It was the year of the bull at the 2010 Allen County Fair Rodeo.
Only three qualified rides out of 18 were recorded in the two nights of bull riding this week. Two of those rides were made by Nic Lica of Fort Scott and the other was by Jesse Tillman of Wellsville, all on Tuesday night.
Six Crowns Rodeo Company’s bulls won out completely on Wednesday night. It didn’t matter if the contestant was the top rookie in the United Rodeo Association, a veteran rider or a junior bull champion testing the waters on a bigger stage.
Each contestant had the opportunity to score on two different bulls on their night of competition. Lica did just that and became the winning bull rider of the 25th Allen County Fair Rodeo. Tillman took second.
Zack English of LaHarpe, who will be a junior at Marmaton Valley High School in Moran, came closest to riding a bull Wednesday night. English has been riding bulls on the junior high and high school circuit. Dalton Cooper, who is the top rookie on the URA list and third overall, wasn’t able to go the full eight seconds on either of his two bulls.
Kyle McGee, another younger bull rider from Yates Center, had a run in with his first bull after hitting the ground. McGee sits fifth on the URA bull riding list and did come back to get on the second bull.
Muff McGee, URA secretary and Kyle’s mother, told the Register this morning Kyle spent the night at Allen County Hospital as a precaution. She said Kyle would be released this afternoon.
Tanner Rankin of Paola was second a year ago at Allen County in bull riding. He didn’t make it eight seconds on either of his two bulls on Tuesday.
“Skeet (Davis, owner of Six Crowns) always puts on a good rodeo. And he is improving his bull stock as we saw the past two nights here,” said Keith Keller, Allen County Fair Rodeo committeeman.
“We had another quality rodeo this year. Our attendance was down but the economy and heat played parts in that.”
Keller said the rodeo crowd was only 950 for the two-night event. That’s one of the lowest if not the lowest attendance marks in the rodeo’s 25-year history. Allen County had 183 entries in the nine events.
“We’re looking at several options dealing with the rodeo. Contestant-wise the rough stock numbers are down because the younger guys can’t take off from their day-time jobs to travel in the middle of the week,” Keller said.
“Ropers have so much invested in their horses and trailers that they have to travel no matter what. A lot of them team up and travel together.”
Justin Williams of DeSoto was the only repeat event champion at the rodeo. Williams took the lead in the bareback bronc event right out of the chute Wednesday.
He was first up and scored an 81, which held up as the top score.
Sam Leftwich, Fort Scott, had a 72 in Tuesday’s saddle bronc event and it held up. On Wednesday night, Scott Davis of Six Crowns competed and came out with a 70 to take second place.
In the two bronc riding events, Allen County contestants had six qualified rides in the bareback but only two in the saddle bronc competition. The Six Crowns’ horses had a good run.
Speaking of running, the Six Crowns’ calves gave a good account of themselves in the roping events.
Jason Arndt of Fort Scott won the open calf roping and the Over 40 calf roping with runs of 10.5 seconds in each event. Allan Hartness was second at 11.1 seconds in the open division and Greg Ash took second in the Over 40 at 10.7 seconds.
Kaitlyn Kraus of Pacific, Mo., turned in a 3.1-second run to win the breakaway roping. She sits No. 2 in the URA standings. Angela Bartley, Emporia, was second in 3.5 seconds.
The team roping title at Allen County went to Brant Spurgin, Eminence, Mo., and Gerry Lisby, Ashland, Mo., in 6.2 seconds. Lisby also was part of the second-place team with Wayne Knutson of Clifton Hill, Mo., in 6.4 seconds.
Hannah Holland’s 16.919-second run in Tuesday’s barrel racing event stood up as she won the top prize at the Allen County Fair Rodeo. Missy Bennett of Buffalo turned in a 17.380 time Wednesday to place fourth.
Zac Parrington of Hoyt was the steer wrestling winner in 3.9 seconds.
2010 Allen County Fair Rodeo
Steer Wrestling
1. Zac Parrington, Hoyt, 3.9 seconds
2. Trenton Johnsont, Mound City, 5.4
3. Troy Calloway, Plattsburg, Mo., 5.8
Barrel Racing
1. Hannah Holland, Bucyrus, 16.919
2. Lindsay Kraus, Pacific, Mo., 17.048
3. Paige Wiseman, Paola, 17.247
4. Missy Bennett, Buffalo, 17.380
5. Jennifer Turner, Oklahoma, 17.488
Breakaway Roping
1. Kaitlyn Kraus, Pacific, Mo., 3.1
2. Angela Bartley, Emporia, 3.5
3. Tracy Cummings, 3.6
4. Carrie Crous, Gallatin, Mo., 3.9
5. Conner Gentry, Pleasanton, 5.6
Team Roping
1. Brant Spurgin, Eminence, Mo., and Gerry Lisby, Ashland, Mo., 6.2
2. Wayne Knutson, Clinton Hill, Mo., and Gerry Lisby, Ashland, Mo., 6.4
3. (tie) Jason Arndt, Fort Scott, Derrick Younger, Fort Scott, 6.5;
Troy Kitchner, Liberty, Mo., and Chad Mathes, Lawson, Mo., 6.5
5. Chad Wiswell, Spring Hill, and Kirk Knopp, Mo., 7.2
6. Zack Parkins, Pomona, Justin Keith, Allen, 7.5
Bareback Bronc Riding
1. Justin Williams, DeSoto, 81 points
2. Luke West, Fort Scott, 76
3. Billy Griffin, Oak Grove, Mo., 76
Saddle Bronc Riding
1. Sam Leftwich, Fort Scott, 72
2. Scott Davis, Lincoln, Mo., 70
Bull Riding
(Two bulls each)
1. Nic Lica, Fort Scott 160 points
2. Jesse Tillman, Wellsville, 75
Calf Roping
