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

Cervi takes another Victory lap

Sherry Cervi and Stingray, won another round last night. The runs keep getting quicker and they keep getting closer to that world record. With 5 rounds to go, I wouldn't be surprised if the record set by Brandie Halls and Slim of 13.52 is broken this year.

Here are the barrel runs from round 5:


Lee Graves also took a back to back victory lap winning another round, keeping on top of both the world and average standings. Curtis Cassidy remains in contention for a big average check sitting 6th in the average (but 47K behind the world leader). Luke Branquino continues to breath down Graves neck, only 17,580 behind in the standings and 4th in the average. Here's a quick audio where Graves refers to the back injury he sustained in round 2 and his plans for moving forward.

Dustin Flundra rode last night but placed 9th on Burch Rodeo's Lunatic Fringe
Calgary Stampede's Lynx Mountain and Fearless Warrior put Isaac Diaz and Taos Muncy in the dirt before the 8 second whistle.

Nine-time World Champion Trevor Brazile and six-time World Champion Cody Ohl split first place in the tie-down roping in Round Five The Texas duo finished with identical marks of 7.1 seconds and won $15,343 apiece.

The brother duo of Riley and Brady Minor recovered from a no-time in the fourth round with a vengeance, winning the fifth performance in 3.8 seconds. That time was eight-tenths of a second faster than Nick Sartain and Kollin VonAhn, who won a share of first place in Round 4.