Toughest Team Roping Finals Ever

Well we are all back home from the NFR. What happened has happened. It passes in a blur. The routine is almost the same everyday so all the days kinda run together. Main thing that is different is how you do each night. So for Garret T it's really a blur. Won the round every night. It was a week of ups and downs for us. Started slow then we won second in two rounds which was cool and depressing at the same time. We would take second every night. But once you go 4 1 or 4 2 you hope you might win a round.

I had ran 18 steers there and not won one round. So we were winning rounds 3 and 4 with 2 teams to go both nights and got moved to second. Anyway, I dealt with the ups and downs a lot better this time. I dealt if we kept going at them we would do ok. So we win second in three rounds with three rounds to go. But we were sitting 11th in the average. So even though we were in the lead in money we would be behind if the average was paid so we go 4 6 plus 5 in the eighth round we were 12th in that go and would have been 12 th with a 4 6.

Toughest round I ever seen at the finals. But the three teams that were long were ahead of us in the average so we moved up to eighth with two rounds to go. Randon's Dad went into panic mode and dealt like we were nearly done so we went out and roped most of the day. I had borrowed a horse - Handsome - from Shane Sproul for a backup. Chad Masters road him there in 03 and 04 and that is his best deal. Going for first in a short set up. So I dealt like if I could make a good run on him and place high in the round that would put us back in the drivers seat instead of Trevor.

Well we were 3 7 and won the round. Garrett was last out and almost moved us again. Trevor made a great run of 4 0 but broke the barrier. Which ended up they missed the record by 1 second. They roped as good a finals as I've seen. Actually that was the toughest team roping there has ever been at the finals. A leg never placed in one go. Average was pretty tough. All average money was paid on 10 head. Fastest go round times ever.

Anyway, we moved up to 6th in the average after the 9th round and had a good lead in money so now all we have to do is maintain our average position in the tenth round. So I got back on Nick. Had a good steer. Won fourth in the round and moved up to fourth in the average. Ended up the World Champ. Different the second time. Not quite as sweet, but much more enjoyable to win it with your partner. The same guy you spent so much time with all year. In that regard it was so much better.

We were there all day Sunday, finally left about 8:00 that night and came all the way home. Got to Pima about 4:00 a m. But I was ready to be here. I had left home the day after Thanksgiving. My kids were there for three days over the first weekend and we had a good time but Vegas is a tough place to entertain kids for that long. So now we are home getting ready for Christmas and starting to enter rodeos for next year. Start trying again. Roping with Wren Richard this year. Looking forward to a great year.

Champs at Omaha!

Sept. 25th
At Omaha, Nebraska. Minors 4 5. They rode mine and Randon’s horses. Jake Barnes 4 8. Jo Jo Lamond 4 9. Jake and Marty 5 2. Most everybody caught smooth except Garrett. Walt Woodard lost his rope. Is three loops. Mike Jones one foot. Broc Crests one foot. Gas is $3.23 in Omaha. That is kinda aggravating. $3.60 in Pima. That’s it for my thoughts. Sucks not winning. They better keep us out of the top 8.

Sept. 26th
Omaha round two. Travis split the round with Speed. Me and Colter split third. Guys that made it in order: Minors, Jo Jo, Colter, Jake Stanley, Speed, Matt and Cory, us, Jake Barnes. Top 8 at Omaha – Jake Barnes waved it off. We were 4 3 plus 5. Matt Funk 4 4 plus 10. Speed was 4 4 plus 5 so we were still in the lead with 4 guys left. Nervous! Next was Jake Stanley, he’d gotten on a different horse under the pressure of his partner. Lost his roper. Colter went 5 3. Jo Jo was 5 1. Minors – no time – steer ducked his head, header missed. They won 7,800. Top 4 - Speed lost his rope. We were 4 3. Colter missed. Jo Jo 4 3 plus 5. So we are the champs!

Sept. 28.
Flew to a roping today and headed home. Almost over. Jo Jo won the most. Then us then Minors. Colter then probably Speed.

Official Omaha Results - Team Roping
1
Matt Sherwood
Pima, Ariz.
Randon Adams
Logandale, Nev.
4.3
$7,500.00

2
Jojo Lemond
Andrews, Texas
Martin Lucero
Stephenville, Texas
9.3
$5,000.00

3
Colter Todd
Marana, Ariz.
Cesar De La Cruz
Tucson, Ariz.
26
$0.00

4
Speed Williams
Deleon, Texas
Michael Jones
Stephenville, Texas
NT
$0.00

Team Roping Average
1
Jojo Lemond
Martin Lucero
$13,437.50

2
Matt Sherwood
Randon Adams
$10,781.25

3
Riley Minor
Brady Minor
$7,500.00

4
Colter Todd
Cesar De La Cruz
$6,093.75

5
Speed Williams
Michael Jones
$4,218.75

6
Travis Tryan
Walt Woodard
$3,281.25

7
Jake Barnes
Clay Cooper
$2,812.50

8
Jake Stanley
Marty Becker
$1,875.00

Pendleton in is the books

Pendleton is in the books. Short go was today. Beers and Corkill won the first go, fifth in second go. High team. Charley Crawford placed both goes second call. Wade Wheatley won second go third high call we placed in both goes fourth call, then Luke Brown fifth. K short go. Jake and clay first out 19 on two had a leg on one went 6 flat. Second i n short go fifth in average about 2600.

