DODGE CITY, Kan. – Five years ago, Travis Graves left Roundup Arena with one of his greatest possessions: The Dodge City Roundup Rodeo championship buckle.
On Saturday night during the fourth performance of this year’s event at Roundup Arena, Graves and his partner, three-time world champion header Clay Tryan, gave themselves a chance at the 2018 Roundup buckle. They stopped the clock in 7.7 seconds to qualify for Championship Sunday.
“I didn’t do a very good job at the start,” said Tryan of Billings, Mont. “I just didn’t do a very good job, but the rodeo’s kind of easy (in team roping this year). Once you know you’re not going to be fast, you don’t want to mess it up once you’ve run your steer that far down the arena.”
The tandem put together a 5.2-second run on Saturday morning to finish third in the opening go-round. Their second-round time gave them a 12.9-second time on the two-run aggregate. They are sixth heading into the short go-round.
“The steers here are fresher, meaning they haven’t been run much,” said Graves of Jay, Okla. “Our steer tonight didn’t go anywhere, then he took off and went hard right into me, and that made it hard on Clay.”
Nonetheless, the duo is in the top half of the field for the finale; only the top 12 contestants (or teams) in each event advance to the short round, so that’s a big step in having a chance to collect the lion’s share of the money and claiming that Roundup buckle.
“This is one of my favorite rodeos,” said Graves, a nine-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier now sitting 12th in the 2018 world standings. “This week, you have Dodge City, Phillipsburg and Abilene. Being from Oklahoma, the Prairie Circuit is where I grew up. I always look forward to coming here.”
This season marks the second time Tryan and Graves and teamed together. They roped together from 2010-12 and made the NFR each of those seasons.
“We’ve been doing alright, just winning a little bit here and there,” Tryan said. “We’ve only been to half the rodeos we’re going to, so if we can finish the season out strong, we should work our way on top.”
The key is being among the top 15 in the world standings at the conclusion of the regular season, because those are the cowboys and cowgirls that advance to ProRodeo’s grand finale in Las Vegas. Once there, the payout is so big that anything can happen. In rodeo, dollars equal championship points, so the contestants with the most money won in each event will be crowned world champions.
“The regular season is important, but whoever does the best in Vegas is your champ,” Graves said. “You want to go in there toward the top of the standings and give yourself a chance, then you have to have a good finals.”
Tryan and Graves are at least giving themselves a chance.
Dodge City Roundup Rodeo
Dodge City, Kan.
Aug. 1-5
Bareback riding:1. Tim O’Connell, 87 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Time’s Up, $2,958; 2. (tie) Seth Harwick and Wyatt Denny, 84, $1,972 each; 4. (tie) Clayton Biglow and Steven Dent, 83, $887 each; 6. Jesse Pope, 82, $493; 7. Zach Hibler, 78.5, $394; 8. (tie) Will Martin and Bill Tutor, 78, $148 each; 10. Paden Hurst, 76.5; 11. J.C. Hester, 76; 12. Cody Kiser, 75.5.
Steer wrestling: First round: 1. (tie) Tanner Bruner and Cody Pratt, 3.8 seconds, $2,560 each; 3. (tie) Tom Littell and Cameron Morman, 3.9, $1,846 each; 5. Bridger Anderson, 4.2, $1,310; 6. Tyler Waguespack, 4.3, $953; 7. Tom Lewis, 4.4, $595; 8. (tie) Cimarron Thompson and Riley Duvall, 4.5, $119 each. Second round: 1. (tie) Tyler Pearson and Blake Mindemann, 3.7 seconds, $2,560 each; 3. (tie) Chancey Larson and Will Lummus, 3.8, $1,846 each; 5. K.C. Jones, 3.9, $1,310; 6. Aaron Vosler, 4.0, $953; 7. Chase Crane, 4.1, 595; 8. Nick Guy, 4.2, $238. Average leaders: 1. Bridger Anderson, 8.5 seconds on two runs; 2. Tanner Bruner, 8.6; 3. Tyler Waguespack, 8.7; 4. Riley Duvall, 9.0; 5. Stockton Graves, 9.1; 6. Tom Littell, 9.5; 7. Gabe Soileau, 9.7; 8. (tie) Heath Thomas, Will Lummus and Cody Pratt, 9.9; 11. Blake Knowles, 10.1; 12. Kyle Irwin, 10.3.
