SAN ANGELO, Texas – Growing up training steer wrestling horses with his father, Tyler Waguespack jumped steers from many mounts.

That background came in handy on Saturday as he made two solid runs on two horses at the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo. He leads the first round with a 4.0-second run and sits third in the second round with a 4.5. His combined efforts put him in the two-run aggregate lead.

“I rode Scooter on my first one,” Waguespack said of the 2017 Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year owned by friends Tyler Pearson and Kyle Irwin. “Pearson had to take him to Fort Worth (Texas) for the short round there, so I rode my palomino, Outlaw, on my second steer.

“Everything is looking pretty good to come back for the short round here.”

There are seven performances remaining to decide the 12 contestants in each event who return Feb. 16 for the championship round. A year ago, he was in a great position to win the San Angelo championship, but Baylor Roche put together a lightning fast final run to claim the title.

Still, Waguespack – the 2015 world champion from Gonzales, La. – placed second and earned $9,652, which he utilized in his third straight Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualification.

“San Angelo is like one of my honey holes,” he said. “I’ve always had some success there. It’s a really fast setup, and the committee does a good job of getting good stock contractors to put on a great rodeo.”

Waguespack finished last season No. 4 in the world standings with $231,277. He was one of four men who rode Scooter through the NFR this past December. Combined, he, Irwin, Pearson and Ty Erickson won just shy of $500,000 on the back of the talented sorrel.

“Scooter gives you the same trip every time,” Waguespack said. “He’s just easy for about anybody to ride. At the NFR, we were moving the stirrups four different times every night, and he didn’t mind it at all. He’s going to give you a chance to win.”

Pearson won the gold buckle, thanks in large part to Scooter. The other three all finished in the top five in the final world standings. But all four know they can’t rely on the athletic red horse, which is why it was nice to have Outlaw available Saturday night.

“Outlaw took the whole month of December off,” he said. “In January, we were on him quite a bit. On Friday night, Ty (Erickson) and I rode him at a jackpot. He’s in shape and ready to go. We will be using him a bunch this winter so we can take some heat off Scooter.

“Whenever you have something that great, you don’t want to abuse him.”

But they do want to win, and Waguespack has found the winning formula in San Angelo.

San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo
Feb. 2-4, Feb. 9-11, Feb. 14-16
Bareback riding leaders: 1. Luke Creasy on Lancaster and Jones’ Total Equine’s North Country; 2. (tie) Will Lowe and Tanner Aus, 85; 4. (tie) Jake Brown and Tilden Hooper, 81; 6. Taylor Broussard, 77; 7. (tie) Dayton Swearingen and Tyler Berghuis, 76; 9. Evan Jayne, 73; 10. (tie) Harry Ash, 72; 12. Zach Hibler, 69.

Steer wrestling: First round leaders: 1. Tyler Waguespack, 4.0 seconds; 2. (tie) Will Lummus and Tyler Pearson, 4.2; 4. (tie) Cody Cabral, Ty Erickson and Kyle Irwin, 4.3; 7. (tie) Blaine Jones and Billy Bugenig, 4.4; 5. (tie) Tom Lewis and Badger Chambers, 4.8; 7. J.D. Struxness, 5.0; 8. Olin Hannum, 5.1. Second round leaders: 1. Blake Knowles, 3.9 seconds; 2. Scott Guenthner, 4.1; 3. Tyler Waguespack, 4.5; 4. Kyle Irwin, 14.9; no other qualified runs. Average leaders: 1. Tyler Waguespack, 8.5 seconds on two runs; 2. Scott Guenthner, 8.6; 3. Kyle Irwin, 19.2; 4. Blake Knowles, 3.9 seconds on one run; 5. (tie) Tyler Pearson and Will Lummus, 4.2; 7. (tie) Ty Erickson and Cody Cabral, 4.3.

