Wade, McKnight set Rooftop standard

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ESTES PARK, Colo. – It’s been a week of record-breaking performances at the 2018 Rooftop Rodeo, and that theme played through the final performance Tuesday night.

Team ropers Tyler Wade of Terrell, Texas, and Tyler McKnight of Wells, Texas, stopped the clock in 4.0 seconds to win the Rooftop Rodeo title, $4,440 and a pair of spurs each. That beat the record of 4.1 that was shared by three other teams, and the last time it was shared was in 2016 by Clint Summers and Dustin Egusquiza.

Tyler McKnight
Tyler McKnight

“Before we roped, he had done a little research on the steer, and they told us it loped, went dead straight and that he was really good,” said McKnight, the heeler. “I tried not to overhaze him, that way we were in the middle of the arena and could come tight faster, and he did an awesome job and made it easy.”

The header starts a team roping run by roping the horns, while the heeler runs along side the steer to keep it straight, which is called hazing. Putting too much emphasis on hazing the steer would force the animal left, thereby making it more difficult to stop the clock by taking the slack out of the ropes and having both horses facing one another.

It turned out to be not only the fastest run of the rodeo but the fastest run ever inside Granny May Arena at the Estes Park Fairgrounds.

“We’ve roped for several years together on and off, whenever we could,” Wade said of the partnership.

The tandem live just a couple of hours away from another, so they’ve competed together much of their lives. They seem to make it work well. But they had some motivation to close out their Cowboy Christmas, a series of lucrative rodeos that are around the Fourth of July holiday – Rooftop Rodeo is the final event of this year’s Cowboy Christmas.

Tyler Wade
Tyler Wade

“We needed that run and that paycheck,” Wade said. “I flew out of St. Paul (Ore.) five days ago and made him drive the rig all the way here so I could see my 2-week-old baby. He got his 2-month-old kid here tonight, so that may have been our good-luck charm.

“I hadn’t swung a rope in five days, so I was a little nervous on where my rope was going to fit.”

While Weston Cash Wade didn’t make the trip to the mountains, Curtis Jay McKnight did, and both cowboys were happy to have it. Both have been regulars at Rooftop Rodeo for years.

“I love it over here,” Wade said. “The mountains are awesome. There are a lot of committees that don’t take care of their contestants quite as good as I think they should, but they do here. We appreciate every bit of it.”

Ari-Anna Flynn
Ari-Anna Flynn

Wade and McKnight were joined as record-breakers in Estes Park by steer wrestler Will Lummus, who tied the arena record of 3.2 seconds Friday night, and barrel racer Ari-Anna Flynn, who set a new standard of 17.04 seconds Tuesday. She was one of six cowgirls who bested the previous record of 17.36, set last year.

Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier Brody Cress of Hillsdale, Wyo., won the saddle bronc riding with an 87.5-point ride on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Bath Bubbles, pocketing $7,057. With that, he pushed his season earnings to $88,754 and moved to No. 2 in the world standings.

Rooftop Rodeo
Estes Park, Colo.
July 5-10, 2018
Bareback riding:
1. J.C. Hester Jr., 86.5 points on Cervi Championship’s Dream Machine, $6,021; 2. Steven Peebles, 86, $4,615; 3. (tie) Jake Brown and Kaycee Feild, 85, $2,810 each; 5. (tie) Lane McGehee and Bill Tutor, 83, $1,204 each; 7. (tie) Tilden Hooper and Mason Clements, 82, $702 each.

