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Travel-heavy weekend
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| H&N photo by Andrew Mariman Shawn Greenfield wrestles a steer to the ground during Friday's session of the Great Northwest Pro Rodeo. |
May 22, 2007
Roger Nonella wanted to do well at home, but a slick calf escaped and kept the 2005 Henley High graduate from another memorable performance at the Klamath County Fairgrounds John Hancock Event Center.
“It's my hometown,” Nonella said of his appearance at the 13th annual Great Northwest Pro Rodeo.
He had a difficult weekend, and failed to score at Redding, part of seven rodeos members of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association visited over the weekend. Klamath Falls and Redding was the short trip.
Some headed south to Hayward.
Most found a way north to rodeos in British Columbia.
Plenty of travel time
A few actually traversed the highways of Oregon and Washington starting in Klamath Falls, driving north and then returning south to Redding. Others reversed the order.
Either way, it is part of the PRCA lifestyle which, at more than $3 a gallon for gasoline, makes not being able to win a paycheck a big deal.
Nonella competed and then returned to West Hills College to complete finals. He will receive an associates degree in agricultural business and then heads to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo to work toward a bachelors degree.
He will make the trek to Casper, Wyo., for the College National Finals Rodeo June 10-16, which is the same week his younger brother, Mark, will compete in the Oregon High School Rodeo Association Finals at the Hancock Event Center.
“I've done mostly college rodeos this year,” including the western regional championships in Las Vegas, Nev., Nonella said. There, he won the tie-down roping championship, was second in team roping and third in steer wrestling.
He also is in second place in the western regional college all-around standings.
“It's been a pretty good year,” Nonella said.
Livestock hard to get
Shawn Greenfield is among the world leaders who competed in this year's GNWPR, and is one of many who left Klamath Falls without a paycheck.
The world-class steer wrestler said there was a reason many cowboys struggled at this year's event. “These are all new steers being run for the first time,” Greenfield, of Lakeview, said.
Many of the calves and bucking horses also were making their rodeo debuts as the Brookman Rodeo Co. of Sydney, Mont., was being used as the stock contractor for the GNWPR.
The local event had used stock from the Pinz Rodeo Co. of Terrebonne for the first 12 years, and Brookman was a sub-contractor for two years to provide rough stock.
There was no grumbling about the stock, although cell phones were heavily used as cowboys sought help to learn characteristics of various animals they had drawn, especially after the slack performance Thursday. It showed, too, Friday and Saturday with better times.
Working together
Bobby Mote, who finished second in bareback riding, made his first team roping appearance at the GNWPR, and gave Mike Beers much of the credit for helping him with the event.
“Mike has helped me tremendously,” Mote said.
Mote and partner Casey Ladner, competing together for the first time, narrowly missed scoring in Saturday's final show. “I rope every day at home quite a bit and do a lot of team ropings,” Mote said.
Beers has returned to the PRCA circuit and will compete in the necessary 70 rodeos to try and qualify for the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December with his son Brandon.
“I didn't want to go on the circuit again,” the 49-year-old Beers said. “I just wanted to do my roping schools. But I always wanted to dream big, and with the start we've had, it would be a dream come true to compete at the NFR with my (21-year-old) son.”
Beers, of Powell Butte, said he spends a lot of time roping with Mote at the latter's Culver-area ranch.
Tear jerker
Clown Bert Davis choked up Saturday night after his performance with his dog, Kelsey, the only dog to perform three times at NFR.
Davis salvaged the dog only hours before it was to be put down at a shelter in Oklahoma. Two days before the GNWPR, Davis learned his dog had cancer and the two performed for the first time since the news on “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” night to raise money for breast cancer awareness.
Announcer Steve Kenyon struggled to finish telling the story of Davis and Kelsey Friday night.
Saturday, Davis took time to thank local people who helped with a blood transfusion for his dog as it began cancer treatments, and his voice choked three or four times.
Those who know Davis said Friday was hard enough, but hearing him Saturday almost brought them to tears, especially when he said the GNWPR was the start of Kelsey's farewell tour.
Records set
In becoming just the second Klamath Basin resident to win an event at the GNWPR, Paisley High grad Dusty Otley set two records in the saddle bronc riding competition.
Otley's 84-point ride on Air Mail was an event record, topping the mark of 83 points set in 2002 by Jesse Bail of Camp Crook, S.D., and then matched the next year by Dan Mortensen of Billings, Mont.
Otley also took home $1,692.90, almost $200 more than Mortensen, the defending event champion, won in 2003.
Mortensen sat out the GNWPR, and is sitting out most the year, to recover from a variety of injuries he suffered toward the end of last season. Mortensen is a three-time world champion in the event.
In bareback riding, the top five set a GNWPR record by all having rides of 80 or more points, led by the 86-point effort of Jake Halverson of Friona, Texas. He tied the record in the event.
This year's rodeo also set a record by having entries from 17 different states, and Gabe Ladoux now is the cowboy who has traveled the farthest and get a victory. Ladoux is from Kaplan, La.