Team roping: First round leaders: 1. (tie) Clay Smith/Paul Eaves and Cory Kidd V/Caleb Anderson, 4.0 seconds; 2. Lane Ivy/Buddy Hawkins,4.1; 4. Riley Minor/Brady Minor, 4.2; 5. Tom Richards/Jake Smith, 4.3; 6. (tie) Levi Simpson/Jeremy Buhler and Paul David Tierney/Tanner Braden, 4.4; 8. Nelson Wyatt/Trace Porter, 5.4. Second round leaders: 1. Nelson Wyatt/Trace Porter, 3.6 seconds; 2. Tom Richards/Jake Smith, 4.0; 3. Clay Smith/Paul Eaves, 4.3; 4. Bart Brunson/Wesley Brunson, 5.5; 5. Dustin Bird/Jake Minor, 8.8; no other qualified runs. Average: 1. (tie) Clay Smith/Paul Eaves Tom Richards/Jake Smith, 8.3 seconds on two runs; 3. Nelson Wyatt/Trace Porter, 9.0; 4. Bart Brunson/Wesley Brunson, 14.9; 5. Riley Minor/Brady Minor, 4.2 seconds on one run; 6. Levi Simpson/Jeremy Buhler, 4.4; 7. Dustin Bird/Jake Minor, 8.8; no other qualified runs.

Saddle bronc riding leaders: 1. Ryder Wright, 85.5 points on Pete Carr’s Classic Pro Rodeo’s Sweet Maria; 2. Sterling Crawley, 84; 3. Lefty Holman, 80.5; 4. James Greeson, 80; 5. Kolby Wanchuk, 76.5; 6. (tie) Tom Knight, Lane Watt, Wyatt Casper and Joey Sonnier, 76; 10. (tie) Hardy Braden and Tate Owens, 75; 12. Peter White II, 74.5.

Tie-down roping: First round leaders: 1. (tie) Cory Solomon and Westyn Hughes, 7.7 seconds; 3. Cody Quaney, 8.5; 4. J.D. McQuistion, 9.1; 5. Reno Gonzales, 9.5; 6. Riley Pruitt, 19.4; 7. Randall Carlsile, 12.1; 8. Ty Harris, 12.2. Second round: 1. Randall Carlisle, 8.5 seconds; 2. Reno Gonzales, 9.7; 3. Ace Slone, 10.0; 4. J.D. McQuistion, 10.4; 5. Riley Pruitt, 12.0; 6. Cody Quaney, 18.8; no other qualified runs. Average: 1. Reno Gonzales, 19.2 seconds on two runs; 2. J.D. McQuistion, 19.5; 3. Randall Carlisle, 20.6; 4. Riley Pruitt, 22.4; 5. Cody Quaney, 27.3; 6. Cory Solomon, 7.7 seconds on one run; 7. Ace Slone, 10.0; no other qualified runs.

Barrel racing: Second round leaders: 1. Kaycie Teague, 14.35 seconds; 2. Kelli Barichello, 14.44; 3. Kasey Hall, 14.49; 4. Bridget Carr, 14.52; 5. (tie) Megan Mariluch and Suzanne Brooks, 14.56; 7, Jimmie Smith, 14.60; 8. Kasey Kretzschmar, 14.61; 9. (tie) Kelly Tovar and Ari-Anna Flynn, 14.62. Average leaders: 1. Kaycie Teague, 30.78 seconds on two runs; 2. Kelli Barichello, 30.86; 3. Suzanne Brooks, 30.96; 4. Kasey Hall, 30.99; 5. Megan Mariluch, 31.01; 6. Bridget Carr, 31.02; 7. Kasey Kretzschmar, 31.04; 8. Lyndee Stairs, 31.10; 9. (tie) Jimmie Smith and Corley Cox, 31.11; 11. Kelly Tovar, 31.14; 12. Ari-Anna Flynn, 31.15.

Bull riding leaders: 1. Trey Benton III, 90.5 points on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Air Marshal; 2. Ednei Caminhas, 85.5; 3. Colten Gardner, 83; 4. Nate Perry, 82; 5. Reid Barker, 79.5; 6. Dave Mason, 74; no other qualified rides.