Hooves pound the dirt, a lasso whips through the air, the calf hits the ground, and a cowboy completes the tie, raising his hands in victory as the announcer booms the score. The fans go wild and cheer the ropers on, clapping politely when the calf gets away or the time isn’t as good.
The overall mood is festive, with both locals and out-of-towners filling the stadium seats for the 60th Annual Cinch Roping Fiesta at the Wells Fargo Pavilion.
The excitement began on Friday and ran through Sunday, drawing in several roping hopefuls with a desire to take home the prize.
Riding and roping to packed stands of fans who had turned out to see world champions compete at the west Texas pastime, cowboys hit the dirt against one another for the chance to win good prize money, and be among the top ten to move on to the semi-finals of RFD-TV’s ‘The American,’ the world’s richest one-day rodeo.
“I’ve been involved for 25 years,” said Jim Hughes, San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo Association (SASSRA) Board of Directors member, “Ever since I was a little kid I’ve had some relatives in it.”
Hughes is continuing his family’s tradition, his sons were working the calf chute, “we’ve been involved in it for 40 years, and my boys have since junior rodeo,” all the while, the grandson stood back observing.
“We’ll indoctrinate him when he gets a little older” Hughes laughed, then explained once his grandson is both old and strong enough to contribute that he will be right there with the rest of his family, continuing the Hughes tradition.
Hughes mentioned that the fall roping event in San Angelo has drawn a great deal of winners that keep coming back even when they are no longer roping.
“There’s lots of world champion buckles running around here,” he said, as he pointed each of them out.
One such buckle was Roy ‘Super Looper’ Cooper, a hall-of-famer who qualified for the National Pro Rodeo Finals 32 times, of which he won eight.
Cooper watched his boys Clint, Clif and Tuf Cooper rope from the sidelines of the area and reminisced about his time roping in San Angelo.
“I roped here when I was a senior in high school and won it when I was in college in 1974” he explained, stating that he and his family haven’t missed many fall roping events in San Angelo.
Cooper and his sons have been coming to San Angelo for years, and aside from the winning traditions, they enjoy the town as well, “Oh yeah, it’s nice to come and visit and see old friends again,” Cooper said.
As far as the current competition was going, Cooper was having a good time and enjoying the cool October weather, “It’s a good roping and a great field as long as we’ve got good weather,” he observed, turning nostalgic.
He remembers Clint making the second fastest time in the arena with an 8.12, even though now it’s dropped down to third. Unfortunately, Clint had missed his first calf, and therefore was out of the running.
Clint himself had more to say about roping in San Angelo than his own accomplishment.
“Me Clif and Tuf grew up here watching our dad rope,” he smiled. “It’s a blessing,” he said in reference to his good run.
Aside from the long-running tradition of fall roping in San Angelo, the prize money, like the $20,000 pot for match roping is just too good to pass up.
“I felt very blessed—who doesn’t want to come rope for a lot of money like this” said Blaine Cox from Cameron, Texas, who qualified for the tie down roping in Friday’s preliminaries.
Corey Ross, longtime cowboy and preacher for Sunday’s Cowboy Church agreed, “This is one of the best ropings in the United States for a jackpot.”
That’s why he and young Seth Ross visited San Angelo: to enjoy the show and to continue the Cowboy Church Tradition Sunday morning in the Coliseum.
“That’s a big part of this roping. Lot of Christians want to have some church,” he explained. As the cowboys are constantly traveling, finding churches is difficult, so cowboy church services have sprung up to fill that void.
Whether the tradition is Cowboy Church, family, or just a yearly pastime for families, the fall roping events in San Angelo seem to remain as popular as ever.
Many fans stated that they have come to the Roping Fiesta every year, and plan to continue doing so, and many of the ropers come every year, with the new faces enjoying their first time roping in San Angelo.
The packed stands and loud cheers speaks for itself.
Check out RFD-TV’s page for results if you missed the Cinch Roping Fiesta, at http://www.rfdtv.com/story/23710465/the-american-results-page, and make sure you watch the finals in Houston and cheer on your favorite cowboy.
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