DODGE CITY, Kan. – To say Steven Dent is hot is a bit of an understatement.
The No. 1 bareback rider in ProRodeo just padded his lead a little bit more by winning the Dodge City Roundup Rodeo championship and adding $4,091. It pushed his 2012 earnings to $95,000 and gives him a little lead over three-time world champion Will Lowe.
“I won this rodeo in 2008, so it’s nice to win it again,” said Dent, a four-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Mullen, Neb.
Dent rode Harry Vold Rodeo Co.’s Pillow Talk for 89 points on Sunday night to win the championship go-round. His two-ride total of 166 points helped Dent edge Steven Peebles by one point.
“I had her at San Antone this year,” Dent said of the horse and the San Antonio Stock Show Rodeo. “She wasn’t quite that good, and I was way worse. I was 81 on her. They were just 91 on her, so I know I had a chance.
“That’s a great horse.”
It’s also a young horse, but that seems to be the winning trick for Dent, an all-around cowboy who also competed in saddle bronc riding in Dodge City.
“The last time I won, I came back in the bottom hole that time, too,” he said, referring to finishing 12th in the first round, just barely making it into the final-day field – Dent’s 77-point ride earlier in the rodeo meant a four-way tie for ninth place. “That time, I had Full Baggage when we didn’t know anything about that horse.”
Full Baggage was named the 2011 Bareback Riding Horse of the Year. Pillow Talk is a young horse from the Vold ranch in Fowler, Colo.
“I’ve been drawing great colts here,” Dent said.
The horse bucked hard in a circular pattern, but the Nebraska cowboy continued his spurring motion with each leap. He was rewarded well.
“We were making a lot of rounds, and there was a lot going on,” he said. “I just tried to keep going at her. You never know how many you’re going to be on one like that, so you just have to keep going at it.”
Dent won more than $23,000 during Cowboy Christmas, the pseudonym for a group of lucrative rodeos around the Fourth of July holidays. That propelled him in the lead for the world standings. Only the top 15 contestants in each event at the conclusion of the regular season qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, the season ending championship that takes place in Las Vegas in December.
The goal is to be atop the money list when the NFR concludes, thereby earning the coveted, yet elusive, world champion’s gold buckle. Dent fell just short of that goal in his first venture the NFR in 2008, falling to eventual titlist Justin McDaniel of Porum, Okla.
“I went in with a decent lead, then Justin had the best finals anybody had until last year, and I lost it by $5,000,” Dent said. “When you look back throughout the year, there are plenty of times you could’ve won $5,000. I’ve learned a lot by traveling with Bobby (Mote) in past years to not let those opportunities slip.”
Mote is a four-time world champion, and he’s been in that position before, too. Dent now travels with fellow NFR qualifiers Ryan Gray of Cheney, Wash., and Jason Havens of Prineville, Ore.
“Those guys are just so positive all the time, and they both ride great,” Dent said. “Jason’s been in the worst drawing slumps I’ve ever seen, and he’s still positive. You can learn a lot from that.”
You can also learn a lot from winning.
“I’ve just been trying to do my job,” he said.
Other Dodge City winners were all-around champion Cody DeMoss, who won money in team roping and saddle bronc riding; steer wrestler Billy Bugenig; team ropers Chad Masters and Clay O’Brien Cooper; saddle bronc rider Chuck Schmidt; tie-down roper Justin Maass; barrel racer Kaley Bass; and bull rider Trey Benton III.
Dodge City Roundup Rodeo
Dodge City, Kan.
July 31-Aug. 5
All-Around Champion: Cody DeMoss, $4,041 in team roping and saddle bronc riding.
Bareback riding: Final round: 1. Steven Dent, 89 points on Harry Vold Rodeo’s Pillow Talk, $1,650; 2. Will Lowe, 85, $1,250; 3. (tie) Jared Keylon and Steven Peebles, 83, $750 each; 5. Kyle Brennecke, 82, $350; 6. Wes Stevenson, 81, $250. Average: 1. Steven Dent, 166 points on two rides, $2,441; 2. Steven Peebles, 165, $1,871; 3. Matt Bright, 164, $1,383; 4. (tie) Will Lowe and Kyle Brennecke, 162, $732 each; 6. Jared Keylon, 161; 7. Seth Hardwick, 160, $325; 8. Heath Ford, 159, $244.
