SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2016
1B
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PENDLETON
PENDLETON
Good day for
bubble broncos
Cowboys strengthen fi nals bids
by winning Round-Up checks
East Oregonian
Kolbaba defends crown
Walla Walla native
feeds off crowd
support for big win
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
When Derek Kolbaba plans out
his travel schedule during the rodeo
season, there is one city that is always
priority No. 1 — Pendleton.
The 20-year-old cowboy from
Walla Walla, Washington frequented
the town for the Pendleton PBR Classic
and the Round-Up every year when he
was growing up, which is why those
two events are always staples for him.
On Tuesday night, Kolbaba took
center stage in front of his (pretty
much) hometown crowd looking to
defend his PBR Classic title from
2015. And after two rock solid rides
with those fans behind him, Kolbaba
was successful in his efforts as he
scored a 175.5 on two to capture the
2016 Banner Bank Pendleton PBR
Classic crown.
“It’s all just unbelievable,” he said.
“When I say it’s one of my favorite
events, I’m not lying. The atmosphere
is great, the crowd is right there on top
of you and I have all my family and
friends here which makes it that much
sweeter.”
The crowd support for the Wash-
ington cowboy was evident from the
cowboy introductions when the packed
house at Happy Canyon arena when
Kolbaba’s name was announced. It
continued during his fi rst ride, just four
riders into the event, with booming
cheers and high-pitched screams
More than $83,000 has already been won as the 2016
Pendleton Round-Up prepares for its fi rst performance of
the week today.
Team roping, tie-down roping and steer wrestling
completed their fi rst go during Tuesday’s slack while steer
ropers began their second round of competition in earnest.
Five seconds was a key fi gure for team ropers and steer
wrestlers as that was the winning time in both events.
Team ropers Aaron Macy and Evan Arnold pulled it off
in their event to win a round in Pendleton for the fi rst time.
At 33rd and 25th in the PRCA standings, respectively,
Macy and Arnold would practically need a sweep in Pend-
leton to get into the running for the Wrangler National
Finals Rodeo, but the bubble team of Jake Cooper and
Tyler McKnight helped their cause with a seventh-place
fi nish in 6.3. They came into the week in 21st and placed
seventh in the round.
———
Team roping Go 1 payout — 1, Aaron Macy/Evan Arnold, 5.0 seconds, $4,347.13
each; 2, Bryce Palmer/Monty Joe Petska, 5.5, $3,780.11 each; 3, Blake Teixeira/C.J.
DeForest Jr., 5.6, $3,312.10 each; 4, Ryan Reed/Dalton Pearce, 5.9, $2,646.08 each;
5, Blaine Vick/York Gill, 6.1, $2,079.06 each; 6, David Temple/Tee Jay Brown, 6.2,
$1,512.05 each; 7, Jake Cooper/Tyler McKnight, 6.3, $945.03 each; T8, Joel Bach/Kory
Koontz and Shane Erickson/Andy Carlson, 6.5, $189.01 each.
TIE-DOWN ROPING
Texas cowboy Shank Edwards is no stranger to success
in the Pacifi c Northwest after winning the all-around
tie-down titles at the 2010 Farm-City Pro Rodeo in
Hermiston, and will be looking to add a Round-Up title
as well now that he’s sitting atop the leaderboard through
one round.
Edwards, who entered the week No. 32 in the PRCA
standings, tied his calf in 8.4 seconds to earn a check for
$4,111.48.
Shank’s winnings won’t get him into the WNFR race
on their own, but world No. 16 Blane Cox got a check
that will at least keep him in the discussion until the fi nal
weeks by placing second with a time of 8.6 for a $3,575.20
payday.
See ROUND-UP/2B
See PBR/2B
Staff photos by E.J. Harris
MAIN PHOTO: Derek Kolbaba of Walla Walla rides No Dice during the Pendleton PBR Classic on Tuesday in the
Happy Canyon Arena in Pendleton.
TOP RIGHT: Reese cates of Monticello, Ark., gets bucked off of Hot Rod during the Pendleton PBR Classic.
TOP LEFT: Dakota Buttar of Kindersley, Canada, rides Maestro during the Pendleton PBR Classic.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Howdy McGinn of North Powder and Chad Finley of
Mt. Vernon fi nish with a 7.8-second run in team rop-
ing during slack Tuesday at the Pendleton Round-Up.
HERMISTON
PENDLETON
Bucks face steep test in Storm Bulldogs eager to play Cougars
Pendleton
opens league
with defending
5A champions
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
After a Week 1 high, the
Pendleton Buckaroos now
fi nd themselves reeling a bit
heading into Week 3.
