Moody wins Average, Brazile wins Triple Crown

Going into round 10 Jill Moody and Sherry Cervi were battling it out for the $44K + 1st place average cheque. One of them was going to take second. Fortunately for Cervi, tipping third barrel only cost her the average title and the difference in money from first and second. Cervi still got second in the average having been so tough all week. This is the second time Moody has won 1st in the average, this time with a record fast time on 10 runs.
In the round Angie Meadors and Mulberry tied Brittany Pozzi and Duke for first. Duke was firing on all cylinders for that run, much like we had anticipated he would at the beginning of the week. This world championship is Sherry Cervi's third win. She has won each on a different horse. Troubles, Hawk and now Stingray.




You can watch all the round winning runs HERE And for each of the events too.

Trevor Brazile won his second triple crown of championships yesterday. Having secured the all around earlier in the week, it came down to the last round in both the tie down and team roping events. Clay Tyran waved it off in the Team Roping to hand Trevor his first Team Roping World Championship. Brazile earned over $500,000 in 2010, $$211,509.40 of it at the NFR to win the Top Gun award which included a new Dodge Truck and goodies to fill it.


Two-time Triple Crown winner Trevor Brazile and his family work the red carpet at the PRCA 10th Night After-Party, Dec. 11 at the Mirage Hotel & Casino. Brazile’s wife, Shada, daughter, Stella Bell and son, Treston accompanied him to the party for 2010 ProRodeo world champions and their families.


The 2010 ProRodeo World Champions gathered together on a stage at The Mirage Hotel during The Official Wrangler NFR World Champion Awards Show and 10th Night After-Party, Dec. 11 in Las Vegas. From left to right: Cody Wright (saddle bronc riding), J.W. Harris (bull riding), Sherry Cervi (WPRA barrel racing), Trevor Brazile (all-around, tie-down roping and team roping), Patrick Smith (team roping, heeling), Dean Gorsuch (steer wrestling) and Bobby Mote (bareback riding). All the 2010 champions have previously won a gold buckle.

In Canadian News, Willy Cassidy received a standing ovation as Curtis Cassidy tipped his hat to the horse that has done so much for the Cassidy family. Willy will be retired now after this NFR. He went out with a bang helping Curtis win the round in 3.7 seconds. Willy is 24 years old and has help cowboys win 5 world championships and of course numerous Canadian championships.


In the Bareback, Dusty LaValley finished out of the money, but held 4th position in the average finishing 10th in the world with $135,467.39 in season earnings. Dustin Flundra wasn't able to mark a score in the 10th round. Finishing 16th with $58,353.20 won. Lindsay Sears spared Martha in the last round and ran Moe. He had a nice run, but out of the money. Cody Cassidy finished the year with $155,566.97 in earnings, Curtis with $166,775.34 only $20,000ish behind world champion Dean Gorsuch.
Complete results can be found at www.prorodeo.com and if you are on Facebook there are some great interviews from Rodeo Videos. You'll want to search National Finals Rodeo 2009 (yes 2009), then either check the wall or click the >> tab at top till you see videos. They have all the winning interviews from each event, each night for. Try this link
ProRodeo.com also has a facebook page - try this link, there are videos there too

Cervi wins her second round

Round 7 Barrel Racing:

Sherry Cervi won her second round last night on her 8 year old mare Stingray. Cervi's $238,602 in earnings this season is $84,968 shy of Sears'' single-season earnings record from 2008 with three rounds and the average payout remaining. Sherry currently sits 3rd in the average, just .15 behind leader Jill Moody (Lisa Lockhart 2nd).

Lindsay Sears was second place last night with Lisa and Louie 3rd.



Check out this really cool video that was done by Classic Equine comparing Stingray and Sherry's last World Champion horse Hawk. Hawk is out of a 3/4 sister to Stingray. It amazes me the similarity in their style, but also how consistent Sherry is as a rider (10 years apart!)


In the steer wrestling Cody Cassidy placed 3rd and sits 3rd in average. Curtis Cassidy was just out of the money with a 4.8.
Dustin Flundra ended the round with a no score, but Dusy LaValley placed 4th with an 83.5 and moved into 4th in the average.

An interesting tidbit is that there are nine relatives of Grated Coconut to be at the Finals.

