompson, Alva, Okla., 22.2. 2, Baylor Roche, Tremonton, Utah, 23.4. 3, Sean Mulligan, Coleman, Okla., 23.5. 4, Jacob D. Edler, State Center, Iowa, 23.5. 6, Mitchell Gardner, Dover, Okla., 25.3.
Rookie saddle bronc riding: (first round) 1, Whit Peterson, Torrington, Wyo., 75 points on Fringe Benefit. 2, Luke Morgan, Australia, 70. 3, Tayte Augustus Clark, Meadow, S.D., 69 points. 4, Benny Maytom, Australia, 67. 5, Jake Finlay, Goodwell, Okla., 66. 6, Josh Davison, Miles City, Mont., 65. (second round) 1, Christian Stremler, Winnemucca, Nev., 67. 2, Mitch Pollock, Winnemucca, Nev., 65 3, (tie) Hawkins Shane Boyce, Malad, Idaho, and Nick Shenold, Glencoe, Okla., 64 points each. (total on two) 1, Tayte Augustus Clark, Meadow, S.D., 131. 2, Jace Lane, Morse, Texas, 106. (on one) 3, Christian Stremler, Winnemucca, Nev., 67. 4, Jake Finlay, Goodwell, Okla., 66.
Team roping: (first round) 1, (tie) J.B. Lord and Levi Lord, Sturgis, S.D., and Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, and Patrick Smith, Lipan, Texas, 8.3 seconds each. 3, Paul David Tierney, Oral, S.D., and Levi Tyan, Wallace, Neb., 8.8. 4, Travis Bounds, Grand Junction, Colo., and Joe Roderick, Loma, Colo., 9.2. 5, David Key and Martin Lucero, Stephenville, Texas, 9.3. 6, Shawn Bird, Cut Bank, Mont., and Justin Viles, Cody, Wyo., 9.4. (second round) 1, Colby Lovell, Madisonville, Texas, and Kory Koontz, Stephenville, Texas, 6.8 seconds. 2, Tyrell Moody, Edgemont, S.D., and Rory Brown, Edgemont, S.D., 7.3. 3, Rhett Anderson, Anabella, Utah, and Cole Wilson, Lake Shore, Utah, 7.6 seconds. 4, Chris Francis, Las Vegas, N.M., and Cade Passig, Las Vegas, N.M., 8.0. 5, Paul Beckett, Laramie, Wyo., and Cole Cooper, Loma, Colo., 8.1. 6, Delon Parker, Worden, Mont., and Ryan Zurcher, Torrington, Wyo., 8.3. (total on two) 1, Jay Tittel, Pueblo, Colo., and T.J. Watts, Eads, Colo., 18.0 seconds. 2, Chris Francis, Las Vegas, N.M., and Cade Passig, Las Vegas, N.M., 18.3. 3, Luke Brown, Stephenville, Texas, and Kollin Von Ahn, Blanchard, Okla., 18.6. 4, Travis Warren, Mullin, Neb., and Ty Reynolds, Tribune, Kan., 19.6. 5, Monty Wood, Quanah, Texas, and Boogie Ray, Mabank, Texas. 6, Logan Olson, Flandreau, S.D., and Jordan Olson, Surprise, Ariz., 20.6.
Barrel Racing: (second round leaders) 1, Brittany Pozzi, Victoria, Texas, 17.45 seconds. 2, Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D., 17.48. 3, (tie) Megan Swint, Lithia, Fla., 17.52 and Jana Bean, Fort Hancock, Texas, 17.52 each. 5, Rachel Dice, Livermore, Calif., 17.65. 6, Mary Walker, Ennis, Texas, 17.67. (total on two leaders) 1, Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D., 34.96 seconds. 2, Mary Walker, Ennis, Texas, 36.40. 3, Brittany Pozzi, Victoria, Texas, 35.49. 4, Jana Bean, Fort Hancock, Texas, 35.54. 5, Rachel Dice, Livermore, Calif., 35.60. 6, Megan Swint, Lithia, Fla., 35.62.
Bull riding: (first round) 1, Tim Bingham, Honeyville, Utah, 85 points on Championship Pro Rodeo’s Swamp Dog. 2, Aaron Pass, Dallas, Texas, 83 points on Smith, Harper & Morgan Rodeo’s Jukebox Hero. 3, Jeff Bertus, Avon, S.D., 82. 4, (tie) Wesley Silcox, Santaquin, Utah, and Scottie Knapp, Albuquerque, N.M., 81 each. 6, (tie) Ty Wallace, Collbran, Colo., and Rocky McDonald, Colonia Juarez, Mexico, 79 each. (second round) 1, Aaron Pass, Dallas, Texas, 83 points on Smith, Harper & Morgan Rodeo’s Tom Thumb. 2, Bobby Welsh, Gillette, Wyo., 80. 3, Newt Brasfield, Lane, Okla., 78. 4, Kody Pierce, Keenesburg, Colo., 77. 5, Corey Atwell, Moravian Falls, N.C., 74. 6, John Young, Orient, Iowa, 73. (total on two leaders) 1, Aaron Pass, Dallas, Texas, 166 points. 2, (tie) Newt Brasfield, Lane, Okla., and Kody Pierce, Keenesburg, Colo., 152 each. 4, Ty Wallace, Collbran, Colo., 146. 5, Caleb Sanderson, Hallettsville, Texas, 139. 6, Jeff Bertus, Avon, S.D., 82 (on one).
Wild horse race: 1, Joe Applebaker, $591. 2, TC Buntin, $443. 3, Leon Stewart, $295. 4, Team Agin, $147.78.

Special CLN Thanks to Our CLN Sponsors: