Reaching for the Top

RELEASE BY PRO RODEO CANADA

If Dayton Roworth finishes off the 2015 Pro Rodeo Canada season the way he began the campaign, he may find himself riding in a new season leader saddle next year. The 25-year-old had collected over $9,000 in earnings by mid-June while flirting with the number one spot in the Canadian steer wrestling standings.

“I got on a roll earlier in the year,” suggested Roworth, who first bought his pro card in 2010. “I figured some things out in the practice pen. And I’m getting more comfortable now. I know how to use my head a little more than when I started.”

With a win this past weekend at the Whoop-Up Days Pro Rodeo in Lethbridge, AB, Roworth has now passed the twenty thousand dollar mark in earnings. And the $2,351 won from the southern Alberta stop will leave him less than $2,400 out of the top spot in the updated Pro Rodeo Canada unofficial standings.

“There’s still a chance,” confirmed the 2009 Lakeland Rodeo Association bulldogging champ. “I was hoping to make the CFR and have a seat by now but not with $20,000 won. It’s a bit surprising.”

The Czar, AB, cowboy claimed the Lethbridge title with a 3.6-second run last Thursday night while using his traveling partner’s horse.

“I had a good steer and rode Ty Miller’s horse,” explained Roworth. “Ty hazed for me. I got a good start and things worked out.”

“That’s the first cheque I’ve won on anything other than my horse, Fly. He was a little sore and I think I’ll give him another week off. I’ll ride Ty’s horse (Chico) again and see from there.”

Other Lethbridge champions included reigning Canadian bull riding champion, Dakota Buttar. The Saskatchewan cowboy was 86.5 points on Kesler Rodeo’s 2012 Canadian Bull of the Year, Whiskey Jack, to take home $1,953, enough to boost his season earnings to nearly $35,000.

“I started an exercise plan last year and I’m continuing it this year,” began Buttar in describing his continued success on the Pro Rodeo Canada trail. “I think it really helps.”

Buttar’s Lethbridge win came on the heels of the previous weekend’s double successes. The accounting student topped the field at Jasper’s Pro Rodeo with an 86-point ride on Northcott’s Cool Pop, good for $1,504.75, then added a second place $777.55 cheque at Cranbrook Pro Rodeo with an 82-point performance.

The only other current leader in the Canadian standings to win a Lethbridge title was Louisiana’s Cody DeMoss. He was 83 points on Kesler Rodeo’s Paper Clip to win the saddle bronc event and $2,098.

Other Whoop-Up Days champions included bareback rider Ty Taypotat (81 points on Kesler Rodeo’s Cool Boots, $1,953); barrel racer Katie Garthwaite (15.635 seconds, $2,012); tie-down roper Scot Meeks (7.7 seconds, $1,988); team ropers Dale Skocdopole and Rocky Ross (5.0 seconds, $1,459 each); novice saddle bronc rider Keenan Reinhardt (78 points, $303); novice bareback rider Dustin Shaver (67 points, $241) and steer rider Owen Berreth (77 points, $553).

Next up on the Pro Rodeo Canada schedule is the Okotoks Pro Rodeo in Okotoks, AB (Aug. 28-30).