BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
We are more than halfway through the qualifying rounds at RodeoHouston as Super Series III wrapped up on Wednesday night.
The third crop of cowboys and cowgirl gave the fans inside NRG Stadium a duel of the last two Gold Buckle winners in bareback riding, a duo of Canadians stealing the show in saddle bronc riding, and a dominant performance in the barrel racing.
In bareback riding, 2021 World Champion Kaycee Feild won Rounds 1 and 3 while Round 2 was won by 2022 World Champion (and 2021 Reserve World Champion) Jess Pope. Feild ultimately advanced in first with $6,250 and Pope was second with $5,125.
Feild and Pope are both American, which means it’s a good thing they weren’t saddle bronc riders in Super Series III. Canadian cowboys Zeke Thurston and Logan Hay won all three rounds with Hay claiming two of them, but Thurston riding for the highest score of the Super Series. Thurston won his third World Championship in 2022 and Hay finished No. 3.
In barrel racing, Stevi Hillman was as good as any cowgirl has been so far. She became the first barrel racer to make three straight runs faster than 14.7 and finished in the Top 2 of all three Go-Rounds to earn $8,000.
The other Super Series III winners were Clayton Hass in steer wrestling ($5,750), Marcus Theriot/Cole Curry in team roping ($4,000), Adam Gray in tie-down roping ($4,500) and Jeff Askey in bull riding ($6,000).
BAREBACK RIDING
First Round: 1. Kaycee Feild, 84.5 points on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Mighty Mouse, $3,000; 2. Tristan Hansen, 84, $2,000; 3. Caleb Bennett, 83, $1,000; 4. (tie) Jess Pope and Lane McGehee, 82, $625 each; 6. Jacob Raine, 79, $250.
Second Round: 1. Jess Pope, 83 points on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Organic Outlaw, $3,000; 2. Taylor Broussard, 82, $2,000; 3. Caleb Bennett, 78.5, $1,000; 4. Jacob Raine, 78, $750; 5. Tristan Hansen, 73, $500; 6. Kaycee Feild, 70, $250.
Third Round: 1. Kaycee Feild, 86.5 points on Calgary Stampede’s Big Timin, $3,000; 2. (tie) Jess Pope and Lane McGehee, 84.5, $1,500 each; 4. Jacob Raine, 83.5, $750; 5. Taylor Broussard, 82, $500; 6. Tristan Hansen, 80, $250.
Semifinal Qualifiers: 1. Kaycee Feild, $6,250; 2. Jess Pope, $5,125; 3. Tristan Hansen, $2,750; 4. Taylor Broussard, $2,500.
STEER WRESTLING
First Round: 1. Clayton Hass, 5.0 seconds, $3,000; 2. Payden McIntyre, 5.2, $2,000; 3. Ty Erickson, 15.8, $1,000; 4. Mike McGinn, 19.4, $750; no other qualified runs.
Second Round: 1. Cody Devers, 5.6 seconds, $3,000; 2. Ty Erickson, 6.4, $2,000; 3. Payden McIntyre, 6.9, $1,000; 4. Clayton Hass, 7.0, $750; 5. Cody Cabral, 8.7, $500; 6. Dalton Massey, 14.9, $250.
Third Round: 1. Dalton Massey, 4.9 seconds, $3,000; 2. Clayton Hass, 5.8, $2,000; 3. Hunter Cure, 6.2, $1,000; 4. Cody Cabral, 6.8, $750; 5. Payden McIntyre, 11.9, $500; 6. Cody Devers, $15.0, $250.
Semifinal Qualifiers: 1. Clayton Hass, $5,750; 2. Payden McIntyre, $3,500; 3. Dalton Massey, $3,250; 4. Cody Devers, $3.250.
TEAM ROPING
First Round: 1. Marcus Theriot/Cole Curry, 6.0 seconds, $3,000 each; 2. (tie) Chace Thompson/Tyson Thompson and Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 6.1, $1,500 each; 4. Derrick Begay/Chase Tryan, 6.2, $750; 5. Coy Rahlmann/Jonathan Torres, 6.6, $500; 6. Levi Simpson/Corey Hendrick, 6.7, $250.
Second Round: 1. Levi Simpson/Corey Hendricks, 6.6 seconds, $3,000; 2. Coy Rahlmann/Jonathan Torres, 7.7, $2,000; 3. Marcus Theriot/Cole Curry, 11.8, $1,000; 4. Chace Thompson/Tyson Thompson, 15.7, $750; no other qualified runs.
Third Round: 1. Nelson Wyatt/Justin Davis, 5.2 seconds, $3,000 each; 2. Derrick Begay/Chase Tryan, 5.3, $2,000; 3. Coy Rahlmann/Jonathan Torres, 6.1, $1,000; 4. Joshua Torres/Cutter Thomison, 10.6, $750; no other qualified runs.
Semifinal Qualifiers: 1. Marcus Theriot/Cole Curry, $4,000 each; 2. Coy Rahlmann/Jonathan Torres, $3,500; 3. Levi Simpson/Corey Hendricks, $3,250; 4. Nelson Wyatt/Justin Davis, $3,000.
