One of two Pine River Valley locals able to travel to, and compete in the 32nd Annual Silver State International Rodeo, held July 3-8, was Ignacio High School graduate Stocker Robbins. Robbins didn’t just finish top-five, he ended up placing third.
Bull-riding inside the Winnemucca, Nev., Events Complex’s Main Arena, Robbins followed an unsuccessful first go-round in the specialty with a strong 75 in the second. And even though he was again unsuccessful in the decisive short go last Saturday, his average of 75 on one ride still put him in a podium position.
With respective scores of 75 and 65, Utah’s Colton Humphries, Mount Pleasant North Sanpete H.S., ranked second prior to the short go, when he logged a buckle-clinching 73 – making the former UHSRA State Champion the sole rider covering three head.
With a 72-76 start, state-mate Taylor Bethers, hailing from Heber City Wasatch, led the field by eight points prior to the final performance inside the sport complex’s events center, but he failed on his final try and finished second overall. Following Robbins in the standings were Utah entrants Dakota Madsen (70/1), William Wright (60/1), Austin Glover (60/1) and Chance Ekins (50/1), with 2017 IHS grad Dalton Mickey unable to record a scoring attempt.
Bethers would ultimately earn Reserve All-Around Cowboy, trailing Oregonian Riley Fry 50-46 in the points race. Robbins earned 17 points, tying Utah’s Keagan Richards farther down in the A-A order, while Mickey tied Ekins and three others with ten.
The Beehive State easily won the combined team championship, 926 points to Nevada’s 462, with California (411.5), Oregon (342.5) and Idaho (300.5) rounding out the top five. Colorado totaled a ninth-place 27 – two points fewer than eighth-place New Mexico.
WORKING IN WYOMING
Mickey and Mark Kempinski, also a 2017 IHS grad, along with Ignacio Bobcat Dustin Sanchez, are slated to compete in Gillette, Wyo., at the 69th Annual National High School Finals Rodeo, running from July 16-22.
An injury-alternate inclusion in saddle bronc, Kempinski was scheduled to ride Tuesday morning, July 18, in the first go-round and then again Thursday evening in the second. Through the NHSFR’s second performance (Monday morning, 7/17), Tegan Smith of Winterset, Iowa – birthplace of actor John Wayne – held the early lead with a 79. Axtell, Texas’ Parker Fleet was second with a 70, and Lapoint, Utah’s J.R. Peterson was third with a 69.
Tied for fourth with 65s were Sage Miller, Springview, Neb. and Austin Christensen, Laverne, Okla. – Koy Myers from Thermopolis, Wyo. was sixth with a 62.
Sanchez and Mickey were set to compete in rifle shooting on Tuesday, July 18.