Wednesday, August 4, 2021
A9
SPORTS
Brown’s repeat highlights 75th CJD
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — Jesse Brown
won steer wrestling during
the 2019 Chief Joseph
Days.
He repeated at the all-
around steer wrestling
champion in 2021, winning
in the fi rst round with a time
of 4.2 seconds and posting
the best time for two take-
downs — 10.1 seconds —
during the fi nal night of the
75th Chief Joseph Days on
Saturday, July 31.
“This evening my steer
was a little bit stronger
(than his fi rst attempt) and
I knew I had some time to
work with to win the aver-
age. I just had to get him
down, I think, quicker than
7 (seconds) or something
like that.”
Brown’s time of 4.2 sec-
onds during a slack per-
formance earlier Satur-
day gave him the top time
in the rodeo and put him in
a good position to win the
all-around. His time of 5.9
seconds was seventh in the
second round — and out of
the money — but he fi n-
ished more than one sec-
ond ahead of Justin Kimsey
for the all-around title, and
pocketed $2,375 between
the Round 1 win and the
overall title.
In 2019, Brown, a prod-
uct of nearby Baker City
who is ranked third in the
world in steer wrestling in
2021, tied for fi rst in both
rounds and took home the
honor of all-around.
“Joseph is one of my
favorite small rodeos,
one of my favorite rodeos
period, honestly,” Brown
said. “Being kind of close
to home, a Columbia River
Circuit rodeo, the atmo-
sphere, and the view,
it’s great. I love Joseph.
That’s pretty cool to go
back-to-back.”
scored their rides on board
the same bull, Spike the
Punch.
Local fan favorite and
great-grandson of Harley
Tucker, Derek Kolbaba,
just missed a ride Thurs-
day that likely would have
catapulted him to his third
CJD title, as he turned in a
time of 7.26 seconds in his
ride on Side Hustle, though
it was easily the top perfor-
mance of Thursday night
with the other four riders
getting dismounted quickly.
Bareback riding
Another fi rst-night per-
formance held on through-
out the week, and that was
in bareback riding. R.C.
Landingham posted a score
of 84 on Wednesday night.
The ride edged Clayton
Biglow, who scored 83.5 on
Wednesday night, and out-
lasted three other perfor-
mances of at least 80 points
— 83 by Bronc Marriott,
81.5 by Wyatt Denny and
80.5 by Payton Wright —
to win Landingham a check
of more than $2,000.
Saddle bronc riding
Also won on opening
night was saddle bronc rid-
ing. Spencer Wright edged
his nephew, Rusty, to not
only win family bragging
rights and the fi rst night, but
eventually, the whole rodeo
with a score of 85.5. Rusty
Wright took second with a
score of 83, Kade Bruno
placed third with an 82.5,
and Mitch Pollock was the
only other rider above 80,
turning in an 82.
Bruno’s win earned him
the Harley Tucker Rodeo
Series Award, which is
given to the contestant who
scored the most points and
had entered in the Eastern
Oregon Livestock Show,
the St. Paul Rodeo, the
Elgin Stampede and Chief
Joseph Days.
Team roping
Barrel racing
A second-round win was
claimed during Saturday
night’s fi nal performance
in team roping, with Hayes
Smith and Justin Davis
recording the top time of
the rodeo in 4.7 seconds
and taking home more than
$1,600.
The team of Jason Stew-
art and Jason Duby won
the all-around team-rop-
ing championship, netting
a time of 12.2 seconds on
two animals — including
5.7 seconds in the second
round for their best time.
They won $2,488 as the
all-around champions, and
more than $1,200 for their
placing in the two rounds.
Jr. Dees and Matt Sher-
wood won the fi rst round in
5.5 seconds to win $1,659.
Rachelle Riggers was
the barrel racing champion,
taking the win with a run
of 17.51 seconds on Friday
night. She won more than
$2,500 against a fi eld of
more than 50 riders and was
among six contestants who
ran the cloverleaf pattern
in 17.60 seconds or faster.
Jessie Telford placed sec-
ond with a time of 17.53,
Bailey Cline was third in
17.55, Cheyenne Allan
placed fourth in 17.59,
and both Jordan Minor and
Emily McKinnies tied for
fi fth in 17.60.
Bull riding
The championship in
bull riding — and several
other events — ended up
being claimed on the fi rst
night, as an 86-point ride
by Wyatt Covington on
Wednesday night held up
as the top performance of
the weekend and won him
a check of nearly $2,500.
Only two other riders held
on the entire eight sec-
onds — Jordan Spears,
who also rode Wednesday
and fi nished with an 85,
and Paul Coppini, who fi n-
ished with an 83.5 on Fri-
day night. Interestingly,
both Spears and Coppini
Lifetime
Warranty
Photos by Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Baker City’s Jesse Brown repeated as all-around champion in steer wrestling at Chief Joseph Days with a combined time of 10.1
seconds on two steers. He also had the fastest time of the 2021 rodeo at 4.2 seconds.
Steer roping
Three diff erent Soreys
won the three rounds of steer
roping: Tom Sorey the fi rst
round in 15.2 seconds, Pake
Sorey the second round in
13.7, and Trent Sorey the
third in 14.2.
It was Roger Nonella,
though, who won the all-
around in steer roping as
the only contestant to post a
time in all three rounds, with
time on three steers of 51.6
seconds.
Above, Wyatt Denny turns in an 81.5-point ride in bareback
riding Thursday, which was good for fourth. At left, Ryan
Powell throws the lasso at a steer during team roping. Below,
Derek Kolbaba rides Side Hustle during bull riding Thursday.
Kolbaba just missed an eight-second ride.
Tie-down roping
Westyn Hughes won the
all-around tie-down roping
championship, turning in a
time of 18.3 on two calves.
He turned in times of 9.8
seconds and later of 8.5 sec-
onds to also place in both
rounds, and between the
round placings and the all-
around title won more than
$5,400 on the weekend.
The Round 1 champion
was Cody Craig, who won
more than $1,800 with a
time of 8.7 seconds. Spen-
cer Moulton made a run
at the overall title and the
arena record by winning the
second round with a time
of 8.0, which was within
0.3 of the record at Harley
Tucker Memorial Arena,
and moved him to second
in the all-around with a
time of 18.9 on two.
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