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

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

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

Sears takes over lead

Lindsay Sears took over the World and Average lead last night at the WNFR. Brittany got on Stitch and unfortunately tipped third barrel. She just brushed it on the way in and it went down. She dropped to second in the world (only 1 win away from getting back on top), but still sits 4th in the average. Lindsay has been mighty tight to those barrels herself the last few nights but she just had better luck keeping them up.

Here are the runs:


In the Steer Wrestling Lee Graves had a bad draw and ended up with a steer that dog fell on him. I still got a time of 11.6. Luke Branquino won the round and took over the average. Lee dropped to 4th in the Average. He is now 3000ish behind Luke but will need to have some fast times now to make up the the lost time from this run. Curtis Cassidy placed 4th and is 2nd in the average.

6 Rounds Down, 4 to Go

Jordan Peterson made her first victory lap last night and Sherry Cervi took over the barrel racing average lead by 0.01 of a second. Looks like the top spot could waiver back and forth nightly between Sherry and Lindsay. Brittany is still holding on to 3rd spot. Here is how the average pays out:
First: $43,954 (per man in team roping)
Second: $35,661 (per man in team roping, etc.)
Third: $28,197
Fourth: $20,733
Fifth: $14,928
Sixth: $10,781
Seventh: $7,464
Eighth: $4,147

Here is the video of Tuesday nights barrel racing:

or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94sw0e0JoB4

Lee Graves stayed hot in the steer wrestling. He placed second behind Luke Branquino. Graves is leading the average, Curtis Cassidy second and Branquino third. Graves has a $13,900+ lead on Branquino who is hot on his heels winning last nights round.

Looks like Trevor Brazile has got his game back placing second last night (and first on Monday). He holds on to 8th place in the average having had some long times. Tuf Cooper leads the average but will need a couple of tough times to place high enough in the rounds to take over the world lead (he's currently a $60K behind with Cody Ohl also ahead and placing well in the average).

In the team roping there are only 2 teams that have all 6 steers down. Luke Brown/Martin Lucero and Nick Sartain/Kollin VonAhn there are 1 and 2 in the average respectively. Luke Brown is 2 in the World standings, Sartain #3 both behind Chad Masters who is 12th in the average with 3 NT's. On the heeling end of things Kollin VanAhn is 2nd and Martin Lucero 4th. Jade Korhill (12 in Ave) and Rich Skelton (4th in Ave) in 1 and 3 respectively in the World Standings. Wow - that's confusing....I think that could play out a lot of different ways especially since they don't get a third loop anymore.