Pozzi wins the World, Cervi Wins the Average

Only 0.05 of a second kept Lindsay Sears from winning the average and her second world championship. A quick second place run in the the last round moved Sherry Cervi .05 seconds ahead of Sears in the average (who placed 5th in the round). This move by Cervi in the average and and a third place finish in round 10 was enough for Pozzi to secure her second world championship (first with WPRA). Its Vegas ladies and you just don't know how the chips are going to fall until the fat lady sings! What a great barrel race right to the end. I think it was a great example of mental toughness on the part of Brittany, Lindsay and Sherry. Nobody choked to make things happen they way they did, there were no questionable calls. Everyone rode their best, did the best they could and this is how it all worked out in the end. You could sure see why they've all been world champions.

Here are the runs from the 10th and final round:



Here is a quote from the prorodeo.com report on the steer wresting. What a testimony of sportsmanship on the part of WORLD CHAMPION (and Canadian) LEE GRAVES and Luke Branquino. CDN Curtis Cassidy finished behind Graves in the average for second place. OH CANADA! Great job guys!

Drama ensued in the steer wrestling, as two-time World Champion Luke Branquinho lost his grip on his final-round steer while throwing it to the ground, the steer got back up and scurried away with his hopes of a third gold buckle. Branquinho, of Los Alamos, Calif., tried his best, but could not post a time on the steer, opening the door for 2005 World Champion Lee Graves.

Graves, of Calgary, Alberta, clinched his second world title with a 3.5-second run that left him in third place in the round and atop the Wrangler NFR average race. Graves finished with a steer wrestling single-season earnings record of $251,031 after the dust had cleared, while Branquinho was second with $200,186 after falling to eighth in the average with a no-time.

"I feel bad about Luke today," said Graves, who earned an event-best $130,458 in Las Vegas. "He had some bad luck, but he opened the door for me and I capitalized on it. It actually put more pressure on me to go catch my steer and throw him down than actually do something. I hazed here last year, and I was hurt. I was really motivated to get back here. It's been a long road, but I rodeoed really hard this year and got to the top."

Branquinho finished with $87,632 in Wrangler NFR earnings and the thought of what might have been.

"I was proud for Lee," Branquinho said. "He did a good job all week and made good runs. I felt like I was doing the same thing. Unfortunately, it came down to the last steer, and I kind of threw him out of my arms. The judge didn't think I got a hand on him. That's just part of the game. You get calls that go your way and calls that don't. Unfortunately, this one didn't, in my opinion. But I can't take anything away from Lee Graves. He did well all week."

For the complete Championship reports go here

The standings are getting tight.

One more round to go and the World Champions will be crowned! Last night in the barrel racing Cassie Mosely won her second round with Brittany Pozzi second behind her. Pozzi is closing in on the gap between her and Lindsay Sears. Sears leads the average, but Pozzi is in third. Pozzi had regained the lead in the world title with $8750 between them. We will see both girls riding for the win in the last round as it will come down to the last barrel racer to know who wins the 2009 Championship. In either case, both have given it a great go.


The team roping couldn't have been more exciting with two world records broke in one night! Team ropers JoJo LeMond and Randon Adams electrified the audience with a world record 3.4-second run. LeMond and Adams tied the previous world record of 3.5 seconds earlier in the year. Chad Masters and Jade Corkill won the round with a new world record of 3.3 seconds in a night that featured jaw-dropping team roping. Both teams received standing ovations.
Here is a clip of that record breaking run:

In the steer wrestling...
The two-man race for the steer wrestling world title got a considerable amount tighter in Round 9. Reigning and two-time World Champion Luke Branquinho finished second in the round with a 3.5-second run -- Casey McMillen won the round in 3.3 seconds -- to close the gap to less than $900 between himself and 2005 World Champion Lee Graves. Branquinho, of Los Alamos, Calif., earned $13,546 for second place, while Graves' 3.8-second time was good enough for a tie for third place and a $7,280 check.

Heading into the final round, Graves leads the PRCA World Standings with $196,849, and Branquinho is nipping at his heels with $196,039. That $810 difference will be resolved, one way or another, in Round 10, as Branquinho leads the Wrangler NFR average with a 37.5-second total time and Graves ranks third in 41.6 seconds. Branquinho has earned an event-best $83,486 at this year's Wrangler NFR, while Graves has added $76,275 to his season earnings in Las Vegas.
Curtis Cassidy is second in the average.