What
happened
in
between? A 49-21 road
defeat at the hands of the
Putnam Kingsmen last
week, a game that Pendleton
Football
Pendleton
Summit
Buckaroos
Storm
(1-1)
(1-1)
• Friday, 7 p.m.
• at Summit High School,
Bend
• Radio: KTIX 1240 AM
coach Erik Davis said his
team let get away from them
by not doing their jobs.
“I fully expected us to
be competitive against a
competitive 5A team, but
it didnt’ work out for us,”
Davis said following the
loss.
Later Davis added, “We
didn’t play assignment
football like we had all week
in practice, we didn’t tackle
well and then we came out
a little fl at on offense …
and that combination didn’t
work out for us.”
Pendleton (1-1) will need
to fi nd that same success it
had in the season opener,
as Week 3 brings one of
the biggest games of the
season for the Buckaroos.
The team will travel the 244
mile one-way trip to Bend to
take on the defending Class
See BUCKS/2B
Hermiston
hosts Mountain
View to start
league season
Football
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
Mtn. View
Hermiston
Cougars
Bulldogs
(2-0)
(0-2)
• Friday, 7 p.m.
• at Kennison Field,
Hermiston
• Radio: KOHU 1360 AM
The old is new again as
the Intermountain Confer-
ence has come back into
fashion in the OSAA’s Class
5A, only now they’re calling
it Special District 1.
The Hermiston Bulldogs
(0-2) host the Mountain
View Cougars (2-0) on
Friday to open league play,
and Hermiston coach David
Faaeteete welcomes the
early arrival of meaningful
football after six seasons
in the four-team Columbia
River Conference during
which they didn’t see a
league opponent until Week
6.
“The only thing that
matters to us is our confer-
ence opponents and getting
after that,” he said. “What
we’re looking forward to is
getting into a good confer-
ence, we’re going to be
playing really good teams
from the Bend area, we’re
really excited about that.
“Our kids are hungry
for a win and they’ve been
preparing themselves this
week.”
It’ll be the fi rst time for
Mountain View playing
See BULLDOGS/2B
Sports shorts
Saints release running back Spiller
METAIRIE, La. (AP) — The New Orleans Saints
have released running back C.J. Spiller, who signed
a four-year, $16 million free-agent contract just last
season.
Spiller was a healthy scratch Sunday, when the
Saints opened the regular season with a
35-34 loss to Oakland.
On Monday, Saints coach Sean
Payton said Spiller was scratched
because there wasn’t room for him in the
Raiders game plan, adding that Spiller’s
role could change “week to week.”
But when the NFL posted Tuesday’s
Spiller
transactions, Spiller’s contract had been
terminated.
When the Saints acquired Spiller, they hoped his versa-
tility and his speed would allow him to fi ll roles similar to
those of ex-Saints Reggie Bush and Darren Sproles.
But Spiller needed arthroscopic knee surgery last
preseason and has contributed relatively little to New
Orleans’ prolifi c offense.
“I can say with
confi dence that there’s
no other state in the
country that loves its
college sports more than
North Carolina. That’s
why it hits so hard and
feels so personal.“
— Scott Dupree
Executive director of the Greater
Raleigh Sports Alliance, which
was coordinating four of the seven
championship events being moved
from the state over its law on bath-
room use by transgender people.
Seahawks swap defensive
backs, cut fullback Tukuafu
RENTON, Wash. (AP) — The Seattle
Seahawks have waived cornerback Tharold
Simon, a former fi fth-round draft pick who
has struggled with injuries.
Seattle also signed
cornerback Neiko Thorpe,
who appeared in 28 games
over the past two seasons
with Oakland. Thorpe was
among the fi nal cuts by the
Raiders at the conclusion of camp.
Simon had gotten high praise for his
improvement during training camp but his
entire career has been slowed by injuries.
Seattle also waived rookie fullback Tani
Tupou and signed veteran Will Tukuafu.
The Seahawks did not add a quarterback to
the active roster, another sign that Russell
Wilson is expected to play Sunday at Los
Angeles.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1986 — Chicago’s Walter
Payton rushes for 177 yards, to
reach the 15,000-yard plateau
and scores his 100th career
rushing touchdown as the
Bears beat the Philadelphia
Eagles 13-10.
1994 — The baseball
season, already shut down
by a month-long strike, is
canceled along with the
World Series in a vote by 26
of the 28 teams.
2010 — Reggie Bush
announces he is forfeiting
his Heisman Trophy that he
won at USC in 2005. It’s the
fi rst time college football’s
top award is returned by a
recipient.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com