Menu
Ferrell, Fowler win team roping
SIKESTON -- It was another muggy night during the third round of the 55th Annual Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo, but the athletes kept pounding away for the best scores.
It was also a night that featured many local cowboys, and some were victorious in front of their home crowds.
Ty Ferrell and his team-roping partner, John Paul Fowler, proved themselves to the local crowd Friday night as they defeated the other two teams in their category with a score of 7.9 seconds. Jeff Schneider, of Benton, and his teammate Justin Gossett did not record a time and failed to qualify. Adam Rose and Jeff Brown also did not qualify.
"It was a good win to get in front of the home crowd," Ferrell said. "We scored a 7.9, that's okay. We would've liked to have scored a little better, but that'll do."
In barrel racing, Julie Erkamea came in first place with a score of 16.73 seconds. Second place was taken by Wendy Ink, with a 17.20, while Lacy Skoog finished off the Top 3 in third, with a score of 18.18.
Only one score was recorded in the tie-down roping event. Matt McGee, from DeSoto, scored a 12.0. The other four riders were all given scores of 0 after failing to qualify.
Steer wrestling provided five scores, but only three of them were very close. Tyler Schau took first place with a time of 4.5 seconds. A close second place went to Jacob Burks, of Lancaster, Wis., with a 6.8, while third place went to Bill Skinner, of LaCrosse, Wis., with an 8.7.
The other two scorers in the event were Joel Chaffin, of Ozark, with a 19.3, and Shawn Schuld, of Antioch, Ill., with a 26.6.
In saddle bronc, Ryan Mapston, of Belt, Mont., took a commanding lead with a score of 82, while four others battled for the second highest score. Coming in second place was Clayton Zibell, of Wann, Okla., with a 78, while third place went to Issac Diaz, of Stephenville, Tex., with a 75. Steven Dent, Cody Rud, Bobby Griswold and Shaun Stroh completed the list of finishers on the event.
Bareback riding was the closest event of the night, as the Top 4 scores were respectively within one point of each other. First place went to Justin McDaniel, of Porum, Okla., who rode Roanwasp for a score of 82. Chris Harris, of Itasca, Tex., took Black Cat for a ride and scored an 81, which was good for second place. Third place went to Scotty Nesmith, of Russelville, Tenn., who rode Wild Flower for a score of 80.
Rounding out the rest of the finalists in bareback riding were Kelly Timberman, Tilden Hooper, Bee Jay Scott, Davy Ross, Jerod Johnston, Dennis Foyil and Steven Dent.
In the last event there was a lot of excitement, but very few scores.
The bull riding contest was won by B.J. Schumacher, of Hillsboro, Wis., who rode Apache Junction for a score of 84. Second place went to Clint Craig, of Mena, Ark., riding Northern Lights for a score of 81.The last bull rider to score anything higher than zero took third place. Ben Hoop, of Valley City, Ohio, had a 69 in the event.
Other contestants in bull riding were Wade Sundell, Mike Moore, Dave Samsel, Tony Booth, J-Byrd Morrow, and Justin Shreve. All of these riders finished the evening with a zero on the score sheet.
It was a great night of rodeo competition for all of the riders, as well as the stock owners.
Behind the scenes, Terry Autry, on Malakoff, Tex., a bull rider for 15 years, takes care of the stock for Smith Pro Rodeo, which is the stock being used at the Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo.
"It was a great night in general. We had some good performances out of our stock," Autry said.
Shelly Hall, whose father owns the stock, said that there's quite a job that's put into the stock every single day, to help them perform well when the spotlight hits.
"It gets tough," Autry said. "You know the competitors, and you know the animals. It's neat to raise them from just a young one, and then see them grow and compete on the pro level."
Autry also said that it gets tough every night, trying to root for his friends, while also cheering on his animals.
"I'd love every night to see my stock get a high score in every event. I'd also like to see the guys get a score in the 80's. But, my job's weighed on how well my stock does, so sometimes I like to see them ridden, sometimes I like to see them get bucked right off. It only makes it look like I've done my job and prepared my animals."
Autry, whose job every day is to feed and take care of the animals from around 7 a.m. to midnight, and travel from town-to-town, says that this week's rodeo has gone well. The stock will see one more night at the Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo, and then it's off to Athens, Tex., their hometown rodeo.