Red-Hot Oklahoma Cowboy Tops Loaded Field to Tie Saddle Bronc Lead

SAN ANGELO, TX — Saddle bronc rider Colt Gordon continued his red-hot start to 2019 during the fourth performance of the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo on Sunday.

The Comanche, Oklahoma, cowboy rode Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Sadie’s Gal for 87 points to tie Cody DeMoss atop the round standings.

The 21-year-old Clarendon College product has now scored on 10 of the 12 horses he’s saddled in the 2019 season. 

Making the big rodeos like San Angelo is a focal point this year for Gordon, who barely missed the National Finals in 2018.

“To start the year off like that, it’s real big,” Gordon said. “I kinda had a rough go last year at the end of the year. Stayed in the top 15 all year and kinda missed these bigger rodeos at the first of the winter and missed the short gos. To get in the short go of this rodeo would be nice and keep the momentum going.”

In addition to his top spot in San Angelo, Gordon is working to make the short round in Fort Worth. He’s currently in a three-way tie for fourth place in the second round there with an average score of 82.5 on two rides.

Those results keep things looking up for the Comanche kid searching for his first National Finals Rodeo qualification.

“A lot of rough stock riding is being positive and knowing you’re going to be riding good going into the rodeo,” Gordon said. “It means a lot to be confident about it.”

Gordon’s performance-best score came on a night where big names like defending San Angelo and World Champion Wade Sundell and Alex, Jake and Jesse Wright, of the famous Wright rodeo lineage, converged on San Angelo.

Riding like that in front of guys he’s looked up to for a while holds a special meaning to Gordon.

“That means everything,” Gordon said. “I’d rather come ride against these guys every day. When you do win, you’ve got something to show for it. When you fall off, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s part of the game.”

Sundell threw his name into the mix to defend his San Angelo title a week before his birthday. The 33-year-old rode Pete Carr’s Hometown Girl for 83 points. It was his just his third qualified ride out of three attempts in the calendar year.

“Oh, it feels pretty good,” the Boxholm, Iowa-based cowboy said. “It’s kinda the first one back. It’s always a good time. It’s always good to come back to San Angelo.”

With the loaded lineup at Sunday’s performance, Sundell had his fair share of fun getting back into the swing of things in his title defense year.

“That makes it a lot of fun,” Sundell said. “It’s getting tougher and tougher every time you turn around. You’ve gotta bear down. You can’t be stubbin’ no toe because you’re not gonna win nothin’ if you don’t do it right.”

The best team roping duo in the country right now kept their scorching hot pace by tying the arena record on Sunday.

Clay Smith (header) and Jake Long (Heeler) controlled their steer in 3.5 seconds to take the second round lead on Sunday. With their 3.6-second run on Saturday, the two are currently sitting atop the average with 7.1 seconds in two runs.

The duo is coming off wins at the Texas Circuit finals and the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver.

“I think we’re roping really well right now,” said Long, an eight-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier in heeling from Coffeyville, Kansas. “Our horses are working great. We’re drawing good steers, and we’re both just doing our jobs.”  

A Mississippi cowgirl made her Coliseum debut one to remember after taking the top spot in the barrel racing standings on Sunday.

Nicole Love, of Morton, Mississippi, ran a rodeo-best 14.08 seconds around the three barrels during the final performance of the first week of the rodeo. For perspective, the winning time of the 2018 rodeo was 14.21.

Love’s time on Sunday helped her to a combined time of 30.20 seconds and the lead in the average.

However, Love had a pretty big scare -- her horse, Josie, nearly knocked over the second barrel. That would’ve knocked her out of contention in the average and the round. Thanks to a quick reaction, Love was able to set the barrel back on its base heading into the final turn.

“I’m not really good at saving barrels. It just so happened to work out that time,” Love laughed. “I was like ‘Oh! Good!’ Then I was like, ‘Oh! We still have one more.’ So, all I could think was kick and just do whatever you can to get [Josie] by it.”

