American Rodeo Contender Tournament Central Regionals Exciting Round 1 Results

Fast times lit up the leaderboard in Round 1, as rodeo athletes looked to advance to the final night of competition.

Tuf Cooper | Colin Murphey / San Angelo Standard-Times via Imagn Content Services, LLC

One of the most popular rodeos of the year, a fan and contestant favorite, is coming up in a little under two months. The American Rodeo offers unmatched opportunities to a wide group of rodeo athletes. From February 13-15, Rodeo on SI is keeping up with all the action at the third regional event in the qualification process.

The American Rodeo Contender Tournament Central Regional in Tulsa, Okla., will determine the final set of competitors headed to Arlington, Texas. The top five athletes in each event from each region (15 in total per event) will compete in the American Contender Tournament Finals. The American Rodeo will be held on April 12 at Globe Life Field.

Round 1 of the semi-finals for the timed events was held on Thursday, February 13, and saying that these athletes brought their best is an understatement. Fans saw crazy-fast times and a very tight round in every event. The qualifiers for the final round, held on Saturday night, are determined on a two-run aggregate. These contestants will return at 8 AM on Friday for their second run.

For those who did not have the performance they hoped in the semi-finals rounds, there will be one more chance to qualify in the buy-back round. Three competitors from the buy-back will move on to the semi-finals.

Tie Down Roping

It was an incredibly tough round of tie down roping. With a star studded lineup of National Finals Rodeo qualifiers, the separation of the top nine places was a little over one-half of a second. There were 99 entries in Round 1.

Tuf Cooper earned the top spot with a 7.43, just barely bumping Tyler Milligan with a 7.49 to second. Followed by two more multiple-time NFR qualifiers, Hunter Herrin at 7.55 and Adam Gray at 7.71, they are in a great position coming back to Round 2 for the aggregate.

1 Tuf Cooper / 7.43 / $ 1,508.00
2 Tyler Milligan / 7.49 / $1,044.00
3 Hunter Herrin / 7.55 / $812.00
4 Adam Gray / 7.71 / $638.00
5 Lane Livingston / 7.74 / $522.00
6 Luke Coleman / 7.92 / $406.00
7/8 Blake Carter / 8.04 / $319.00
7/8 Cory Solomon / 8.04 / $319.00
9 Cason Kingsbury / 8.06 / $232.00

Team Roping

Speaking of celebrity lineups, check out the team roping. It was a literal "who's who" of top 15 cowboys taking the top eight spots in Round 1. The leader board was packed with incredibly fast times and the guys at the top still managed to take the win by nearly one-half second.

Clay Smith and Coleby Payne have been on an absolute tear lately and won the round with a smoking fast 3.86. The remainder of the top eight was an amalgamation of NFR qualifiers, World Champions, and NFR Average winners.

1 Clay Smith/Coleby Payne / 3.86 / $2,047.00
2 Jake Smith/Douglas Rich / 4.24 / $1,389.00
3 Cody Snow/Hunter Koch / 4.25 / $1,096.00
4 Jake Clay/Tanner Braden / 4.29 / $804.00
5 JC Yeahquo/Ross Ashford / 4.3 / $658.00
6/7 Clay Smith/Coleby Payne / 4.35 / $511.50
6/7 Jeff Flenniken/Buddy Hawkins / 4.35 / $511.50
8 Andrew Ward/Paul Eaves / 4.37 / $295.50

Steer Wrestling

It was a great round of rodeo for the spectators, with the fast times carrying into the steer wrestling. Two-time NFR qualifier, Bridger Anderson, took the top spot with the only three-second run of the round. At just 22 years old, Emmett Edler earned the second spot in the round.

1 Bridger Anderson / 3.95 / $ 1,174.00
2 Emmett Edler / 4.02 / $ 796.00
3 Winsten McGraw / 4.08 / $ 628.00
4 Thomas Uttermark / 4.21 / $ 461.00
5 Eli Lord / 4.31 / $ 377.00
6 Bridger Chambers / 4.49 / $ 335.00
7 Shane Frey / 4.70 / $ 251.00
8 Shane Frey / 4.77 / $ 171.00

Breakaway Roping

The ladies came to play in the breakaway. With four runs under two seconds, it was an electric round to watch. A 16-year-old cowgirl, Quealy Probst, came out on top with an amazing 1.77-second run. Some cowgirls had qualified in multiple positions and Probst also placed seventh in the round. Right behind her in second with a 1.79, Bleu Hall is also a young gun, at just 17-years-old.

1 Quealy Probst / 1.77 / $ 3,074.00
2 Bleu Hall / 1.79 / $ 2,306.00
3 Haiden Thompson / 1.94 / $ 1,665.00
4 Kaydence Tindall / 1.96 / $ 1,409.00
5 Taylor Munsell / 2.04 / $ 1,153.00
6 Addison Kinser / 2.06 / $ 896.00
7 Quealy Probst / 2.14 / $ 768.00
8 Rickie Fanning / 2.26 / $ 640.00
9 Hadley Thompson / 2.27 / $ 512.00
10 Jami Bergeson / 2.34 / $ 389.00

Barrel Racing

Winning the round was Pete Oen and UX Google It, who had a successful futurity career with Hallie Hanssen, before moving on to her derby years in Oen's string. The duo not only won the round, they took it by nearly three-tenths of a second, amongst some of the best horses in the country.

1 Pete Oen / UX Google It / 15.154 / $2,730
2 Jymmy Kay Cox / LT The Lucky One / 15.439 / $2,047
3 Jordan Driver / TRHeavensIlluminated / 15.491 / $1,478
4 Bailee Snow / Eysa Slick Eddie / 15.524 / $1,251
5 Sharin Hall / Hello Stella /15.540 / $1,023
6 Hazlee McKenzie / Heza Brick House / 15.557 / $796
7 LaTricia Duke / DM High Roller / 15.563 / $682
8 Stephanie Fryar / KN Streak N Fabulous / 15.595 / $568
9 Tasha Welsh / Seis Smashin Fame / 15.599 / $455
10 Jennifer Driver / MayBFamous / 15.617 / $345