In the saddle bronc Dustin Flundra took home the second place cheque for riding Frontier Rodeo's Ace of Spades. He has drawn Little Iron from Flying 5 Rodeo for the last round.

Here are a couple interviews. One of Lindsay Sears and one of Brittany Pozzi. It is interesting to hear their take on things and their plans for the future rounds (they were taken after round 8).

Pozzi takes the Round 8 Victory Lap

Duke came back well rested and ready to run. Brittany was first out and her time stayed on top for the rest of the 14 runs behind her. They had a really awesome first barrel. Here is the video of the round 8 runs so you can watch it over and over :o) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR09R6dhIxA (Pardon the Cat....!?)


I'm not feeling real creative here today so I'm not going to reinvent the wheel. Here are some quotes from a story on Prorodeo.com that should sum up what the scoop is:

Brittany Pozzi, the 2007 world champion barrel racer, won her second round of the 2009 Wrangler NFR by stopping the clock in 13.77 seconds. That was four-hundredths of a second better than Shelley Morgan and brought Pozzi a bit closer to reigning World Champion and world standings leader Lindsay Sears. Sears, of Nanton, Alberta, finished third in the round to earn $10,228 and holds a $4,796 lead over Pozzi in the world standings.

"Tonight was amazing," Pozzi said. "Duke ran great, and it all seemed perfect. Getting a barrel (knocked over in Round 7) did move me down one hole in the average, but it wasn't devastating. I just have to run hard at each round and win. This is really a horse race, and it will come down to the last run. This is what winning a world title is about. It makes it all exciting and fun."

Sears, who has placed in every round and won Rounds 2 and 7, leads the average standings with a total time of 111.0 seconds, while Pozzi is fourth with a 116.6-second total time.

In the Steer Wrestling....
Branquinho, the two-time and reigning world champion, continues to lead the Wrangler NFR average standings with a total time of 34.0 seconds, but finished out of the money in Round 8. That allowed 2005 World Champion Lee Graves to re-take the lead in the PRCA World Standings by taking third place and pocketing $10,228 on Canadian Night at the Wrangler NFR. Graves, who sits third in the average, has $189,569 heading into Round 9, while Branquinho is second with $182,493.

For the rest of this great summary go here

One down, 9 to go - NFR opening night review

Listening live online I was able to catch pieces of the opening night of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. I admit I was multi tasking so I didn't listen to every ride in every event.

What I do know is that the barrel racing was a testament to the quality of barrel racing that goes on in Canada and and at the Canadian Finals Rodeo. Many of the girls there spent a good part of June and July going to rodeos in Canada. Three of the girls in the top 5 at the NFR last night were at the CFR! Brittany Pozzi ran her young Palomino horse Duke to win the first round. She ran him at the CFR and many Canadian rodeos over the summer. You'll see Canada's very own Cowgirl of The Year Rana Walter helping Brittany down the loading area in the video. Rana is down there looking after the horses for Brittany while she focuses on meeting sponsorship commitments.

Here is Brittany's winning run. (Thank you www.rodeoup.com) She was last to go. That may be a good sign in the ground department. Hopefully it will be good for all, top to bottom.



Lindsay ran Martha for a 5th place finish. She will be just getting her warmed up and we'll expect her to get faster and faster with every run. She'll be working really hard at staying in the average since could make or break the next world champion.

Brittany Pozzi 13.94
Shelley Morgan 14.1
Tiffany Fox 14.13
Lisa Lockhart 14.15
Lindsay Sears 14.18
Sheena Robbins 14.24
Sherry Cervi 14.26
Mary Burger 14.33
Jordon Peterson 14.36
Tammy Fischer 14.42
Brenda Mays 14.59
Cassie Moseley 14.7
PJ Burger 19.04
Danyelle Campbell19.31
Sue Smith 19.32

The Canadian contingent were tough in the Steer Wrestling. Curtis Cassidy won the round and Lee Graves placed 4th behind Luke Branquino and Jake Rinehart. All 4 of these cowboys are "just" 9 steers away from a world championship. There are others within reach, but these four are just one placing away (10K and less) from a gold buckle.
Here is Curtis's 3.6 run:


Canadian Saddle Bronc Rider Dustin Flundra rode last night to a 75 but will need a better mount and a better score tonight to get into the money.

I'll keep looking for the full round of barrel racing runs to post, but it doesn't look like our source from last year is posting to youtube like she did last year.

Check out www.prorodeo.com for full event results and world standings www.rodeoup.com for videos of each event winner. Listen live each night at www.prorodeolive.com