The American Battle Continues — Lexington Style
Lexington, Ky., in the heart of horse country, is hosting the last and final weekend of the regional finals for the American Rodeo. Kentucky Horse Park is full of cowboys and cowgirls with a million-dollar dream.
Of all who roll into town, only five in each event will earn the right to move on to the Contender finals, to be held in Abilene, Texas, on February 10. The top five from each of the three regions will come together for their final shot of moving on to "The Crown Jewel of Rodeo," held March 8 & 9th at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Contestants in Lexington will compete in two full go-rounds to determine the top 10 who will advance to the final performance. Meeting them, there will be three people who will choose to pay $1,000 in additional entry fees to compete in the redemption round. The top three of those will move on to the performance. Out of the 13 in the performance, the top five positions will be earned and move on to Abilene.
Each event is sanctioned by different national associations, and because of this, the setups can be different. The team roping, for instance, is three go-rounds and a short round, followed by the performances. The rough stock events are a single long go-round with the top 10 advancing to the performance. There is no redemption round offered in the rough stock events.
We will have a full recap with the top 10 contestants plus redemption round qualifiers ready for review on Friday evening. Here are your round-one highlights.
Wenda Johnson competing at the 2023 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
Hillary Maybery for SI Rodeo Daily
Timed Event Highlights
Barrel Race
First Round Top 10:
1. Wenda Johnson, Steal Money - 15.291
2. Bailey Belcher, Pocket Coin Five - 15.388
3. Emma Charleston, TFour Slicks On Fire - 15.453
4. Rylee Jo Maryann, One Cup Tees Sis - 15.517
5. Caleb Cline, From Famous To Vegas - 15.539
6. Emma Parr, DG Excuse My French - 15.545
7. Christian Shipley, Smoken French Winner - 15.554
8. Kathleen Menard, - Aim My Choice - 15.555
9. Sabra Moore, - Asharpe Earlee Win - 15.603
10. Ronda Casey, - UndinablyAHustler - 15.642
Tie Down Roping
First Round Top 10:
1. Dylan Hancock - 7.24 seconds
2. Houston Hutto - 7.62
3. Westyn Hughes - 8.67
4. Westyn Hughes - 9.02
5. Macon Murphy - 9.03
6. Zack Cargle - 9.60
7. Kincade Henry - 9.60
8. Sherman Lasker - 9.67
9. Brushton Minton - 9.75
10. Ty Harris - 10.00
Steer Wrestling
First Round Top 10:
1. Stephen Mullins - 4.15 seconds
2. Will Lummus 4.33
3. Sam Dixon - 4.55
4. Payden Strahan - 5.08
5. Dakota Eldridge - 5.19
6. Tristan Martin - 5.85
7. Kyle Irwin - 6.02
8. Kamry Dymmek - 9.87
9. Noel Strahan - 10.56
10. Joshua Hefner - 15.87
Breakaway Roping
First Round Top 10:
1. Grace Toberer - 1.99 seconds
2. Harley Pryor - 2.34
3. Shelby Whiting - 2.35
4. Jacy Schnaufer - 2.37
5. Beau Peterson - 2.40
6. Kenli Smith - 2.49
7. Bailey Gubert - 2.51
8. Josey Murphy - 2.57
9. Morgan Sparks - 2.58
10. Angie Green - 2.61
Team Roping
Top 10 ADVANCING to Performance:
1. Jaxson Tucker/Kaden Profili - 15.39 seconds
2. Coleman Proctor/Levi Lord - 18.58
3. Lightning Aguilera/Travis Graves - 19.18
4. Ross Mitchell/Cole Walker - 20.04
5. Chad Masters/Wyatt Cox - 20.93
6. Coleman Proctor/Logan Medlin - 21.23
7. Chad Masters/Lane Mitchell - 25.41
8. Nelson Wyatt/Lane Mitchell - 26.90
9. Cory Kidd/Carson Johnson - 1009.46
10. Erich Rogers/Paul Eaves - 1009.72
Three advancing from the redemption round:
1. Lightning Aguilera/Jonathan Torres - 9.41 seconds
2. Brenten Hall/Kaden Profili - 12.01
3. Nelson Wyatt/Jonathan Torres - 14.44