Here is the list of relatives and their ties to Calgary Stampede's Grated Coconut competing at the 2010 Wrangler NFR

Bareback riding
Coconut Roll – mother
Kauai Coconut – sister of Grated Coconut and daughter of Coconut Roll
Mad Money – daughter
Nightmare Rocket – son

Saddle bronc riding
Gross Beetle – half-sister
Gallant Warrior – half-brother
Knife Money – half-sister
Majestic Rocket – son (stud)
Mata Fact – daughter

Along with the nine relatives of Grated Coconut, Calgary Stampede had six other horses selected to the Wrangler NFR and a bull, Speed Dial.

Brenda Mays wins her first Go Round Buckle

Brenda Mays and Jethro won the round and with Sherry Cervi's third place finish she became the first barrel racer to surpass 2 million dollars in career rodeo earnings. Now with $221,090 in season earnings, Cervi is within striking distance of two-time World Champion Brittany Pozzi's single-season earnings record of $279,435 set a year ago. Defending world champion Brittany Pozzi won her first cheque of this NFR aboard Cozmo despite overshooting first a hair. She clocked faster in her first run than Duke as so far.

Here's Round 6 barrel racing:





6th Go Results: (# of barrel that was tipped)
1) Brenda Mays and Judge Buy Cash – 13.80 - $17,512.02
2) Jill Moody and TR Dashing Badger – 13.84 - $13,840.14
3) Sherry Cervi and MP Meter My Hay – 13.85 - $10,450.72
4) Lisa Lockhart and An Oakie With Cash – 13.87 - $7,343.75
5) Kelli Tolbert and RF Firefly – 13.98 - $4,519.23
6) Brittany Pozzi and French Covergirl – 13.99 - $2,824.52
7) Tana Poppino and Perryman Star – 14.06
7) Jeanne Anderson and Flaming Firebug – 14.06
9) SherryLynn Johnson and Leading Tradition – 14.08
10) Lindsay Sears and Sugar Moon Express – 18.85 (2nd)
11) Sydni Blanchard and Firewater Five – 18.87 (3rd)
12) Angie Meadors and Fantasia Fame – 18.98 (3rd)
13) Christina Richman and Xtrared – 19.17 (2nd)
14) Benette Barrington and Smooth My Credit – 19.22 (2nd)
15) Nellie Williams and Rebas Smokey Joe – 19.26 (3rd)

World Championship Standings—End of 6th Round
1) Sherry Cervi - $221,089.69
2) Lindsay Sears - $157,207.57
3) Jill Moody - $145,965.76
4) Lisa Lockhart - $138,315.73
5) Brenda Mays - $126,516.51
6) Brittany Pozzi - $117,276.41
7) Kelli Tolbert - $113,880.87
8) Nellie Williams - $86,473.46
9) Sydni Blanchard - $79,843.70
10) Christina Richman - $73,448.13
11) Angie Meadors - $69,985.21
12) Tana Poppino - $67,445.36
13) SherryLynn Johnson - $60,746.11
14) Benette Barrington - $58,927.30
15) Jeanne Anderson - $57,543.39

Here Rodeo Video talks to Brenda Mays


Wearing 11-time World Champion Dean Oliver''s "lucky" 1958 world championship buckle, Cody Ohl won for the third consecutive night stopping the clock in 7.3 seconds in the Tie Down Roping.



You can watch the round winners for each event here at rodeo up.

Curtis Cassidy still leads the world standings but will need to win several rounds now to keep it since he is right out of the average. Brother Cody is currently 4th in the average.

Dustin Flundra and Dusty LaValley are struggling to light up the boards. Lavalley has placed 6th 2x and sits 7th in the average. In the Saddle Bronc, Dustin Flundra hasn't picked up a cheque, but sits 5th in the average. Lindsay Sears is 9th in the average now having tipped another barrel in round 6 with a time that would have split 3rd.

Half Way Point - Round 5 Barrels

Round 3

Here is Round 3 Barrel Racing, Behind the Chutes with Sherry Cervi and we even get to watch the bareback and steer wrestling. Thank you to Youtube's KaciEllenJ for taping these and putting them online for us poor folks that can't get the NFR on our tv's. We really appreciate it!