It’s been tough for Love over the last few weeks. In two weeks, she’s ran at seven different rodeos, only turning in times at three of them. She was even thinking about just heading home after hitting a barrel at a rodeo in Oklahoma. Her confidence is way up after torching the Coliseum dirt.

“It certainly boosted my confidence,” Love said. “I ran in McAllister, Oklahoma, yesterday. [Josie] slipped and bumped the third barrel over. I had to talk myself into coming here. I was like, ‘I could be home in eight hours or in San Angelo in six.’ The only two rodeos I’ve done decent at were here and Fort Worth … After the two weeks that I’ve had, I was really considering just staying (home).”

Love is currently making the short round at Fort Worth. She plans to return there after a trip to the Dixie National Rodeo in Jackson, Mississippi.

The 87th San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo will have its next performance on Friday, Feb. 8, at 7:30 p.m.

San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo — Feb. 1-3, Feb. 8-10, Feb. 13-15

Bareback riding leaders: 1. Bill Tutor, 88 points on Lancaster and Jones’ Highway Man; 2. (tie) Taylor Broussard and Jake Vold, 84; 4. Hunter Brasfield, 83; 5. Zach Hibler, 82; 6. Jesse Pope, 81; 7. Tony Barrington, 79; 8. (tie) Waylon Guy Burgeois and Connor Hamilton, 78; 10. Paden Hurst, 77.5; 11. Wyatt Maines, 77; 12. BoDell Jessen, 76. 

Steer wrestling: First round leaders: 1. Jacob Talley, 4.0 seconds; 2. Kyle Irwin, 4.7; 3. Blake Knowles, 4.9; 4. (tie) Jacob Edler and Tyler Pearson, 5.0; 6. Steven Culling, 5.5; 7. Dalton Massey, 70; 8. Shane Frey, 7.2. Second round: 1. Tanner Brunner, 4.0 seconds; 2. (tie) Jacob Edler and Stephen Culling, 4.2; 4. (tie) Tyler Waguespack and Blake Knowles, 4.3; 6. Dalton Massey, 4.4; 7. Tyler Pearson, 4.5; 8. Eli Lord, 4.8. Average: 1. (tie) Jacob Edler and Blake Knowles, 9.2 seconds on two runs; 3. Tyler Pearson, 9.5; 4. Stephen Culling, 9.7; 5. Dalton Massey, 11.4; 6. Tanner Brunner, 17.8; 7. Hunter Cure, 27.5; 8. Jacob Talley, 4.0 seconds on one run; 9. Tyler Waguespack, 4.3; 10. Kyle Irwin, 4.7; 11. Eli Lord, 4.8; 12. Jason Thomas, 5.8.

Team roping: First round leaders: 1. Clay Smith/Jake Long, 3.6 seconds; 2. (tie) Justin Yost/Jake Edwards and Aaron Tsinigine/Kyle Lockett, 4.3; 4. Eli Lord/J.W. Beck, 4.6; 5. Billy Bob Brown/Shay Carroll, 4.7; 6. Bart Brunson/Trace Poter, 7.5; 7. Derrick Begay/Cory Petska, 9.3; 8. Jacob Dagenhart/Zack Mabry, 9.6. Second round leaders: 1. Clay Smith/Jake Long, 3.5 seconds; 2. Luke Brown/Paul Eaves, 3.6; 3. Aaron Tsinigine/Kyle Lockett, 3.8; 4. Bart Brunson/Trace Porter, 4.0; 5. Erich Rogers/Clint Summers, 4.3; 6. Rhen Richard/Quinn Kesler, 9.0; 7. Jacob Dagenhart/Zack Mabry, 9.8; 8. Tyler Wade/Billie Jack Saebens, 13.8. Average leaders: 1. Clay Smith/Jake Long, 7.1 seconds on two runs; 2. Aaron Tsinigine/Kyle Lockett, 8.1; 3. Bart Brunson/Trace Porter, 11.5; 4. Jacob Deganhart/Zack Mabry, 19.4; 5. Rhen Richard/Quinn Kesler, 23.2; 6. Eli Lord/J.W. Beck, 24.7; 7. Luke Brown/Paul Eaves, 3.6 seconds on one run; 8. (tie) Justin Yost/Jake Edwards and Erich Rogers/Clint Summers, 4.3; 10. Billy Bob Brown/Shay Carrol, 4.7; 11. Derrick Begay/Cory Petska, 9.3; 12. Tyler Wade/Billy Jack Saebens, 13.8.  

