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Competition as hot as the temperature
SIKESTON -- After the 55th Annual Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo drew to a close Saturday night, it proved to be another great year in the Jaycee's history of the event. With a large crowd on hand, rodeo fans were ready to watch some of the best cowboys in the country.
Once again, there were several local riders in the show. And with temperatures that reached at least 100 degrees all four days, the cowboys were battling more than just the stock.
The night started off with a bang right out of the chutes in the bareback riding event, where Royce Ford, of Briggsdale, Colo., rode Vanderbilt for a score of 83.
The following two riders -- Andy Martinez, of Pavillion, Wy., and Eric Swenson, of Bonham, Tex., placed second and third and were only a few points behind Ford. Taking second place was Martinez, who rode Spade for a score of 81. Third place went to Swenson, who took on Python for a score of 80 to round out the Top 3.
The following riders also placed in the event, in order that they finished: Jason Wylia, Wes Stevenson, Will Lowe, Tom McFarland, Sheldon Rinkes, Forest Bramwell, Larry Carter, Tim Wilkinson and Eric Van Cleve, who did not qualify.
Only three of the five riders scheduled for the steer wrestling event showed up. Taking first place with a commanding time of 3.7 seconds was Brad Morgan, of Brandon, Miss. Garrett Nokes, of McCook, Neb., took second place with a time of 15.2, after being penalized with an extra 10 seconds. Brian Garr, who was the only other rider in the event, did not qualify.
After new-coming clown, Rudy Burns, put on a hilarious sideshow, the action cranked back up with saddle bronc event. Linda Lou put on a performance which gave Justin Arnold, of Santa Margarita, Calif., a score of 84 to win the event. Second place went to Taos Muncy, from Corona, N.M., who rode Stuart Little for a score of 80. Rounding out the Top 3 in saddle bronc was Anthony Bello, of Oakley, Utah, who rode Sweet Dreams well enough to score a 79.
The following riders also placed in the event, shown in order that they were scored: Roy Toney, Mike Outhier, Travis Sheets and Lyle W. Welling. Scott Keogh, Cody Horwedel and Jordan Furnish did not qualify and were all given a score of zero in the event.
Tie-down roping brought a little hope to the local crowd when Sikeston resident Chad Tibbs rode into the arena. Tibbs scored high enough to reel in third place, but couldn't pull off a higher score than Michael Ortero, of Foley, Ala., who placed first in the event with a 9.8 seconds. Second place went to Garrett Nokes, of McCook, Neb,, who lost a heart-breaker to Ortero, by scoring a 9.9, falling 0.01 seconds shy of the first place mark.
Third went to Tibbs with an 11.6. Justin Scofield, of Flandreau, S,D., scored a 14.1, while Jeff Loeb, of Union, Mo., managed to score a 15.6. Brian Garr, in his second event of the evening, fell short with a zero after failing to qualify, as did Boe Brown, of Harrold, S.D.
In team roping, first place went to Frank Willows, of Piggott, Ark., and his teammate Steve Dillow, of Anna, Ill., with a time of 9.2 seconds. Tibbs was back in action in his second event, with his teammate Pat Hunter, also of Sikeston. The two managed to score a time of 14.3 seconds, after a five-
second penalty was added.
Only two other teams were entered in the team roping event Saturday. The team consisting of Natie Johnson, of Monroe, La., and Hugh Bragg, of Sikeston, couldn't manage to pull within the Top 2, and received a zero in the event after failing to qualify. Wes Kent, of Waldo, Ark., and Nick Kent, of Texarkana, Tex, also did not qualify and received a zero.
The most exciting event on the night was the barrel racing event because the ladies put on an incredible show for the weekend-night crowd. With four scores all under 17 seconds, the competition was just waiting for someone to take charge and win the purse.
Whitney Baker, of Stephenville, Tex was that lady. She took first place with a score of 16.61 seconds. Coming in a very close second place was Audrey Ridgeway, of Bristow, Okla., who scored a time of 16.76. Third place went to Carina Morris, of Cambria, Wisc., who put up a 16.83 on the board.
Rounding out the scoreboard for the ladies in barrel racing were, in order that they placed were Rena Grissom, J.J. Baldwin, Tara Woodall, Tiffany Fox and Libby Swenson.
Only one cowboy placed in bull riding on Saturday night after the bulls showed up to play, and the cowboys did not. Corey Montana Davis, of New Bloomfield, Mo., took Black Smoke for a ride, and mustered up a 79 in the event, putting the only meaningful score on the board.
John Jacobs, Danny McDowell, Trey Broussard, Douglas Duncan, Howdy Cloud, Logan Knibbs, Beau Schroeder, John Stout, Waylon Mark, Tony Grieser and Jake Littlefield all received a score of zero in the event after failing to qualify.