Ranch and Rodeo Roundup
National Finals Rodeo
Written by Kim Dillon • Photos by Mike Copeman
E
lectrifying, nail-biting and full of twists and turns, the 2014 Wrangler
National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada is living up to every bit of its
hype. The richest and most prestigious rodeo in the world celebrated 30
years this December in what has become known as the “Cowboy Town”. While
early in 2014 it looked like the WNFR might be leaving Las Vegas for richer
offerings, the PRCA and Las Vegas Events were able to reach an agreement to
benefit the cowboys as well as the city. A record $6.375 million was awarded
to the top 15 contestants in each event. And the records didn’t stop at the prize
money. During the ten performances at the Thomas & Mack Center from
December 4th –13th, total attendance reached 177,565, eclipsing the previous
mark of 176,558 set in 2013.
While some contestants continued their year-long domination, others came
out of left field to grab a coveted gold buckle. Storylines aside, 8 cowboys and 1
cowgirl rose to the top and were crowned World Champions at the WNFR.
All-Around Cowboy-Trevor Brazile (pictured at top of page, left)
Rodeo’s most decorated pro continued to accumulate more precious metal as
Trevor Brazile increased his record-setting gold buckle count to 21. Brazile
clinched his All-Around title early in the rodeo over runner-up Tuf Cooper,
also from Decatur, TX. Often referred to as the Michael Jordan of rodeo, Brazile
earned his record-setting ninth straight All-Around Cowboy crown and now has
won 12 of the last 13 world all-around titles.
All-Around Cowboy final results:
1 Trevor Brazile
Decatur
TX
$494,369.43
2 Tuf Cooper
Decatur
TX
$246,448.77
3 Clayton Hass
Terrell
TX
$124,530.57
4 Curtis Cassidy
Donalda
AB
$118,477.22
5 Clint Robinson
Spanish Fork
UT
$117,186.46
Bareback Riding World Champion-Kaycee Feild
Kaycee Feild of Spanish Fork, Utah won his fourth
consecutive title in Bareback Riding. Feild also won
the NFR average for the fourth year in a row from
2011 to 2014 — a feat that is unprecedented. The
son of All-Around Cowboy and World Bareback
Champion Lewis Field pocketed $122,596 during his
10 day stay in Las Vegas.
Bareback Riding final results:
1 Kaycee Feild
Spanish Fork
UT
2 Austin Foss
Terrebonne
OR
3 Richie Champion
The Woodlands
TX
4 Bobby Mote
Culver
TX
5 Steven Peebles
Redmond
OR
6 Jake Vold
Ponoka
AB
7 Winn Ratliff
Leesville
LA
8 Tim O’Connell
Zwingle
IA
9 Justin McDaniel
Porum
OK
10 Will Lowe
Canyon
TX
11 Tilden Hooper
Carthage
TX
12 Caleb Bennett
Tremonton
UT
13 Steven Dent
Mullen
NE
14 Jessy Davis
Power
MT
15J.R. Vezain
Cowley
WY
$294,979.83
$201,025.43
$198,074.85
$171,624.92
$145,931.65
$142,773.54
$142,408.45
$131,240.31
$126,884.99
$126,444.00
$117,218.73
$111,298.57
$108,650.78
$75,757.28
$70,207.51
Steer Wrestling World Champion-Luke Branquinho
Despite missing several months of rodeo competition due
to a major muscle tear, Luke Branquinho still qualified
for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.
He entered the 10-day competition in 8th place and
quickly moved up to first place after the Round 4. The
Los Alamos, CA bull dogger placed in 7 out of 10 rounds
which led him to win the average. The championship is
14
January 2015
the 5th in his illustrious career, leaving just one short of the all-time record of 6
titles held by Homer Pettigrew.
Steer Wrestling final results:
1 Luke Branquinho
Los Alamos
CA
$202,380.02
2 Kyle Irwin
Robertsdale
AL
$147,699.11
3 Casey Martin
Sulphur
LA
$143,568.51
4 Nick Guy
Sparta
WI
$140,584.73
5 Dakota Eldridge
Elko
NV
$136,726.28
6 Trevor Knowles
Mount Vernon
OR
$134,405.74
7 Ty Erickson
Helena
MT
$123,115.81
8 Clayton Hass
Terrell
TX
$114,274.42
9 Dru Melvin
Hebron
NE
$107,369.74
10 Curtis Cassidy
Donalda
AB
$101,430.77
11 Bray Armes
Ponder
TX
$101,397.29
12 K.C. Jones
Decatur
TX
$101,057.73
13 Cole Edge
Durant
OK
$97,863.00
14 Seth Brockman
Wheatland
WY
$81,436.28
15 Wyatt Smith
Rexburg
ID
$75,270.76
Team Roping World Champion Header-Clay Tryan & Team Roping World
Champion Heeler-Jade Corkill (pictured at top of page, right)
Clay Tryan and Jade Corkill from Texas and Nevada teamed up again in 2014
and experienced success throughout the pro season. The pair entered the NFR in
the first place slot and was the only team out of 15 to catch all 10 of their steers.
Corkill and Tryan headed and heeled 10 steers in 70.1 seconds and won the
average title. This is the 3rd world title for both ropers.
Team Roping (Headers) final results:
1 Clay Tryan
Billings
TX
$220,057.52
2 Trevor Brazile
Decatur
TX
$176,182.74
3 Aaron Tsinigine
Tuba City
AZ
$153,584.58
4 Coleman Proctor
Pryor
OK
$149,574.13
5 Jake Barnes
Scottsdale
AZ
$148,044.59
6 Dustin Bird
Cut Bank
MT
$146,730.69
7 Kaleb Driggers
Albany
GA
$139,243.48
8 Erich Rogers
Round Rock
AZ
$134,215.88
9 Turtle Powell
Stephenville
TX
$126,929.82
10 Brandon Beers
Powell Butte
OR
$116,269.62
11 Riley Minor
Ellensburg
WA
$115,377.08
12 Tom Richards
Humboldt
AZ
$101,071.13
13 Charly Crawford
Prineville
TX
$99,755.77
14 Nick Sartain
Dover
OK
$99,030.03
15 Luke Brown
Stephenville
TX
$92,064.53
Team Roping (Heelers) final results:
1 Jade Corkill
Fallon
2 Travis Graves
Jay
3 Jake Long
Coffeyville
4 Paul Eaves
Lonedell
5 Clay O’Brien Cooper Gardnerville
6 Patrick Smith
Lipan
7 Junior Nogueira
Scottsdale
8 Cory Petska
Marana
9 Dakota Kirchenschlager De Leon
10 Jim Ross Cooper
Monument
11 Brady Minor
Ellensburg
12 Sha H