Rodeo News

Ohl, three letters that define Round 3

Fan favorite, Cody Ohl electrified the Thomas & Mack on Saturday night. The Texan made history at the Wrangler NFR along with Tuf Cooper at 6.9 seconds.

by
Gretchen Kirchmann
December 8, 2013

Gretchen Kirchmann interviewing Cody Ohl in the Media Room at the 2013 NFR

A 19-time, WNFR qualifier Ohl explained his thoughts after winning Round 3 in record fashion, “It’s awesome. I have the arena (Thomas & Mack) record of 6.5, and I was pretty confident that I could’ve of got that (Friday night), but I just unfortunately got that barrier by about an inch or two, but I wasn’t going to change anything because I know it was just a little bad luck. I just ran at the barrier the same tonight and I blew it out of there and everything worked perfect.”
During his victory lap, Ohl threw his piggin string into the crowd and Kelby Pennington caught it. Pennington and his wife, Shanda were all smiles beaming with astonishment. This is the first year they’ve attended the WNFR.
Ohl, the 6x World Champion is so decorated he has three-pages of career highlights in media guide. Since 2000, the legendary tie-down roper has won Round 3, six times. His first world title came in 1997 just three year after winning the PRCA Rookie of the Year in 1994.
Cody reflected on the mental game it takes for finish out the week , “To me, winning money is crucial, but if 5.9 (seconds) is winning first, I’m going to try and be 5.8. Ten flat can be winning fourth when I rope, but still I’m going to go for first. It’s either going to work or it’s not. I would rather go out trying to win first, than playing it safe and have something happen.”

Tie-Down Roper Cody Ohl

Bay City resident captures a piece of Ohl history:
“We’ve heard of Cody Ohl before and he is pretty awesome. I wish we could have gotten a picture with him after the rodeo. My husband is very, very excited, “explained Shanda. Kelby said, “I was in the right place at the right time.” When asked if his friend would be impressed of his Las Vegas souvenir, he definitely agreed. Kelby is a plant manager in the chemical manufacturing industry.
The Pennington’s are big rodeo and Professional Bull Rider (PBR) fans. “In our garage we have a wall dedicated to the rodeos and PBR’s we’ve attended. We plan on hanging it (Ohl’s piggin string) there,” enthusiastically Shanda stated.

Related TopicsRodeo Wrangler National Finals Rodeo ( WNFR / NFR )

Gretchen Kirchmann

Gretchen Kirchmann is a veteran journalist covering a variety of events across the country each year. She founded Kirchmann Media Group in 2009 and works as a marketing consultant with a forte for the western lifestyle industry, festivals, fairs and rodeo world. Her work includes 15 national communication awards plus coverage of Nashville's CMT Awards and CMA Fanfest. A favorite assignment was attending the all cast reunion of the Dukes of Hazard in 2006 and 2007 at Dukesfest. In December you will find her covering the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and Miss Rodeo America pageant live from Las Vegas. Her favorite color is orange, favorite song "Rocky Top" and she loves to dance especially clogging.