Article and information provided courtesy Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo
JULY 22, 2019, Salt Lake City, Utah — It was a hot night at the Komatsu Equipment Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo presented by Zions Bank in Salt Lake City on July 22, both in temperature and rodeo action.
Jackie Crawford, 18-time Women’s Professional Rodeo Association World Champion breakaway roper, turned in a blistering fast run in the inaugural year of women’s breakaway at the Days of ’47 Arena. The Stephenville, Texas, cowgirl has never had a chance to compete for an Olympic-style medal and says it would definitely be a highlight of her storied career if she could leave Salt Lake City as the winner. She stopped the clock in 2.95 seconds to win the performance on night No. 3.
“It was a fast round tonight,” said Crawford, who drew up fourth in the performance order. “I had a chance to watch it Saturday, so I had an idea of how it could go. Obviously a lot of girls are leaving without the game plan they came in with. I just tried to make the best run I could as I knew how it could play out. We could have never imagined we would be having this opportunity to run for money like this.”
WPRA rookie leader and current world standings leader Taylor Munsell will join Crawford in looking to make history July 24 in the event of breakaway roping. Munsell of Alva, Oklahoma, stopped the clock in 3.97 seconds to advance.
Possibly the hottest barrel racer going down the road right now is Lisa Lockhart, and she kept it hot July 22 with a winning time of 17.291 on her great buckskin An Oakie with Cash. The Oelrichs, South Dakota, barrel racer just won the Calgary Stampede for $100,000 aboard her other speedy buckskin Rosas Cantina CC, and she’s had success in this arena the last two years. The first year in 2017 she won bronze and in 2018 she won silver.
Last year’s bronze medalist Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi will be looking to add to her medal collection as well, finishing second on the night with a time of 17.384. Pozzi Tonozzi of Lampasas Texas, will join her husband Garrett Tonozzi on July 24 as he will be competing for a gold medal in the team roping after having qualified on opening night.
A total of 288 competitors will take their shot at a share of the more than $1 million in prize money and a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal that will be awarded July 24. There will be 32 competitors in each of the following events—bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, women’s breakaway roping, barrel racing and bull riding.
Bareback rider Ty Breuer got the night started with an 86.25-point ride on Sankey Rodeo’s Exotic Blonde. Breuer, of Mandan, North Dakota, easily advanced to the Gold Medal Round on July 24 as the top two in each event receive an automatic qualification. Joining Breuer will be two-time gold medalist and defending champion Wyatt Denny. He is trying to make history here as well being the first cowboy to ever win three consecutive gold medals. Denny of Minden, Nevada, finished with an 84 on Sankey Rodeo’s Great Nation to ride again at Days of ’47 Arena on July 24.
Tyler Pearson saved the best for last in the steer wrestling as he was the last to compete on Monday night. He brought his A-game, stopping the clock in a time of 4.56 seconds to advance for a shot at $50,000. The 2017 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association World Champion Steer Wrestler from Atoka, Oklahoma, would love to add a gold medal next to his world championship gold buckle. He will be joined by Elko, Nevada’s, Dakota Eldridge who stopped the clock in 5.01 seconds to advance.
The Minor brothers were the top team in the team roping on Family Night at the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo. Riley and Brady of Ellensburg, Washington, stopped the clock in 5.19 seconds to advance to the final round on Pioneer Day at the rodeo Wednesday. They edged Nelson Wyatt of Clanton, Alabama, and Jake Long of Morgan Mill, Texas, who finished with a 5.35.
Taos Muncy of Corona, New Mexico, rode Sankey Rodeo’s Robin Hood for 83 points to take the saddle bronc riding win during Performance Three of the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo. Muncy will be back in two days to try and add $50,000 to his bank account. It might have taken two tries for Jake Foster, but the second ride was definitely worth it as he scored 79.25 on Powder River Rodeo’s Visible Injury to advance to the Gold Medal Round. Foster of Meadow, South Dakota, will be competing for a shot at Gold, Silver or Bronze Medal on July 24.
A couple of Texans topped the Utah leaderboard in the tie-down roping. Timber Moore of Aubrey, Texas, was 9.34 seconds, while Sterling Smith of Stephenville, Texas, was 9.67. They added $3,200 and $2,400, respectively, to their bank accounts July 22 night and are gunning for a shot at the winning prize of $50,000. The times from their first run don’t carry forward, and they will return to a clean slate in two days.
Unfortunately by the end of the night things had cooled off so much that there were no qualified rides in the bull riding. Therefore, no one automatically advances from Performance Three and the rodeo will now take four Wild Card athletes from the field of contestants based on scores or total ride time.
The full field of 32 competitors is divided into four groups of eight each and compete in one of the first four performances (July 19-20, 22-23). The top two from each performance, along with two via the Wild Card category, will advance to the Gold Medal Round on July 24. The 10 competitors in each event in the Gold Medal Round will compete in a sudden-death format with the winner collecting a Gold Medal and $50,000 cash.