Saddle bronc riding leaders: 1. (tie) Cody DeMoss, on Lancaster and Jones’ Total Equine Angel Fire, and Colt Gordon, on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Sadie’s Gal, 87 points; 3. (tie) Preston Burr and Wade Sundell, 83; 5. Aaron Lide, 82; 6. (tie) Tate Owens, Hawkins Boyce, Jake Wright and CoBurn Bradshaw, 81; 10. Josh Davison, 79.5; 11. (tie) Dawson Dahm and Jesse Wright, 79.  

Tie-down roping: First round leaders: 1. Jake Pratt, 7.0 seconds; 2. Tuf Cooper, 7.6; 3. Blane Cox, 7.7; 4. Haven Meged, 7.9; 5. (tie) Ike Fontenot and Westyn Hughes, 8.0; 7. Blake Ash, 8.4; 8. Cade Swor, 8.6. Second round leaders: 1. Justin Smith, 7.2 seconds; 2. Cimarron Boardman, 7.6; 3. Rhen Richard, 8.1; 4. (tie) Tyson Durfey and Blake Ash, 8.3; 6. Ryle Smih, 8.4; 7. Tuf Cooper, 8.5; 8. (tie) Haven Meged and Riley Pruitt, 8.6. Average leaders: 1. Jake Pratt, 15.9 seconds on two runs; 2. Tuf Cooper, 16.1; 3. Haven Meged, 16.5; 4. Blake Ash, 16.7; 5. Ryle Smith, 18.8; 6. Shad Mayfield, 18.9; 7. (tie) Lane Livingston and Riley Pruitt, 19.5; 9. Cooper Mathews, 21.3; 10. Ike Fontenot, 28.7; 11. Justin Smith, 7.2 seconds on one run; 12. Cimarron Boardman, 7.6. 

Barrel racing: Second round leaders: 1. Nicole Love, 14.r08 seconds; 2. (tie) Teri Bangart and Sherry Cervi, 14.29 seconds; 4. Stevi Hillman, 14.32; 5. Halyn Lide, 14.34; 6. Mindy Goemmer, 14.35; 7. Lois Ferguson, 14.40; 8. Christy Larsen, 14.44; 9. Kimberly Cockrell, 14.46; 10. Cheyenne Hattesen, 14.51. Average leaders: 1. Nicole Love, 30.20 seconds on two runs; 2. Teri Bangart, 30.59; 3. Stevi Hillman, 30.62; 4. Halyn Lyde, 30.79; 5. Kynzie McNeill, 30.80; 6. Carman Pozzobon, 30.81; 7. Ericka Nelson, 30.85; 8. Mindy Goemmer, 30.88; 9. Sherry Cervi, 30.89; 10. Jill Wilson, 30.93; 11. Kimberly Cockrell, 30.98; 12. Lois Ferguson, 31.03. 

Bull riding leaders: 1. Aaron Williams, 89 points on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Tequila Worm; 2. Brady Portenier, 87; 3. Rorey Maier, 85; 4. (tie) Cole Meloncon and Riker Carter, 84; 6. Aaron Pass, 83.5; 7. Dave Mason, 83; 8. (tie) Parker Breding and Koby Radley, 82; 10. J.T.  Moore, 81.5; 11. Sage Kimzey, 79; 12. Nathan Hatchel, 78.