Duel at the Dunes Makes Last Minute Rough Stock Top 15 Changes

On a historic late afternoon, the last day of the regular season for rodeo, changed the top 15.

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Set amongst the prairie sand dunes of northeast Colorado, the Duel at the Dunes made history. The inaugural event introduced Rodeo Dunes, Colorado's newest golf resort, to the world and kicked it off in cowboy fashion.

By special invitation only, the crowd was complete with prestigious golfers and investors in what the world will come to know as Rodeo Dunes. Not only did they get to experience the first section of the new golf course, but to finish the day off, the top rough stock riders in the world put on quite a show.

With a total payoff of $66,552, the final chance to make a move into the coveted top 15 spots was available. The format was a long round of 20 competitors followed by a short go of just the top three.

Bareback Riding

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Kicking off the action was none other than World Champion Jess Pope and his signature turquoise chaps flying atop his bucking horse, Riptide. The Waverly, Kansas man got the crowd roaring with his 85-point ride, but it wouldn't be enough to make the top three cut.

The Cervi bucking horse "Mamo" took Waylon Bourgeois right to the top of the leaderboard in the long round with their score of 87.5 points. He was followed close behind by the man from Canada, Orin Larsen who took on R. Watson's Ed B. The pair showed out for an 87 score and a second-place finish.

Taking the final spot in the finals was Caldwell, Idaho's Jacob Lees. Cervi's Colorado Cheyenne proved hot enough to earn the duo an 86-point ride and advancement to the finals.

All three of these bareback riders needed money winning performances in Roggen, Colo. as they were all close to being at the cut line of 15 in the World Standings. Bourgeois was ranked at No. 13 with $131,948.39. Larsen found himself at No. 17 fighting for a way in after having a season of earning $123,025. This was about $6,800 outside of the top 15. Lees was ranked at No. 19 and needed to make up more than $11,000 which wasn't possible.

In the final round of three, Jacob Lees would conquer the famous Cervi horse, Womanizer for the win. The recognizable paint and pride of the Circle I had a great outing where he paired with the cowboy to earn 88 points and the win.

Larsen would finish close behind at 87.5 and Bourgeois marked an 84 to finish out the evening.

When the tally is done, it may be a close call for Larsen. While our very unofficial calculations, it appears that Larsen won't quite have enough money tallied to make the trip to Las Vegas in December, but he certainly put up a good fight right to the end.

Saddle Bronc Riding

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The who's who of saddle bronc riding showed up on the prairie to put on a show and the Cervi bucking horses were ready. Nine of the top 15 nodded their head while others battled to move into those spots.

Ultimately in the long round it would be Weston Patterson who took top honors riding Cervi's Found Me for 86.5 points. Lefty Holman and Sage Newman tied for second and third with their 86-point show-off rides. Gus Gaillard and Ryder Wright would finish out the top five with 85 points each.

In the final three round, Weston Patterson took advantage of the outstanding horse Triple Threat. He gathered all the available money to him by picking up the win in the short round as well. In total, Patterson left the sandy arena with $7,289 more in his world standings account.

Sage Newman posted an 87-point ride to earn second place while Lefty Holman continued his battle to make another trip to Las Vegas and earned third.

It was a situation that required Holman to perform and he did just that. After both rides were tallied, it looks like he did everything he needed to do to qualify for his fifth trip to the NFR.

Bull Riding

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The long round win went to a Colorado man who entered as a walk-up replacement. Elijah Mora didn't have to drive far to get on the Cervi Championship Rodeo's Smokin Joe and it only took eight seconds worth of work for the man to earn 84 points and $6,765.

In total, just six bulls were covered in the first round meaning that if you got a score, you got a check. Among those picking up money were Clayton Sellars, Mason Spain, Luke Mackey, Hudson Bolton and Jesse Petri.

Mackey and Petri were feeling the heat as they were ranked at No. 14 and 15 coming into the day. They both took care of business and earned money for their standings to hold on to their positions.

In the final round, Bolton would be the only one to cover his bull with an incredible 92-point ride on Ringling Road who has only ever been rode once before.

Looking back at the evening, Cervi Championship rodeo put on another stellar event. They provided a beautiful setting for hopefully new rodeo fans to take in the action. The cowboys got a chance to earn substantial money toward their final leg of the journey to Vegas.

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