The Komatsu Equipment Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo presented by Zions Bank is taking place at the $17.5 million state-of-the-art Days of ’47 Arena at the Utah State Fairpark, custom designed and built for rodeo. The venue—an outdoor arena located in the heart of Salt Lake City—features more than 10,000 stadium-style seats.
For only the fifth time in the history of rodeo, riders will have an opportunity to compete for Gold, Silver or Bronze Medals. The first two times were in conjunction with the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary (1988) and Salt Lake City (2002), when rodeo was part of the Cultural Olympiad and the other two times being the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo in 2017 and 2018. This will be the first time for breakaway ropers as they were not part of the aforementioned events. The medals that will be awarded at the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo will be produced by OC Tanner, the same company that made the Olympic medals for the champions of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
Tickets are still available at www.smithstix.com for the final two performances. For more information, visit www.daysof47cowboygames.com.
For those unable to attend, the Komatsu Equipment Days of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo will broadcast live nightly at 8 p.m. MT exclusively on RidePass via www.RidePass.com or the RidePass mobile app. RideTV will air each round, excluding the finals, nightly at 8 p.m. MT. CBS Sports Network will air a recap of each performance on tape delay with the third performance July 23 at 9:30 a.m. MT, the fourth July 24 at 9:30 am., and fifth performance at 10:30 am MT. CBS will air a highlight show of the Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo on July 28 at 10 a.m. MT.
Action at the Day of ’47 Cowboy Games & Rodeo continues July 23 at 8 p.m. MT.
Results, Performance 3, July 22
Breakaway roping: 1. Jackie Crawford, Stephenville, Texas, 2.95 seconds, $3,200; 2. Taylor Munsell, Alva, Okla., 3.97, $2,400; 3. Kelsie Chace, Cherokee, Okla., 4.74, $1,600; no other qualified times
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: Jackie Crawford and Taylor Munsell
Barrel racing: 1. Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D., 17.291 seconds, $3,200; 2. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, Lampasas, Texas, 17.384, $2,400; 3. Jennifer Driver, Garden City, Texas, 17.416, $1,600; 4. Britta Thiel, Belle Fourche, S.D., 17.427, $800.
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: Lisa Lockhart and Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi
Bareback riding: 1. Ty Breuer, Mandan, N.D., 86.25 points on Sankey Rodeo’s Exotic Blonde, $3,200; 2. Wyatt Denny, Minden, Nev., 84, $2,400; 3. Trenton Montero, Winnemucca, Nev., 81.5, $1,600; 4. Tanner Aus, New London, Minn., 80.75, $800
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: Ty Breuer and Wyatt Denny
Steer wrestling: 1. Tyler Pearson, Atoka, Okla., 4.56 seconds, $3,200; 2. Dakota Eldridge, Elko, Nev., 5.01, $2,400; 3. Tyler Waguespack, Gonzales, La., 5.20, $1,600; 4. Levi Rudd, Chelsea, Okla., 5.80, $800.
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: Tyler Pearson and Dakota Eldridge
Team roping: 1. Riley Minor/Brady Minor, Ellensburg, Wa., 5.19 seconds, $3,200 each; 2. Nelson Wyatt, Clanton, Ala./Jake Long, Morgan Mill, Texas, 5.35 seconds, $2,400 each; 3. David Key, Stephenville, Texas/Jason Warner, Congress, Ariz., 14.85, $1,600; 4. Justin Thigpen, Waycross, Ga./Kyle Crick, Lipan, Texas, 20.83, $800.
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: Riley Minor/Brady Minor and Nelson Wyatt/Jake Long
Saddle bronc riding: 1. Taos Muncy, Corona, N.M., 83 points on Sankey Rodeo’s Robin Hood, $3,200; 2. Jake Foster, Meadow, S.D., 79.25, $2,400; 3. Ross Griffin, Tularosa, N.M., 77.5, $1,600; 4. Dustin Hausauer, Dickinson, N.D., 75.75, $800.
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: Taos Muncy and Jake Foster
Tie-down roping: 1. Timber Moore, Aubrey, Texas, 9.34 seconds, $3,200; 2. Sterling Smith, Stephenville, Texas, 9.67, $2,400; 3. Marty Yates, Stephenville, Texas, 10.50, $1,600; 4. J.C. Malone, Plain City, Utah, 10.73, $800.
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: Timber Moore and Sterling Smith
Bull riding: No qualified rides
Automatically advances to Gold Medal Round: No contestant from performance three will automatically advance. A total of four Wild Card athletes will now advance to the Gold Medal Round based on scores or total ride time.
Days of ’47 Full Results: (updated 7/24/19)
