For over an hour leading up to the final day of competition at the Ute Mountain Roundup Rodeo, traffic backed up on Highway 160 for over half a mile, as Montezuma County rodeo fans queued up for one last look at some of the best rodeo athletes in the country.
The payoff was well worth the wait.
In front of a sold-out Montezuma County Fairground grandstand, the UMR took its curtain call with a number of leader board-altering results that kept the full house energized all night.
Eager to entertain and see their name light up the LED leader board, the competitors in the eight different events pressed to squeeze out every tenth of a second to win their piece of the nearly-$86,000 UMR purse.
Among those vying for the prize money, Montezuma and La Plata Counties were both well-represented in the Saturday evening field.
Cortez Team Roping duo of Zane and Ellis Yates more than held their own in the deep field, posting a time of 7.1 seconds, finishing outside of the money but providing one of several highlights for local performers. Durango’s Kyle Roberts and Calvin Brevik joined Ignacio’s Chance and Bodie Hine in team roping, but neither pairing could match the Yates’ time.
The nationally ranked pairing of Hagen Peterson and Caleb Hendrix, from Delta, Utah and Fallon, Nevada, respectively, posted the night’s best Team Roping score – a blistering 5.2 to earn a first-place tie in the event.
Amber Moore from Lewis showcased her speed in Barrel Racing, finishing less than a second from the top spots, as times from earlier in the weekend held up for the prize money in several events, including Steer Wrestling and Bull Riding.
Powder River Rodeo – the livestock provider for the UMR – saw their animals provide fierce competition for the rodeo athletes all night.
A number of athletes incurred the wrath of the livestock in the Bareback, Saddle Bronc, and Bull Riding, catching spectacular air before crashing to the arena dirt. It was Texas’ Cole Hollen, however, who put up a strong ride in Bareback to open the night, outlasting his horse Double Bubble for a score of 82 and a top-two payout.
Another athlete who did jump on to the leader board was La Junta’s Elisabeth Erickson-Noe, posting a time of 2.2 seconds in Breakaway Roping to jump into the top-two.
All the while, the entertainment between events kept the crowd in rapt attention, highlighted by the daring act of Jessica Blair-Fowlkes, standing on the backs of her two horses while navigating a fiery obstacle course.
Blair-Fowlkes would return for the grand finale, as the lights shut off at the rodeo grounds, to headline a military tribute and the performance of “God Bless America,” for which she illuminated in glowing red, white, and blue.
Thursday night’s bull riders Ky Hamilton and Stetson Wright were the only ones to make the eight-second ride all weekend, so the duo took the payouts, as well as the ground money that would have gone to any additional placers.
With the 93rd edition of the UMR wrapping up, Four Corners rodeo fans left the Fairgrounds with plenty of memories from a spectacular weekend, and excitement for the return of the UMR again next year.
Ute Mountain Roundup results
All-around cowboy: Stetson Wright, $3,689, saddle bronc riding and bull riding.
Bareback riding: 1. Andy Gingerich, 82.5 points on Powder River Rodeo's Bob Cat, $1,722; 2. Cole Hollen, 82, $1,304; 3. Tristan Hansen, 78.5, $939; 4. Matthew Tuni, 76, $626; 5. Tolman Moore, 74, $365; 6. (tie) Trevar McAllister and Brazos Winters, 72, $130 each.
Steer wrestling: 1. Blake Brown, 4.5 seconds, $1,963; 2. Tait Kvistad, 5.2, $1,624; 3. (tie) John Franzen and Rooster Yazzie, 6.8, $1,117 each; 5. Tyke Kipp, 7.3, $609; 6. Andrew Galloway, 8.7, $338.
Team roping: 1. (tie) James Arviso/Cashton Weidenbener and Hagen Peterson/Caleb Hendrix, 5.2 seconds, $2,512 each; 3. Kesley Phillips/Myles John, 5.5, $2,041; 4. Eric Martin/Ryon Tittel, 5.6, $1,727; 5. Tyler Waters/Max Kuttler, 5.7, $1,570; 6. Erik Becenti/Shawn Murphy, 5.8, $1,413; 7. Kory Bramwell/Seth Hall, 5.9, $1,256; 8. Jase Staudt/Jhett Trenary, 6.1, $1,099; 9. Pedro Egurrola/Junior Zambrano, 6.3, $942; 10. Corey Whinnery/Robert Murphy, 6.8, $628.
Saddle bronc riding: 1. Stetson Dell Wright, 89 points on Powder River Rodeo's Big Handful, $2,019; 2. (tie) Statler Wright and Spencer Wright, 88.5, $1,346 each; 4. Rusty Wright, 87, $740; 5. Ben Kukowski, 86, $471; 6. Isaac Richard, 85.5, $337; 7. Bailey Small, 84.5, $269; 8. Jace Angus, 82.5, $202.
Tie-down roping: 1. (tie) Cory Rowland and Jase Staudt, 9.4 seconds, $2,395 each; 3. Spencer Moulton, 9.5, $1,894; 4. J.D. McCuistion, 10.1, $1,559; 5. (tie) Hayden Ford and Chance Wall, 11.2, $1,058 each; 7. Riley Pruitt, 11.5, $557; 8. Zack Kirkpatrick, 12.0, $223.
Barrel racing: 1. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, 17.31 seconds, $2,030; 2. Cindy Smith, 17.46, $1,726; 3. Tibba Smith, 17.50, $1,421; 4. Kim Schulze, 17.58, $1,218; 5. Tara Seaton, 17.60, $1,015; 6. Doskie Edwards, 17.67, $711; 7. Kelly Yates, 17.70, $508; 8. Kassidy Dennison, 17.77, $406; 9. Jaime Hinton, 17.82, $355; 10. Sophie Nolen, 17.84, $305; 11. (tie) Sydni Blanchard and Barbara Johnson, 17.86, $228 each.
Bull riding: * 1. Ky Hamilton, 91.5 points on Powder River Rodeo's No. 958g, $3,885; 2. Stetson Dell Wright, 87.5, $3,377; no other qualified rides. *(all totals include ground money).
Total payoff: $79,435.
