ALLEN, Texas – The Tom Thumb Texas Stampede has a history of being a major stop for the elite cowboys in professional rodeo.

The cream of the crop put on quite a show on Nov. 9-10 at the Allen Event Center. Tuf Cooper, his brother, Clint Cooper, and Ryan Jarrett highlighted the competition, posting 7.7-second runs to share the tie-down roping title.

“All the timed events were awesome,” said Pete Carr, owner of Carr Pro Rodeo, the livestock producer in Allen. “It’s hard to beat when you’ve got three guys who have been to the National Finals Rodeo several times each, and two are world champions.”

Tuf Cooper is the reigning tie-down roping world champion, clinching the first gold buckle in his fourth qualification to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Clint Cooper is a four-time NFR qualifier, and Jarrett is the 2005 all-around world champion from Comanche, Okla.

“That’s the first rodeo of my 2013 season, and already it’s getting off to a great start,” said Tuf Cooper, who, like his brother, lives in nearby Decatur, Texas. “It’s awesome that Allen, Texas, had such a great rodeo for us cowboys. For it to be this close to home, it’s like it was our hometown rodeo.”

The atmosphere inside the Allen Event Center was electric, he said.

“When I walked into their arena for the first time, it was a little arena, just like what we’ll see in Vegas,” Cooper said of the NFR, which takes place Dec. 6-15 at the Thomas and Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. “I got a little preview of what Vegas is going to be like. It was really loud in there, too.”

That happens when the best in the game compete at a rodeo like the Tom Thumb Texas Stampede. The event, which helps raise money for children in north Texas, returned to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association after a few years as an invitational. The three-way tie for the tie-down roping title was just one of several outstanding times and scores in Allen this past weekend.

“There are a few rodeos going on this time of year, but nothing to compare to Allen,” Cooper said. “It was fun, but I’m not going to lie: I was trying to be 7.6.”

Cooper laughed a little, but that’s the mindset a world champion must have in the cut-throat world of ProRodeo. Other blazing fast times came from Shayde Etherton of Borden, Ind., who won steer wrestling with a 3.8-second run, and a couple of tandems – Clayton Hass/Ryan Motes and Justin Van Davis/Kory Koontz – who posted a 3.8 to share the team roping title.

“Any time you can have that many times that are faster than 4 seconds, you’ve got something pretty good,” Carr said.

Other winners were bareback rider Jake Brown (89 points, $3,377); saddle bronc riders Tyrel Larsen and Cody Wright (85, $2,704); barrel racer Fallon Taylor (13.14, $2,721); and bull rider Cooper Davis (90, $3,107).

Texas Stampede
Nov. 9-10
Allen, Texas
All-around cowboy: Clayton Hass, $3,762, steer wrestling and team roping.

Bareback riding: 1. Jake Brown, 89 points on Classic Pro Rodeo’s Scarlet’s Web, $3,377; 2. (tie) Casey Colletti, on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Alberta Child, and Clint Cannon, on Carr’s Dirty Jacket 87, $2,251 each; 4. (tie) Winn Ratliff, on Classic’s Bright Lights, and Bobby Mote, on Carr’s River Boat Annie, 86, $1,013 each; 6. Joe Gunderson, 84 on Carr’s Black Smoke, $563; 7. Jake Self, 83 on Classic’s Raging Angel, $450; 8. (tie) Evan Jayne, on Lancaster & Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Air Guitar, and D.V. Fennell, on Carr’s Miss Hollywood, 82, $169 each.

Steer wrestling: 1. Shayde Etherton, 3.8 seconds, $2,419; 2. Derek Stewart, 3.9, $2,164; 3. Riley Duvall, 4.1, $1,910; 4. (tie) Teddy Johnson and Cooper Shofner, 4.2, $1,528 each; 6. (tie) K.C. Jones, Bray Armes and Chris Berry, 4.5, $891 each; 9. Seth Morgan, 4.6, $382; 10. (tie) Stockton Graves, Cole Edge, Brad Loesch and Casey Martin, 4.7, $32 each.

Team roping: 1. (tie) Clayton Hass/Ryan Motes and Justin Van Davis/Kory Koontz, 3.8 seconds, $3,762 each; 3. Coleman Proctor/Jake Pianalto, 4.0, $3,135; 4. (tie) Jake Cooper/Kyle Crick and Charly Crawford/Jim Ross Cooper, 4.1, $2,508 each; 6. (tie) Turtle Powell/Dugan Kelly and Landon McClaugherty/Tommy Zuniga, 4.3, $1,672 each; 8. (tie) Jake Orman/Jeremy Mercer, Kaleb Driggers/Jade Corkill, Arky Rogers/Casey Chamberlain and Logan Olson/Matt Kasner, 4.4, $470 each.

Saddle bronc riding: 1. (tie) Cody Wright, on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Cool Runnings, and Tyrel Larsen, on Rafter G Rodeo’s Sundance, 85 points, $2,704 each; 3. (tie) Taos Muncy, on Lancaster & Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Holly Bucks, and Tol Cawley, on Carr’s Cool Runnings, 84, $1,428 each; 5. Isaac Diaz, 81 on Lancaster & Pickett’s Badlands, $714; 6. Heith DeMoss, 80 on Carr’s Sweet Emotion, $510; 7. Jesse James Kirby, 79 on Classic Pro Rodeo’s Tiny Dancer, $408; 8. (tie) Jacobs Crawley, on Carr’s Couch Jumper, Sterling Crawley, on Carr’s Big Casino, Chuck Schmidt, on Carr’s Paper Doll, Cole Elshere, on Carr’s Take the Plunge, and Dylan Henson, on Classic’s Four of a Kind, 78, $61 each.

Tie-down roping: 1. (tie) Tuf Cooper, Ryan Jarrett and Clint Cooper, 7.7 seconds, $2,180 each; 4. (tie) Justin Macha and Ross Beasley, 8.4, $1,539 each; 6. (tie) Barrett Threadgill and Sterling Smith, 8.7, $1,026 each; 8. Mike Johnson, 8.8, $641; 9. Scott Kormos, 8.9, $385; 10. Trevor Brazile, 9.1, $128.

Barrel racing: 1. Fallon Taylor, 13.14 seconds, $2,721; 2. Mary Walker, 13.25, $2,313; 3. Brittany Pozzi, 13.42, $1,905; 4. Kenna Squires, 13.51, $1,632; 5. Tana Renick, 13.52, $1,360; 6. Kelley Carrington, 13.58, $952; 7. (tie) Aimee Kay and Cassie Moseley, 13.61, $612 each; 9. (tie) Tammi Reynolds and Jane Melby, 13.65, $442 each; 11. Gretchen Benbenek, 13.67, $340; 12. Rainy Graham, 13.69, $272.

Bull riding: 1. Cooper Davis on Lancaster & Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Dirty Martini, 90 points, $3,107; 2. Chandler Bownds, 88 on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Black Ice, $2,382; 3. Kody Lostroh, 87 Lancaster & Pickett’s War Paint, $1,760; 4. (tie) Guthrie Murray, on Carr’s The Warden, and Cody Teel, on Rafter G Rodeo’s Valhalla, 84, $932 each; 6. (tie) Corey Atwell, on Carr’s The Mexican, and Cody Dollins, on Carr’s Fletch, 83, $466 each; 8. Joe Frost, 82 on Lancaster & Pickett’s Tomahawk, $311.