Steer wrestling: First round: 1. Sam Williams, 3.6 seconds, $1,363; 2. Will Lummus, 3.8, $1,128; 3. Laine Herl, 4.2, $893; 4. (tie) Tom Littell and Cody Devers, 4.3, $541 each; 6. (tie) Trever Nelson and Gary Gilbert, 4.4, $118 each. Second round: 1. Will Lummus, 3.2 seconds, $1,363; 2. Hunter Cure, 3.7, $1,128; 3. Cole McNamee, 4.0, $893; Blake Mindemann, 4.5, $658; 5. Laine Herl, 4.6, $423; 6. (tie) Heath Thompson and Riley Krassin, 4.9, $118 each. Average: 1. Will Lummus, 7.0 seconds on two runs, $2,045; 2. Laine Herl, 8.8, $1,692; 3. Hunter Cure, 9.1, $1,340; 4. Sam Williams, 10.0, $987; 5. Tom Littell, 10.6, $635; 6. Blake Mindemann, 11.6, $353.

Team roping: 1. Tyler Wade/Tyler McKnight, 4.0 seconds, $4,440; 2. Quisto Lopez/Joel Galvin Jr., 4.3, $3,973; 3. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 4.4, $3,506; 4. Billy Bob Brown/Hunter Koch, 4.5, $3,038; 5. (tie) Jake Barnes/Rich Skelton and Lightning Aguilera/Brady Norman, 4.6, $2,337 each; 7. (tie) Paul Beckett/Chad Wahlert and Aaron Tsinigine/Trey Yates, 4.7, $1,402; 9. Rhen Richard/Quinn Kesler, 5.1; 10. Kelsey Parchman/Dustin Davis, 5.2, $234.

Saddle bronc riding 1. Brody Cress, 87.5 points on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Bath Bubbles, $7,057; 2. Wyatt Hageman, 86, $5,410; 2. Tyrel Larsen, 84.5, $3,999; 4. (tie) Hardy Braden and Sterling Crawley, 83, $2,117 each; 6. (tie) Troy Crowser and Chase Brooks, 82.5, $1,059; 7. (tie) Jacobs Crawley and Clayton Brum, 82, $353.

Tie-down roping: First round: 1. Reno Gonzales, 8.4 seconds, $1,176; 2. Jesse Clark, 9.4, $973; 3. Scott Kormos, 10.2, $771; 4. Anthony Jordan, 10.6, $568; 5. Joey Dickens, 10.7, $365; 6. Caleb Smidt, 10.9, $203. Second round: 1. Bryson Sechrist, 8.8 seconds, $1,176; 2. Brice Ingo, 9.0, $973; 3. Caleb Smidt, 9.1, $771; 4. Sterling Smith, 9.6, $568; 5. Trell Etbauer, 9.7, $265; 6. (tie) Anthony Jordan and Seth Cooke, 10.2, $101 each. Average: 1. Caleb Smidt, 20.0 seconds on two runs, $1,764; 2. Bryson Sechrist, 20.4, $1,460; 3. Anthony Jordan, 20.8, $1,156; 4. Jesse Clark, 21.2, $852; 5. Sterling Smith, 21.4, $547; 5. Joey Dickens, 22.1, $304.

Barrel racing: 1. Ari-Anna Flynn, 17.04 seconds, $4,028; 2. Brittney Barnett, 17.20, $3,231; 3. Sydni Blanchard, 17.21, $2,625; 4. Kathy Grimes, 17.26, $2,019; 5. Tracy Nowlin, 17.31, $1,615; 6. Shali Lord, 17.33, $1,211; 7. (tie) Sabrina Ketcham, Tillar Murray and Lacinda Rose, 17.39, $909 each; 10. Laura Lambert, 17.41, $707; 11. Leia Bluemer and Dolli Lauteret, 17.43, $555; 13. Shelby Janssen, 17.44, $404; 14. (tie) Heidi Tillard and Kelley Carrington, 17.47, $252.

Bull riding: 1. Callum Miller, on 4L and Diamond S Ranch’s Living After Midnight, and Scottie Knapp, on 4L and Diamond S Ranch’s Monte Walsh, 89 points, $3,487 each; 3. (tie) Clayton Savage and Logan Hunter, 88, $1,842 each; 5. Kyle Gardner, 85, $921; 6. Reid Barker, 84.5, $658; 7. Tim Bingham, 84, $526; 8. Riker Carter, 83.5, $395.

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