The World Champions Rodeo Alliance’s Rodeo Corpus Christi kicked off May 7. Rodeo Corpus Christi and WCRA recently announced increased payout of more than $600,500 in prize money for the 2024 WCRA Triple Crown of Rodeo Event. The May 7-11 lineup of events kicked off with the CEAT Specialty Tires Division Youth Showcase Rodeo on May 7. Rodeo Corpus Christi coincides with the annual Buc Days Festival and the PBR Velocity Tour Finals at the American Bank Center on the picturesque Corpus Christi Bayfront.
ARTICLE COURTESY WCRA
Amy Ohrt Takes Home Two Event Titles and $5,000
MAY 7, 2024, (CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS) — In Corpus Christi’s American Bank Center on Tuesday evening, 11 youth rodeo athletes from around the country were crowned champions at the $55,000 WCRA CEAT Division Youth (DY) Showcase. Each Champion took home a minimum of $2,000. Nobody at the showcase event was more successful than Amy Ohrt of Victoria, Texas. She won the top spot in two out of three disciplines, in which she competed earning a total of $5,000.
The 2024 WCRA DY Series annually features four CEAT Specialty WCRA Division Youth Showcase events. The Rodeo Corpus Christi event is the final event before the 2024 DY leaderboard wraps up, leading into the 2024 World Championship Junior Rodeo.
As the goat tying began in 2023, Ohrt and Breely Armes (Crosbyton, Texas) quickly became involved in a shootout for the DY championship crown. Ultimately, Ohrt locked in the championship, topping Arme’s 7.58-second time with a 7.44-second run. Ohrt also captured the breakaway roping title, stopping the clock at 2.29, defeating Jorgia Nixon’s 2.32 seconds.
This is the second time Ohrt has won two event titles at a DY Showcase, the first being in November 2023.
Follow along with all the highlights in the barrel racing at Rodeo Corpus Christi here.
Wyatt Williams (San Angelo, Texas) captured the bareback riding event title and the accompanying $2,000 payday after scoring 72 points, edging Triston Flinn’s (Hico, Texas) 71 points.
The 2023 WCJR All-Around Champion Briar White (Portales, New Mexico) was the undeniable star of the tie-down roping after earning another WCRA under his belt courtesy of his 9.17 time. White came ahead of Bryce Ehlinger (Iowa, Louisianna), who ran a 13.85.
Worth Evans (Burnet, Texas) set the bar high for the pole-bending event, starting a day of lightning-fast runs. She found herself in close competition with Rylie Edens (Hillsboro, Texas). Both ladies expertly navigated the course, but Evan’s time of 20.071 pushed her to the top of the leaderboard and made her the event champion. Edens came in second place, trailing Evans with a time of 20.968.
Wyatt Lavergne (Sulphur, Louisiana) delivered the only 80.0+ performance in the saddle bronc riding. The event champion earned the highest-marked ride of the night, outscoring Ethan Cart’s (Hamshire, Texas) 73-point score and Colt Bass’s (Statesville, North Carolina) 70-point score.
Jake Shelton (Krum, Texas) was unstoppable in steer wrestling. The No. 3 ranked athlete on the WCRA DY Leaderboard ran the only time under 10 seconds, distancing himself from Colton Wilson’s (Bertram, Texas) 10.89-second time.
Conley Kleinhans (Montague, Texas) and Brant Cookston (Richmond, Texas) stood out in the team roping. The pair delivered a 5.4-second run to win the top spot, one of only three team roping pairs to deliver a qualified run. Rendon Powledge (Grandview, Texas) and Kaitlyn Torres (Alice, Texas) also earned the No. 2 spot after logging an impressive 6.31.
As the event continued, a hotly contested race in the barrel racing began. Emily Askew (Sealy, Texas) and Riley Isbell (Salado, Texas) finished the event edging each other’s times. Askew navigated the course with ease sitting atop, Gray Man, and ran the fastest time of the day with a 14.4-second time, edging out Isbell’s 14.667-second time.
As one of only four bull riders to cover, Dalton Allred (Cleveland, Utah) scored an 83.0 atop Meatball and found himself topping Hudson Bolton’s (Milan, Tennesse) 81.1 score and Jesus Villa Jr (Weatherford, Texas) 76.5 score.