Jason Stewart and Dean Tuftin 5 8 won short go fourth in average. Chad Masters got out ran unfair steer. Hauled butt. Jason Handy same thing. 13 smooth. Won 8th. Casey Smith one foot 7th. Waylon McCurly and Joseph were 7 - won second. Luke Brown - who needed to do good went 7, won it.

That leaves the top 4 and only 2 bottom holes. Well we were 5 8 plus 5 steer checked off. Ended up third. Wade's heeler missed. Charley's head loop came off as he turned him. Jade missed the first loop. Ended up 6th. I think that put Luke in. Monty Jo needs more. And big help for Jake and Clay.

I went home for a couple of days and had to get up at 2am to head for the airport. Now we have a 20-hour drive to Albuquerque, NM so I'll get some sleep. Two more full weeks. Time will tell. We have already been going for 2 hours so only 18 more....

Keeping Pace

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Caldwell Tour second round - Chance Kelton and Boogie split first with Logan Olson and broc. Travis Tryan won third which also put them in the top 8 for a chance at more your points. Trevor B won fourth and also split third in the average with Derrick Flemming and Cody Cowden. Speed and Al split first with Spencer Mitchell and Jo Shanego. Too 8 was split by Speed and Travis Tryan. Jake Stanley and Jade Corkill. Then Spencer and Jo were third and fourth. Top four went Jake Stanley first. Speed second they had one foot for second Travis had a barrier.

I went home for a week from there then had to fly to Washington for two rodeos. Kenawick was back to back we had them both on Friday. We won sixth there. Trevor and Patrick had a great week. Placed in both rounds and won the average. Brandon Beers won second with Jade. Kevin and Cory did good. Clay Tryan and Kory. Fifth with one foot on the second one. Then to Bremerton - David Key did great in both rounds and won the average with Marty Becker. Trevor and Patrick were second, Clay and Kory placed.

Then we were in San Juan on Sunday for the second performance. Trevor was winning with a 4 5, we went 4 8, Clay and Kory were 4 9 - split third with Colter and Cesar. Mike Beers and Shane Sproul 5 0 Travis and Walt 5 2 three 5 7s and a 5 8 - so pretty tough in California.

Pueblo, Colorado was Monday - Speed and Al split it with Justin Young. Legs won the last three four holes. We were fourth in the first go. Bad handle on the second one. Half of the guys there were borrowing horses, most of the winners had their own there.

Tuesday was Walla Walla, Washington, which is three head. Two on Tuesday. Dave Key won the first round is in lead in average. Speed placed in both in second, Chad Masters split first round - had one foot on second one. Jake and Clay third on first one - sitting good. We were 4 8 split fourth. Tough go round. I had a hickey on the second one. No time.

Then to Ellensburg. Matt Funk first 4 8. BJ Campbell second 5 1. We were third 5 2. Chad Masters fourth 5 6 Derrick Begay fifth 5 7. Joe Bartlett and Andy Carlson 5 9 Chance Kelton 6 2 Colter Todd 6 5.

Top 36 start in the perfs. Today. Clay Tryan smooth. Face key long Jake and Clay no time. Trav and Walt 9 8. 20 smooth runs in first go. All no times started second go yesterday. Jake and Clay 5 1. Logan Olsan. 5 4. Trevor made a big move. Walt. Clay and Kory. Dave and Marty. All doing good.

Ellensburg, Wa. Chad masters and Mike Jones dominated all the way through. Winning the second and third rounds and the average. Matt Funk won second. Tittles did good. As well as the Turtle Powell. And bBJ cambell and Russell Cordoza. Speed and Al won Walla Walla. Jake and Clay also did good there giving them important money. Second tour rodeo starts Friday. Hope we all can do good there.