- Steve Matthies
Roger Nonella wanted to do well at home, but a slick calf escaped and kept the 2005 Henley High graduate from another memorable performance at the Klamath County Fairgrounds John Hancock Event Center.
“It's my hometown,” Nonella said of his appearance at the 13th annual Great Northwest Pro Rodeo.
He had a difficult weekend, and failed to score at Redding, part of seven rodeos members of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association visited over the weekend. Klamath Falls and Redding was the short trip.
Some headed south to Hayward.
Most found a way north to rodeos in British Columbia.
Plenty of travel time
A few actually traversed the highways of Oregon and Washington starting in Klamath Falls, driving north and then returning south to Redding. Others reversed the order.
Either way, it is part of the PRCA lifestyle which, at more than $3 a gallon for gasoline, makes not being able to win a paycheck a big deal.
Nonella competed and then returned to West Hills College to complete finals. He will receive an associates degree in agricultural business and then heads to Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo to work toward a bachelors degree.
He will make the trek to Casper, Wyo., for the College National Finals Rodeo June 10-16, which is the same week his younger brother, Mark, will compete in the Oregon High School Rodeo Association Finals at the Hancock Event Center.
“I've done mostly college rodeos this year,” including the western regional championships in Las Vegas, Nev., Nonella said. There, he won the tie-down roping championship, was second in team roping and third in steer wrestling.
He also is in second place in the western regional college all-around standings.
“It's been a pretty good year,” Nonella said.
Livestock hard to get
Shawn Greenfield is among the world leaders who competed in this year's GNWPR, and is one of many who left Klamath Falls without a paycheck.
The world-class steer wrestler said there was a reason many cowboys struggled at this year's event. “These are all new steers being run for the first time,” Greenfield, of Lakeview, said.
Many of the calves and bucking horses also were making their rodeo debuts as the Brookman Rodeo Co. of Sydney, Mont., was being used as the stock contractor for the GNWPR.
The local event had used stock from the Pinz Rodeo Co. of Terrebonne for the first 12 years, and Brookman was a sub-contractor for two years to provide rough stock.
There was no grumbling about the stock, although cell phones were heavily used as cowboys sought help to learn characteristics of various animals they had drawn, especially after the slack performance Thursday. It showed, too, Friday and Saturday with better times.
Working together
Bobby Mote, who finished second in bareback riding, made his first team roping appearance at the GNWPR, and gave Mike Beers much of the credit for helping him with the event.
“Mike has helped me tremendously,” Mote said.
Mote and partner Casey Ladner, competing together for the first time, narrowly missed scoring in Saturday's final show. “I rope every day at home quite a bit and do a lot of team ropings,” Mote said.
Beers has returned to the PRCA circuit and will compete in the necessary 70 rodeos to try and qualify for the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December with his son Brandon.
“I didn't want to go on the circuit again,” the 49-year-old Beers said. “I just wanted to do my roping schools. But I always wanted to dream big, and with the start we've had, it would be a dream come true to compete at the NFR with my (21-year-old) son.”
Beers, of Powell Butte, said he spends a lot of time roping with Mote at the latter's Culver-area ranch.
Tear jerker
Clown Bert Davis choked up Saturday night after his performance with his dog, Kelsey, the only dog to perform three times at NFR.
Davis salvaged the dog only hours before it was to be put down at a shelter in Oklahoma. Two days before the GNWPR, Davis learned his dog had cancer and the two performed for the first time since the news on “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” night to raise money for breast cancer awareness.
Announcer Steve Kenyon struggled to finish telling the story of Davis and Kelsey Friday night.
Saturday, Davis took time to thank local people who helped with a blood transfusion for his dog as it began cancer treatments, and his voice choked three or four times.
Those who know Davis said Friday was hard enough, but hearing him Saturday almost brought them to tears, especially when he said the GNWPR was the start of Kelsey's farewell tour.
Records set
In becoming just the second Klamath Basin resident to win an event at the GNWPR, Paisley High grad Dusty Otley set two records in the saddle bronc riding competition.
Otley's 84-point ride on Air Mail was an event record, topping the mark of 83 points set in 2002 by Jesse Bail of Camp Crook, S.D., and then matched the next year by Dan Mortensen of Billings, Mont.
Otley also took home $1,692.90, almost $200 more than Mortensen, the defending event champion, won in 2003.
Mortensen sat out the GNWPR, and is sitting out most the year, to recover from a variety of injuries he suffered toward the end of last season. Mortensen is a three-time world champion in the event.
In bareback riding, the top five set a GNWPR record by all having rides of 80 or more points, led by the 86-point effort of Jake Halverson of Friona, Texas. He tied the record in the event.
This year's rodeo also set a record by having entries from 17 different states, and Gabe Ladoux now is the cowboy who has traveled the farthest and get a victory. Ladoux is from Kaplan, La.
- Steve Matthies
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Bill Hoffman wrote on Apr 10, 2008 10:07 AM:
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Respectfully submitted,
Bill Hoffman
CO Stampede, #45 "
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Hoffman
CO Stampede, #45 "
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