Rodeo gates swing open

By Sean Eamon - 05/31/2008

Walter Hinick / the montana standard Twin Bridges cowboy Newt Novich takes the steer by the horns and puts on the brakes during the first section of steer wrestling Friday during the District No. 4 High School Rodeo at the Butte rodeo grounds.

Area high school rodeo competitors got one last chance to tip their cowboy hats to one another before the MHSRA District No. 4 Rodeo this weekend.

Area athletes competed in a qualifying rodeo on Friday at Butte’s Vigilante Rodeo Grounds.

Athletes in District No. 4 range from as far west as Anaconda and as far east as Billings.

Bronc rider Shane Schutz of Molt was one of Friday’s standouts. He was the lone rider to manage scores in bareback and saddle bronc. He scored 72 in both events.

In the ever-popular bull riding, Edgar’s Parker Breding posted a score of 80 to claim that event. Breding appeared a lot smaller than some of the other riders, but showed a lot of heart in an intense ride. Helena’s Tyler Erickson had an impressive time of 5.38 seconds in steer wrestling to edge out Kody Lahaye and Tim Sparing in that event.

Park City’s C.J. Hanson also won by a narrow margin in calf roping. His time of 9.83 seconds bumped Wilsall’s Weston Zupan into second.

Zupan had a time of 9.9 seconds.

In the girls’ events, Niki Baumann and CaDee Tew opened up Friday’s events with a close

finish in barrel racing. Baumann finished four-hundredths of a

second ahead of Tew.

Helena’s Mesa Pate scored

a solid breakaway time of

3.25 seconds to claim that event.

Layne Wiebe of Jefferson City won goat tying by more than one second.

Abbileen Metcalf finished off Friday’s events racing for a victory in pole bending.

In team roping, Anna Haaland and Trevor Sunvison had the best time of 7.47 seconds.

Notable finishes for local competitors included Anaconda’s Kyle Davis in steer wrestling. He finished at 14.5 seconds in that event.

Twin Bridges’ Dara Novich finished in eighth in the pole bending. She also competed in team roping, breakaway and barrel racing.

Her brother Newt came up short despite a good try in steer wrestling. He was among 10 finishers in calf roping with a time of 22.67 seconds.

Butte’s Lacey Davidson was among the 18 participants in breakaway that couldn’t rope their target.

Ramsay cowboy Caleb Horner had a rough go in calf roping, but will get another chance on Saturday.

Whitehall’s Keith Dosland started off strong on his bull ride, but couldn’t stay on long enough to register a score.

He also competed with Ballantine’s Whitney Grice in team roping. They would have placed in the top six in that event, but were penalized 10 seconds on their ropes.

Events begin a little after noon on Saturday. The day should begin as it did Friday with girls’ barrel racing.

MHSRA Qualifying Rodeo

Butte

Friday

Barrel Racing — 1, Niki Baumann, Belgrade, 18.03; 2, CaDee Tew, Belgrade, 18.07; 3, Reena Plaggemeyer, Big Timber, 18.51; 4, Annie Novotney, Helena, 18.65; 5, Sierra Reyher, Belgrade, 18.69; 6, Anna Healand, Billings, 18.76; 7, Allyssia Bushnell, Helena, 18.79; 8, Mesa Pate, Helena, 18.92.

Steer Wrestling — 1, Tyler Erickson, Helena, 5.38; 2, Kody Lahaye, Wilsall, 6.79; 3, Tim Sparing, Helena, 6.85; 4, Shawn Hanley, Roundup, 12.0; 5, Kyle Davis, Anaconda, 14.5; Brett Poe, Townsend, 15.15.

Bareback — 1, Shane Schutz, Molt, 72.

Breakaway — 1, Mesa Pate, Helena, 3.25; 2, Kelli Saltness, Three Forks, 3.95; 3, Tia Hilger, Helena, 5.69; 4, Abbileen Metcalf, Bozeman, 12.95; 5, Kelsey Hanson, 15.64.

Calf Roping — 1, C.J. Hanson, Park City, 9.83; 2, Weston Zupan, Wilsall, 9.9; 3, Tyler Erickson, Helena, 10.76; 4, Josh Scheele, Clyde Park, 11.41; 5, Ryan Ferguson, Clyde Park, 12.06; 6, Charlie Hollenbeck, Billings, 12.73; 7, Zane Holdbrook, Roberts, 14.34; 8, Tim Sparing, Helena, 15.42.

Saddle Bronc — 1, Shane Schutz, Molt, 72.

Goat Tying — 1, Layne Wiebe, 7.98; 2, Kelsey Hanson, Helena, 9.5; 3, Lauren Reiser, Townsend, 9.53; 4, Cierra Kunesh, Helena, 10.07; 5, Jesse Pichler, Columbus, 10.53; 6, Kelli Saltness, Three Forks, 11.36; 7, Mesa Pate, Helena, 11.88; 8, Storym Fink, Billings, 13.39.

Bull Riding — 1, Parker Breding, Edgar, 80; 2, James Hankinson, East Helena, 76; 3, Maverick Bushnell, Red Lodge, 67; 4, C.J. Graveley, Roberts, 65.

Team Roping — 1, Anna Haaland / Trevor Sunvison, 7.47; 2, Weston Zupan / Tyler Zupan, 7.96; 3, Kody Lahaye / Nate Eichhorn, 8.38; 4, Cassie Woosley / Josh Scheele, 9.56; 5, Ryan Ferguson / Tyler Erickosn, 11.93.

Pole Bending — 1, Abbileen Metcalf, Bozeman, 22.16; 2, Dacia Horne, Helena, 22.37; 3, Niki Baumann, Belgrade, 22.73; 4, Layne Wiebe, Jefferson City, 32.01; 5, Stormy Fink, Billings, 23.04; 6, Jesse Pichler, Columbus, 23.31; 7, Lauren Reiser, Townsend, 23.47; 8, Dara Novich, Twin Bridges, 23.4.