East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Bobby Mote has conquered plenty of broncs in his 16-year career, a fair share of them in the Pendleton Round-Up Arena even. He’s had rides in the high 80s and he’s had buck-offs here, but the one thing that’s always avoided his grasp has been the championship saddle.
“It’s been a good rodeo for me, but I’ve never won it,” the Culver cowboy said. “I’ve won second like two or three times just by a point or something. It’s one of my tops on my list as something I’d like to win.”
Mote’s score comes with a $5,092.50 paycheck for the Round 1 winner, nearly putting the rider over the $100,000 mark for the season in that event. He’s already surpassed that amount as a whole, ranking third in the all-around standings as well.
Riding in Pendleton comes with a lot of variables, Mote said. The arena’s unique setup with grass in the center sometimes have a strange effect on the stock sometimes.
“Unlike a lot of horses when they hit that grass and it’s easy for them to weaken a little bit, she stayed strong,” he said of his ride.
Mote leapt to the front of the pack with his eight-seconds from Friday, overtaking a log jam that had been for first place. Cody DeMers, J.R. Vezain, Justin McDaniel and Winn Ratliff all finished with 83s. Each cowboy won $2,461.37 for their performances and a spot in the final round.
Mote was the only rider Friday to edge into the finals, a round that will see nine other barebackers competing today to keep Mote from his first Round-Up title.
Saddle Bronc Riding: Andy Clarys wasn't even entered in the Round-Up when the week began. He was a late alternate, only making it into Friday’s performance when one of the names in the program bowed out late.
The Riverton, Wyo., cowboy did everything he could to make his shot count, riding his bronco for an 80-point round. But in the end, he missed the short-go and the money by one point.
“I was trying to think of nothing,” Clarys said of walking back to the chutes after his ride, waiting for the scoreboard to tell him his fate. “I was just thinking it was hot out.”
Clarys was bumped by Cole Elshere, of Faith, S.D., whose 81 gave him the last spot in the 11-rider final round field. Elshere ranks 12th in the PRCA this year in the event.
Elshere and fellow South Dakotan Chuck Schmidt were the only cowboys from Friday to score high enough for a callback. Schmidt’s 82 helped cut him a check for $576.40 while Elshere earned $144.10.
Neither of those cowboys was all that close to knocking Cody DeMoss from his top spot in the event. DeMoss rode an 87 in Thursday’s performance for the best ride of the week. That score came along with $4,323 in earnings for his efforts, giving DeMoss $100,480 in winnings for 2012.
In total, the final round will have seven of the world’s 50 top ranked riders based on current season earnings, led by DeMoss in the third spot.
Bull Riding: All bull riders are familiar with the bucking spiral, the tornado that tosses cowboys up and down while the bull whirls in circles trying to rid itself of its unwanted passenger. Most of the time the bull picks a direction and continue until the rider is dislodged — either by choice or the bull’s will.
But not Money Shot. The Growny Brothers Rodeo bull exploded from the chutes in the Pendleton Round-Up Arena on Friday, falling into stride with a left-leaning spin. Just two rotations in, the beast decided on a new approach to buck off rider Guytin Tsosie, changing directions in a split second. The lurch broke Tsosie from his zen-state, but he regained form.
“You’re just mainly reacting, that’s all I could do on that,” said Tsosie, who came away with 89 points from the ride. “I just wanted to ride one again.”
And he will. The Farmington, N.M., rider took the third spot from the first round of bull riding with his score, earning $2,530.45 for his troubles and getting a shot at another bull in the Round-Up today in the short-go final round.
The payday was 10 percent of Tsosie’s total earnings for this season. He entered the Pendleton rodeo in the 37th spot on the money winners’ leaderboard for the PRCA.
While Tsosie’s was the high Friday, Cooper Davis provided the dramatics. The Jasper, Texas, cowboy rode for 83 points, just enough to tie him with J.W. Harris for the last payout spot in the first round. Both cowboys won $520.97.
Davis said there’s some advantage to riding in the final performance before the finals, as he was Friday, because you know right away whether your score will stand up for the short-go. That can also come with some added pressures, though.
“Yeah, but you’ve just got stay on. If you can manage a real good ride, you can make it back either way,” Davis said.
Parker Breding was the big winner in bull riding so far with a 92-point ride. His came Thursday, and ended with him face-first into the bucking chutes. The broken nose was a small price to pay for that ride, though, which came with a $4,465.50 check.
The final round today will have 12 riders competing for the championship prizes.