SADDLE BRONC RIDING
First Round: 1. Logan Hay, 83.5 points on Calgary Stampede’s Sgt. Whitney, $3,000; 2. (tie) Dawson Hay, Riggin Smith and Brody Wells, 83, $1,250 each; 5. Zeke Thurston, 82.5, $500; 6. Damian Brennan, 81.5, $250.
Second Round: 1. Logan Hay, 86.5 points on Calgary Stampede’s Umber Bubbles, $3,000; 2. Riggin Smith, 84.5, $2,000; 3. Zeke Thurston, 82.5, $1,000; 4. Brody Wells, 79, $750; 5. Jesse Wright, 78, $500; 6. Spencer Wright, 70, $250.
Third Round: 1. Zeke Thurston, 88 points on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Ed Bishop, $3,000; 2. Brody Wells, 81.5, $2,000; 3. Damian Brennan, 81, $1,000; 4. Dawson Hay, 80.5, $750; 5. Riggin Smith, 77, $500; no other qualified rides.
Semifinal Qualifiers: 1. Logan Hay, $6,000; 2. Zeke Thurston, $4,500; 3. Brody Wells, $4,000; 4. Riggin Smith, $3,750.
TIE-DOWN ROPING
First Round: 1. Adam Gray, 11.5 seconds, $3,000; 2. Tanner Green, 12.4, $2,000; 3. Trevor Hale, 12.8, $1,000; 4. Cory Solomon, 12.9, $750; 5. Macon Murphy, 13.0, $500; no other qualified runs.
Second Round: 1. Andrew Burks, 10.2 seconds, $3,000; 2. Trevor Hale, 10.5, $2,000; 3. Adam Gray, 10.6, $1,000; 4. Tanner Green, 11.7, $750; 5. Macon Murphy, 13.9, $500; no other qualified runs.
Third Round: 1. Cory Solomon, 9.7 seconds, $3,000; 2. Macon Murphy, 9.8, $2,000; 3. Taylor Santos, 12.9, $1,000; 4. Michael Otero, 13.6, $750; 5. Adam Gray, 16.4, $500; 6. Tanner Green, 21.5, $250.
Semifinal Qualifiers: 1 Adam Gray, $4,500; 2. Cory Solomon, $3,750; 3. (tie) Macon Murphy and Tanner Green, $3,000 each.
BARREL RACING
First Round: 1. Stevi Hillman, 14.66 seconds, $3,000; 2. Kelly Allen, 15.02, $2,000; 3. Iyssa Riley, 15.03, $1,000; 4. Megan McLeod-Sprague, 15.04, $750; 5. Sissy Winn, 15.08, $500; 6. Cheyenne Allan, 15.64, $250.
Second Round: 1. Stevi Hillman, 14.64 seconds, $3,000; 2. Ilyssa Riley, 14.85, $2,000; 3. Cheyenne Wimberley, 14.90, $1,000; 4. Jackie Ganter, 15.01, $750; 5. Sissy Winn, 15.18, $500. 6. Kelly Allen, 15.20, $250.
Third Round: 1. Sissy Winn, 14.51 seconds, $3,000; 2. Stevi Hillman, 14.66, $2,000; 3. Cheyenne Wimberly, 15.04, $750; 5. Jackie Ganter, 15.13, $500; 6. Ilyssa Riley, 15.32, $250. Semifinal qualifiers: 1. Stevi Hillman, $8,000; 2. Sissy Winn, $4,000; 3. Ilyssa Riley, $3,250; 4. Kelly Allen, $3,000.
BULL RIDING
First Round: *1. Jeff Askey, 79 points on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Ragin Cajun, $7,500; no other qualified rides.
Second Round: *1. (tie) Ernie Courson Jr., on Cervi Brothers Rodeo’s Bad Memory and T. Parker, on Cervi Brothers Rodeo’s Wooster, 85.5, $2,688 each; 3. Josh Frost, 84.5, $1,188; 4. Lukasey Morris, 70, $938; no other qualified rides.
Third Round: *1. Jeff Askey, 88.5 points on Big Rafter Rodeo’s Silver Bullet, $4,250; 2. Ernie Courson Jr., 83.5, $3,350; no other qualified rides.
Semifinal Qualifiers: 1. Jeff Askey, $6,000; 2. Ernie Courson Jr., $4,500; 3. T. Parker, $2,500; 4. Josh Frost, $1,000.
BREAKAWAY ROPING
First Round: 1. Sarah Angelone, 3.00 seconds, $3,000; 2. Martha Angelone, 4.20, $2,000; 3. Kendal Pierson, 4.30, $1,000; no other qualified runs.
Second Round: 1. Sarah Angelone, 3.40 seconds, $3,000; 2. Kendal Pierson, 3.50, $2,000; 3. Sawyer Gilbert, 3.60, $1,000; 4. Bryana Lehrmann, 4.10, $750; no other qualified runs.
Third Round: 1. Tiffany Schieck, 3.20 seconds, $3,000; 2. Martha Angelone, 3.30, $2,000; 3. Brighton Bauman, 3.7, $1,000; 4. Sawyer Gilbert, 3.90, $750; no other qualified runs.
Semifinal Qualifiers: 1. Sarah Angelone, $6,000; 2. Martha Angelone, $4,000; 3. (tie) Tiffany Schieck and Kendal Pierson, $3,000 each.