Ranch and Rodeo Roundup
National Finals Rodeo
Written by Kim Dillon • Photos by Mike Copeman
Tie-Down Roping World Champion-Tuf Cooper (pictured at top of page, left)
The tie-down roping was one of the closet contests during the WNFR with three
cowboys still in the hunt for a gold buckle during the 10th Round. When the
dirt settled, Tuf Cooper emerged from the trio of cowboys (including Trevor
Brazile and Matt Shiozawa) to claim his third gold buckle in four years. The son
of “Super Looper” Roy Cooper, Tuf is always one of the crowd favorites. Cooper
finished atop the average leaderboard to win the $48,732 average paycheck to
push his season total to more than $30,000 ahead of 2nd place Trevor Brazile.
Tie-Down Roping final results:
1 Tuf Cooper
Decatur
TX
$241,734.03
2 Trevor Brazile
Decatur
TX
$210,315.15
3 Matt Shiozawa
Chubbuck
ID
$199,888.25
4 Cody Ohl
Hico
TX
$148,954.16
5 Cade Swor
Winnie
TX
$148,803.91
6 Marty Yates
Stephenville
TX
$141,267.58
7 Adam Gray
Seymour
TX
$119,665.17
8 Hunter Herrin
Apache
OK
$119,230.98
9 Shane Hanchey
Sulphur
LA
$116,159.83
10 Timber Moore
Aubrey
TX
$114,435.01
11 Clint Robinson
Spanish Fork
UT
$114,396.54
12 Clint Cooper
Decatur
TX
$108,316.19
13 Ryan Watkins
Bluff Dale
TX
$98,334.92
14 Tyson Durfey
Colbert
TX
$83,395.99
15 Reese Riemer
Stinnett
TX
$80,569.16
Saddle Bronc Riding World ChampionSpencer Wright
Of the four Milford, Utah, brothers who qualified
for the 2014 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in
Saddle Bronc Riding, Spencer Wright seemed the
least likely to capture a world championship. At just
23 years old, he was the youngest Wright brother in
Las Vegas. He was also the least experienced with
this being his first WNFR. But Wright’s consistency and talents allowed him to
complete all 10 of his rides and win Rounds 4 and 7. When the rodeo wrappedup, he placed in 9 of the 10 Rounds and collected $145,123 in paychecks.
Brothers Cody, Jesse and Jake Wright also finished among the top-nine in
the world standings, capping an amazing performance by the first set of four
brothers to ever qualify for the National Finals.
Saddle Bronc Riding final results:
1 Spencer Wright
Milford
UT
$205,387.95
2 Cort Scheer
Elsmere
NE
$195,586.31
3 Wade Sundell
Boxholm
IA
$180,725.61
4 Heith Allan DeMoss
Heflin
LA
$163,833.14
5 Jake Wright
Hurricane
UT
$155,420.44
6 Taos Muncy
Corona
NM
$149,712.33
7 Jacobs Crawley
Stephenville
TX
$147,421.41
8 Jesse Wright
Milford
UT
$134,502.22
9 Cody Wright
Milford
UT
$130,393.86
10 Cody DeMoss
Heflin
LA
$115,721.65
11 Tyler Corrington
Hastings
OK
$104,051.74
12 Dustin Flundra
Pincher Creek
AB
$88,166.89
13 Chad Ferley
Oelrichs
SD
$88,110.30
14 Cole Elshere
Faith
SD
$82,449.26
15 Bradley Harter
Loranger
LA
$81,884.79
Barrel Racing World Champion-Fallon Taylor (pictured at top of page, right)
As Wrangler NFR Announcer, Boyd Polhamus, prepared to introduce
the 2014 World Champion Barrel Racer, he said that it was the most
closely contested event at the National Finals. The recipient of
the gold buckle would be determined in a 10th Round horse
race between Lisa Lockhart on “Louie” and Fallon Taylor on
“BabyFlo”. When the timer stopped and all the numbers were
AZintheSaddle.com
totaled, Taylor won her 1st 2014 WPRA World Championship and Lockhart won
the Wrangler NFR Average title. Fallon Taylor also captured the Jerry Ann Taylor
Best Dressed Award for the 2nd year given by the WPRA and the National
Cowgirl Hall of Fame. The flamboyant racer will receive $5,000 and is wellknown for her bright arena shirts and jeans and colorful helmets.
Barrel Racing final results:
1 Fallon Taylor
Collinsville
TX
$276,441.07
2 Lisa Lockhart
Oelrichs
SD
$265,514.22
3 Kaley Bass
Kissimmee
FL
$214,432.20
4 Michele McLeod
Whitesboro
TX
$163,475.54
5 Britany Diaz
Solen
ND
$154,590.33
6 Carlee Pierce
Stephenville
TX
$154,180.57
7 Mary Walker
Ennis
TX
$145,685.69
8 Trula Churchill
Valentine
NE
$142,076.27
9 Nancy Hunter
Neola
UT
$136,777.47
10 Kassidy Dennison
Tohachi
NM
$126,071.55
11 Sherry Cervi
Marana
AZ
$122,164.92
12 Christy Loflin
Franktown
CO
$112,884.25
13 Jana Bean
Ft. Hancock
TX
$100,758.14
14 Christine Laughlin
Pueblo
CO
$93,134.61
15 Samantha Lyne
Cotulla
TX
$81,917.21
Bull Riding World Champion-Sage Kimzey
Sage Kimzey became the wealthiest rookie in the history of
the WNFR. The 20-year-old bull rider made the record books
when he won the weeklong average title, PRCA Rookie of
the Year title and clinched the gold buckle as the Bull Riding
World Champion. Kimzey additionally finished as the
reserve champ at the College National Finals Rodeo in June.
Bull Riding final results:
1 Sage Kimzey
Strong City
OK
$318,630.94
2 Joe Frost
Randlett
UT
$174,377.80
3 Trey Benton III
Rock Island
TX
$164,470.92
4 Beau Hill
West Glacier
MT
$148,990.61
5 Cody Teel
Kountze
TX
$148,562.47
6 Tyler Smith
Fruita
CO
$131,031.49
7 Tim Bingham
Honeyville
UT
$115,669.79
8 Elliot Jacoby
Fredricksburg
TX
$113,311.14
9 J.W. Harris
Mullin
TX
$109,181.59
10 Aaron Pass
Dallas
TX
$104,550.42
11 J.W. Spears
Redding
CA
$100,029.54
12 Ty Wallace
Collbran
CO
$93,934.71
13 Brennon Eldred
Purcell
OK
$89,169.84
14 Reid Barker
Comfort
TX
$76,227.37
15 Josh Koschel
Nunn
CO
$72,837.45
The 2015 Wrangler National Finals
Rodeo will be held December 3rd12th. If you have never attended,
now is the time to start making
plans to see this spectacular event
in person.
Kim Dillon grew up competing on horseback
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