Steer wrestling: Final round: 1. Billy Bugenig, 4.0 seconds, $1,247; 2. Matt Reeves, 4.1, $1,032; 3. Crazy Clark, 4.3, $817; 4. (tie) Weston Taylor, Jacob Shofner and Colt Stearns, 4.4, $401 each. Average: 1. Billy Bugenig, 12.0 seconds on three runs, $3,214; 2. Colt Stearns, 12.4, $2,794; 3. Crazy Clark, 12.7, $2,375; 4. Matt Reeves, 13.3, $1,956; 5. Jacob Shofner, 13.6, $1,537; 6. (tie) Weston Taylor, Blair Jones and Monty Eakin, 14.8, $699 each.
Team roping: Final round: 1. (tie) Charly Crawford/Jim Ross Cooper and Chad Masters/Clay O’Briend Cooper, 5.4 seconds, $961; 3. Blaine Linaweaver/Matt Garza, 5.5, $689; 4. Turtle Powell/Dugan Kelly, 5.7, $508; 5. Keven Daniel/Chase Tryan, 5,8, $326; 6. Drew Horner/Justin Copp, $181. Average: 1. Chad Masters/Clay O’Brien Cooper, 16.5 seconds on three runs, $3,781; 12. (tie) Charly Crawford/Jim Ross Cooper and Brady Tryan/Cole Echols, 16.6, $3,041 each; 4. Turtle Powell/Dugan Kelly, 16.9, $2,302; 5. (tie) Blaine Linaweaver/Matt Garza and Keven Daniel/Chase Tryan, 17.2; $1,562 each; 7. Ty Blasingame/Rich Skelton, 18.4, $822; 8. Drew Horner/Justin Copp, 18.7, $329.
Saddle bronc riding: First round: 1. Chuck Schmidt, 88 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Wild Bill, $1,650; 2. Taos Muncy, 87, $1,250; 3. (tie) Cody DeMoss and Cort Scheer, 83, $750 each; 5. Cole Elshere, 81, $350; 6. Spencer Wright, 90, $250. Average: 1. Chuck Schmidt, 169 points on two rides, $2,199; 2. Cort Scheer, 167, $1,686; 3. Taos Muncy, 165, $1,246; 4. Cody DeMoss, 163, $806; 5. J.J. Elshere, 161, $513; 6. Sterling Crawley, 160, $366; 7. Cole Elshere, 159, $293; 8. (tie) Spencer Wright and Cody Martin, 158, $110 each.
Tie-down roping: Final round: 1. Justin Maass, 7.9 seconds, $1,247; 2. Cody Ohl, 8.5, $1,032; 3. Ace Slone, 9.2, $817; 4. Chris Neal, 9.4, $602; 5. Clayton Shaw, 9.6, $387; 6. Billy Hamilton, 9.8, $215. Average: 1. Justin Maass, 25.1 seconds on three runs, $3,818; 2. Cody Ohl, 26.0, $3,320; 3. Ace Slone, 27.7, $2,822, 4. Clayton Shaw, 29.7, $2,324; 5. (tie) Chris Neal and Houston Hutto, 31.3, $1,577; 7. Billy Hamilton, 32.4, $830; 8. Ryan C. Thibodeaux, 34.9, $332.
Barrel racing: Final round: 1. Kaley Bass, 16.87 seconds, $1,429; 3. Christy Loflin, 16.94, $1,072; 3. Jane Melby, 17.06, $715; 4. Whitney Baker, 17.13, $357. Average: 1. Kaley Bass, 51.03 seconds on three runs, $2,894; 2. Jane Melby, 51.40, $2,480; 3. Whitney Baker, 51.49, $2,067; 4. Jean Winters, 51.50, $1,792; 5. Chirsty Loflin, 51.51, $1,378; 6. (tie) Gretchen Benbenek and Tammi Pettis, 51.86, $965 each; 8. Fallon Taylor, 52.41, $551; 9. Micah Samples, 52.68, $413; 10. Hayden Segelke, 56.55, $276.
Bull riding: Finals round: 1. Trey Benton III, 90 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Cowboy Compactor, $1,650; Kanin Asay, 85, $1,250; 3. Tyler Willis, 84, $1,050; 4. Cody Teel, 79, $750; no other qualified rides. Average: 1. Trey Benton III, 174 points on two rides, $2,384; 2. Kanin Asay, 165, $1,828; 3. Tyler Willis, 162, $1,351; 4. Cody Teel, 156, $874; 5. Nevada Newman, 89 points on one, $556; 6. Brant Atwood, 88, $397; 7. Josh Koschell, 85, $318; 8. (tie) Cooper Davis and Buck Moon, 81, $119 each.