Eugene cowboy ropes third in nationals
By DON MINER
Of the Emerald
Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas
and Wyoming all have a long his
tory of supplying successful
cowboys and rodeos. This year
at the National Rodeo Finals, a
28-year-old Eugenean named
Danny Torricellas made his
ever-growing success known to
the rodeo world.
For 10 days, (Dec. 1-11), Ok
lahoma City watched as Torricel
las competed with the best and
placed third in the overall stand
ings. He also took third in the calf
roping and sixth in the bull dog
ging to walk away with $5,500.
Entering his 10th year in
rodeo, Torricellas credits his
father for his start.
"I had been going to the rodeo
since I was a little kid,” he says.
‘‘My dad had been in the rodeo,
and I got started through him.
Torricellas says about his
coaching, "I'm probably as dose
to having had a coach as any
body. My dad gives me tips and it
always pays off. I’m used to tak
ing advice, which makes it
easy.”
The life of a professional cow
boy seems tough. Between
hours of practice and miles on
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Photo courtesy at Demy Tarnoettee
Eugenean Danny Torricellas loses his hat while bullclogging a steer during a rodeo. Torricellas placed
third overall in the National Rodeo Finals in Oklahoma City last month.
the road, only the tough and ded
icated survive. Torricellas is one
of those.
“When I’m home. I'll practice
four hours a day. That would be
a light day. Most often it would be
six to seven hours. When I’m on
the road, it’s pretty tough be
cause there is no set deal. When
I’m in California, I have a friends’
where I can practice. But if I’m in
Colorado or Texas, let’s say, I
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don’t really have any place to
practice. Whenever ! have a
chance. I have to take it.
“Repetition is the most impor
tant thing,” Torricellas claims.
“For the calf roping, I'll practice
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the tie which consists of roping a
bale of hay. Bull dogging (steer
wrestling) is more difficult to
practice.”
Steers cost about $300
apiece, and they have little or no
resale value, and it’s easier to
get hurt practicing this event,
says Torricellas.
Also, there are twice as many
people involved when you have
to practice with a steer.”
The professional rodeo
(PRCA) is broken down into a
circuit-point system. For exam
ple, Oregon and Washington is
one circuit. California is another,
Texas, Colorado, and so on
down the line. All of the points a
cowboy wins, whether in his own
circuit or not, go towards his total
points for the nationals. ‘ The cir
cuit system gets more local in
terest for local cowboys,” claims
Torricellas.
There is one point given for
every dollar a cowboy makes.
The break-down is as follows:
$5,000 for an event champion,
$10,000 for the all-around
champion, and $12,000 for the
first in an event. This year at the
Nationals will be the first time
everyone who competes is paid
regardless of finish.
Appropriately, his goal is very
simply, “I want to win the world
championship.”
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