Team roping: First round: 1. Jr. Dees/Cody Cowden, 4.7 seconds, $2,692; 2. Paul David Tierney/Danner Braden, 5.0, $2,341; 3. Clay Tryan/Travis Graves, 5.2, $1,990; 4. Tyler Wade/Tyler McKnight, 5.4, $1,639; 5. Tanner Baldwdin/Seth Hall, 5.5, $1,288; 6. Steven Duby/Evan Arnold, 5.6, $936; 7. Luke Brown/Jake Long, 6.2, $585; 8. (tie) Matt Sherwood/Buddy Hawkins II and Brandon Webb/Kollin VonAhn, 6.4, $117 each. Second round: 1. Tyler Wade/Tyler McKnight, 4.8; 2. Jake Orman/Will Woodfin, 5.0; 3. Casey Hicks/Justin Fox, 5.1; 4. Chad Masters/Joseph Harrison, 5.2; 5. JoJo LeMond/J.D. Yates, 5.4; 6. Jr. Dees/Cody Cowden, 5.5; 7. Jake Barnes/Rich Skelton, 5.9; 8. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 6.1, $234. Average leaders: 1. (tie) Tyler Wade/Tyler McKnight and Jr. Dees/Cody Cowden, 10.2 seconds on two runs; 3. Paul David Tierney/Tanner Braden, 12.4; 4. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 12.6; 5. Luke Brown/Jake Long, 12.9; 6. Clay Tryan/Travis Graves, 12.9; 7. Cale Markham/Jake Clay, 13.5; 8. Cory Kidd V/Caleb Anderson, 14.3; 9. Chad Masters/Joseph Harrison, 16.2; 10. Billy Peters/Rio Esquibel, 17.6; 11. JoJo LeMond/J.D. Yates, 21.1; 12. Dylan Gordon/Gage Williams, 22.1.
Saddle bronc riding: 1. Jake Wright, 87.56 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Bordertown, $2,789; 2. Taos Muncy, 85.5, $2,138; 3. Joe Lufkin, 85, $1,580; 4. (tie) Spencer Wright and Bradley Harter, 83.5, $837 each; 6. (tie) Rusty Wright and Mitch Pollock, 82.5, $418 each; 8. (tie) CoBurn Bradshaw and Shade Etbauer, 82, $139 each; 10. (tie) Dawson Hay and Ross Griffin, 81.
Tie-down roping: First round: 1. Chance Oftedahl, 8.5 seconds, $2,757; 2. Paul David Tierney, 8.8, $2,398; 3. Cody Huber, 8.9, $2,038; 4. (tie) Weldon Watson and Cooper Martin, 9.1, $1,498 each; 6. Marty Yates, 9.3, $959; 7. (tie) Tuf Cooper and Blake Ash, 9.4, $420 each; 8. (tie) Ty Baker and Charlie Gibson, 9.6. Second round: 1. Caddo Lewallen, 8.1 seconds, $2,757; 2. Cory Solomon, 8.3, $2,398; 3. Caleb Smidt, 8.6, $2,038; 4. Hudson Wallace, 8.8, $1,678; 5. (tie) Scott Kormos and Tanner Green, 8.9, $1,139 each; 7. Cheyenne Harper, 9.4, $599; 8. Dennis Luetge, 9.6, $240. Average: 1. Caleb Smidt, 18.7 seconds on two runs; 2. Tanner Green, 18.9; 3. Ty Baker, 19.6; 4. Weldon Watson, 20.1; 5. Cody Quaney, 20.3; 6. Blake Ash, 20.4; 7. Bryson Sechrist, 22.0; 8. Clint Cooper, 22.4; 9. Cheyenne Harper, 23.1; 10. Trell Etbauer, 23.2; 11. Randall Carlisle, 23.6; 12. Cooper Martin 25.0.
Barrel racing: First round leaders: 1. Sarah Rose McDonald, 17.15 seconds, $2,363; 2. Shali Lord, 17.16, $2,025; 3. Jimmie Smith, 17.18, $1,688; 4. Lori Todd, 17.20, $1,463; 5. Leia Pluemer, 17.22, $1,125; 6. Cierra Chapman, 17.41, $900; 7. (tie) Ali Armstrong and Monica McClung, 17.43, $563 each; 9. Jana Bean, 17.47, $338; 10. Kynzie McNeill, 17.50, $225. Second round leaders: 1. Michelle Darling, 17.05, $2,363; 2. Emily Miller, 17.11, $2,025; 3. Jessic Routier, 17.21, $1,688; 4. Kylie Weast, 17.26, $1,463; 5. (tie) Carley Richardson and Ari-Anna Flynn, 17.31, $1,013 each; 7. Shali Lord, 17.32, $675; 8. (tie) Jana Bean and Sissy Winn, 17.34, $394 each; 10. Skyla Whitters, 17.38, $225. Average leaders: 1. Shali Lord, 34.48 seconds on two runs; 2. Michelle Darling, 34.68; 3. (tie) Cierra Chapman and Leia Pluemer, 34.80; 5. Jana Bean, 34.81; 6. Monica McClung, $34.82; 7. Kylie Weast, 34.88; 8. Jimmie Smith and Kynzie McNeill, 34.93; 10. Ari-Anna Flynn, 34.98; 11. Sissy Winn, 34.93; 12. Emily Miller, 35.08.
Bull riding leaders: 1. J.W. Harris, 88 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Kooty Crazy, $2,987; 2. Aaron Williams, 86, $2,290; 3. Laramie Mosley, 85; 4. (tie) Ruger Piva, Jesse Petri and Tristan Mize, 84, $763 each; 7. Tim Bingham, 83.5, $398; 8. (tie) Callum Miller and Clayton Sellers, 81.5, $149 each; 10. Tyler Bingham, 81; 11. (tie) Fulton Rutland and Brady Portenier, 80.5.