New Teams Shaping Up

Ok here we go… first round at Caldwell is over with all the new partnerships taken off! First we need to catch up a little from last week. Lovington, New Mexicio - great rodeo! Back-to-back where you run both steers the same day. Three of the first four holes were won in the first set - just to show that all sets are fair. Turtle Powell placed in both rounds and won the average. We went in the last set were 7 1 on the first one and 5 0. Won the second round and fifth in average. Derrick won second, Luke Brown third, Jody Pinkert fourth. Hermiston was won by Speed and Al. Joel Bach won second, we placed in the first round and last in the average with one foot in the second go. Turtle Powell also won a big one-header in Missoula, Montana, 2,800 was a 4.5. Justin Yosy and Jory Levy were 4.4 in the second go at Hermiston - arena record. Colter and Cesar were 3.8 at Lawton, Oklahoma - arena record there. Ty Blaster and Cody Hintz placed in both rounds and won the average. Ty is 16th and has a good chance at the finals with a good finish. Caldwell first round was in slack yesterday - now we all come back in the perfs the next four days. First place was a tie between Derrick Flemming and Cody Cowden with Jake and Jim Cooper, third was split with Jake Stanley and Jade Corkhill roping together at the tours with Spencer Mitchell and Joseph Shawnego. First was 5.2, third was 5.3.

New teams at the tours: Clay and Kory Koontz were 5.8 - good run. Travis and Walt were 4.7 with one foot. Dave Key and Marty Becker waved off head loop. Chad and Mike Jones 5 something - smooth. Good Run. Colter no good. Kevin Daniels no good, Derrick Begay no good, Logan Olson no good, Speed 5.9 runner, Garrett Tonozzi 6 something – smooth. Nick and Wren - no good. Trevor B 6 something. Me and Randon 6.8 - bad run missed the barrier - a little steer tried. Need to make a good run and we might be ok. Minors - no good. Lot of guys need to get points here to get on to the next tours or chances start to get slimmer. Rodeo count starting to wind down so everything else is heating up.

FYI - last guy out in the calf roping, Seth Hopper 8.5, wo the round. Micheal Atero was second 9.0. Cody Ohl did not make the tours.

Go to www.theamericanroper.com for more info or you can email me at matt@theamericanroper.com.

Partner Update

One more update - Mike Jones will be roping with Chad masters. Don't know what jade is going to do yet.

See the end of my last entry for the full scoop on all the recent partner changes. Also check out http://www.theamericanroper.com/ for the latest roping news and events.

Lots of News in the Team Roping World

Lots of news in the team roping world. The week of Casper, Sheridan, Colorado Springs, and Vernal was a week of tough go rounds and easy averages. Sheridan was the only average that stayed tough. We were 4.9, won 4th in the first round. 4.7 in the 2nd round, won second in the second round and ended up splitting 2nd and 3rd in the average.

Travis Woodard was 5.0 then 4.6 to win the average. 10.5 won 8th in the ave. Both rounds at Colorado Springs were won with a 4.2 Derrick Begay 1st round Travis Tryan 2nd round. Garrett Tonozzi won the average - 11.1 - only 4 teams caught smooth on two. Same scenario in Casper. We won 4th in the first round then I missed the second steer to win the average. Had to be 4 to place in both rounds, average fell apart. Turtle Powell won the average at Vernal 4.9 4.5 placing in both rounds. Coopers won 2nd. Jodi Pinkerd won 3rd. We were plus 5 on the first steer, then 5.5 and won 5th in the 2nd go.

Nampa started on the 14th, only 11 teams caught two to make the short round. We were 5.1 to win 3rd in the first round. Came back Saturday afternoon in the 2nd round, only 7 teams had caught two. All we had to do was catch to make it back. We were 5.4 coming back high team.

After the first round at Nampa we drove to Salt Lake City for slack on Tuesday. No time on the first steer for us. Derrick Begay won the first round 4.6 Jojo Lemond won 2nd 4.8. Drove to Cheyenne for slack on Wednesday. 9.5 with a hickey on horn so no time. Logan Olsen won the round with a 7.3 6,200.00 hit. Derrick Begay won 2nd with a 7.6. Big checks for both teams.

Short go for Cheyenne on the 27th. We turned the 2nd one out at Cheyenne to go to Salinas. Jojo and Matin won the average. Cody McMin and Travis Woodard won 2nd. Missed every one at Salinas. Wished I would have stayed in Cheyenne. Sorry Randon

Flew from Salinas to Nampa to rope in the 2nd and short rounds. Speed and Al won Nampa - the only team to catch all doubles. We were 2nd with a leg in the short round. A barrier won 4th.

Some poor roping lately has lead to some good teams splitting up. Here is the latest that I know about - Clay and Walt - done. Walt is going home. Dave Key and Kory Koontz - done. Clay Tryan and Kory Koontz together. Jake Stanley and Marty Becker - done. David Key and Marty Becker. Travis Tryan Micheal Jones winning the world - done. Walt Woodard never made it home. Travis Tryan and Walt together.

We will see how it goes and keep you posted. Be sure to check out http://www.theamericanroper.com/ for the latest in team roping. Have questions about life on the road? You can email me at matt@theamericanroper.com