Barrel Racing

Behind the Chutes with Sherry Cervi

Steer Wrestling

Bareback

Round 2 WNFR Barrel Racing Video

The WNFR barrel racing is not going how I had predicted it all playing out but it is making for a really exciting race. Check it out.



2nd Go Results: (# of barrel that was tipped)
1) Kelli Tolbert and RF Firefly – 13.68 - $17,512.02
2) Jill Moody and TR Dashing Badger – 13.71 - $13,840.14
3) Lisa Lockhart and An Oakie With Cash – 13.74 - $10,450.72
4) Tana Poppino and Perryman Star – 13.79 - $7,343.75
5) Lindsay Sears and Sugar Moon Express – 13.81 - $4,519.23
6) Sherry Cervi and MP Meter My Hay– 13.93 - $2,824.52
7) Christina Richman and Xtrared – 13.95
8) Nellie Williams and Rebas Smokey Joe – 14.00
9) Jeanne Anderson and Flaming Firebug – 14.06
10) SherryLynn Johnson and Leading Tradition – 14.09
11) Sydni Blanchard and Firewater Fie – 14.14
12) Brittany Pozzi and Yeah Hes Firen – 14.17
13) Benette Barrington and Smooth My Credit – 18.75 (1st)
14) Brenda Mays and Judge Buy Cash – 18.77 (1st)
15) Angie Meadors and Fantasia Fame – 18.81 (3rd)

World Championship Standings—End of 2nd Round
1) Sherry Cervi - $182,676.23
2) Lindsay Sears - $138,471.60
3) Brittany Pozzi - $114,451.89
4) Lisa Lockhart - $108,564.13
5) Jill Moody - $107,834.76
6) Brenda Mays - $103,073.00
7) Kelli Tolbert - $89,872.46
8) Nellie Williams - $86,473.46
9) Tana Poppino - $67,445.36
10) Christina Richman - $67,140.04
11) SherryLynn Johnson - $60,746.11
12) Sydni Blanchard - $60,354.52
13) Jeanne Anderson - $57,543.39
14) Angie Meadors - $52,473.19
15) Benette Barrington - $51,583.55


Are things going how you thought they would?

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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

Graves takes back World lead

A win in round 4 put Lee Graves back on top of the World standings. He also leads the average by .10 at this point. A 5th/6th place for Curtis Cassidy keeps him .10 behind Graves in the Average. Steer Wrestling standings here

Here is Lee's winning run:


Cassie Moseley took the victory lap in the barrel racing for round 4. Here is her winning run:



Here are the rest of the runs (Cassies first gets cut off so I figured I would include both)



The World standings look like this going into round 5:
1 POZZI, BRITTANY $200,095.73
2 SEARS, LINDSAY $186,554.30
3 BURGER, MARY $129,476.04
4 CERVI, SHERRY $111,125.01

The Average looks like this:
Lindsay Sears 55.86/4 1
Sherry Cervi 55.93/4 2
Brittany Pozzi 55.98/4 3
Lisa Lockhart 56.72/4 4
Jordon Peterson 56.80/4 5
Mary Burger 56.99/4 6

Bottom line.....there are 6 runs to make and ANYTHING can happen.

The Saddle Bronc was won on a Canadian Horse last night and so was second place:
1 Jesse Kruse 90.0 Calgary Stampede/Hell''s Half Acre $17,139.42
2 Taos Muncy 88.5 Calgary Stampede/Mata Fact $13,545.67
Unfortunately Dustin Flundra didn't get a score.

Tonight's rodeo will be round 5 marking the half way point of the WNFR. I give these people and their horses so much credit for having the stamina to make all 10 rounds. What a marathon!

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

The 50th annual NFR is on the way

Keep an eye on this blog for daily video highlights and reports from the 50th annual National Finals Rodeo.....live from Las Vegas!

Barrel Racing videos from round 5 and 6

Short and sweet today folks. I'll let this video do the talking. An awesome run at an exciting finals.

Last night in the barrel racing Jill Moody won the barrel racing by quite a bit. She clocked in with a 13.64, the fast time of the week. Here is a video of her fantastic run.

They make be choppy the first time through, but let it run through and watch it again. It's worth it.



Go to www.rodeoup.com for more great videos.

Here is one of Lindsay's winning run in round 5



The video makes reference to the Canadian's cheering.....Kristy, Laci, Tracey.....is that you...lol...