Ropers score one last win at Clovis Rodeo

By David Witte / Independent Staff Writer Friday, May. 02, 2008

Joel Bach and Cody Cowden went out on top.

The team ropers took first place at the 94th annual Clovis Rodeo April 27, snaring their calf in 6.4 seconds in their final ride together.

"This is actually our last rodeo, so we split on a good note," Cowden said. "He's going back to Texas, and I'm staying in California. We actually ended on a good note."

The duo clocked a total time of 19.6 seconds over three runs, and each took home a check worth $2,997.21 from the $325,000 prize pool awarded during the four-day rodeo that opened with the Professional Bull Riders' Copenhagen Challenger Tour and Match Tie-Down Roping April 24.

"I was down here [April 22 and 23], and I set myself up where I came back the first day," said Cowden, the heeler. "I knew I needed to be a 6.7, and I stuck a 6.4 on 'em."

Cowden, 37, said he wanted to cut back a little bit on the time he spent on the road.

"Team roping's pretty easy on the body. A lot of the world champions now are 50 years old," he said. "I don't really feel like I'm at the end of my deal. It's just I got family, and with the price of everything the way it is nowadays, it's shutting everybody down a little bit."

So what better way for Cowden to go out than to not only win, but to win at one of the two rodeos closest to his hometown of Atwater (the other is the Oakdale rodeo).

"It's always better when you're close to home. It's not as much fun when you're off 2,000 miles from home," said Cowden, who teamed with Jim Wheatley to win a 2001 team roping title. "I'm not a stranger to winning it, but it's just as good this time. The competition every year gets so tough, it feels good to know I can still compete."

While Cowden wants to concentrate on other things, for Bach and many other team ropers, rodeos are their full-time livelihood. So now, Cowden will be looking for a new partner with similar goals.

"I've got to find a guy that's trying to do what I'm doing," he said, "and who's good, too, because I don't want to come to these rodeos and get beat. It wouldn't do me no good to just come down here and compete."

Saddle bronc

While Cowden may not be close to retirement just yet, one cowboy who is talking about the possibility is saddle-bronc rider Bobby Griswold.

"By 35, you're pretty much retired," said Griswold, 40. "There's probably about six or seven guys still going hard that are 38 or older, and they're still really competitive."

Griswold said he thinks this will be his last rodeo season going hard, but added he will probably ride broncs for another three or four years.

"I kind of look at it that if you're healthy, and you still enjoy it, you better roll at 'er," said the Geary, Okla., resident, who in his 20-plus year bronc-riding career has suffered a separated right shoulder, separated and broken ribs and has injured six discs in his neck and lower back.

Griswold, aboard his horse Chicken Hawk, scored a 79-point ride April 27, good enough to tie for sixth place. Bradley Harter (Weatherford, Texas) earned 84 points on Tokyo Massage to beat out Heath DeMoss' 83 from April 26. Harter took home $6,006.37 for his effort.

Bareback riding

Jason Havens performed a similar feat in the bareback-riding event, breaking a three-way logjam formed during the rodeo's first two days. Havens' 85 bested the 84s of Cimmaron Gerke, Tim Shirley and Paul Jones.

"That's an amazing little horse," the Prineville, Ore., resident said of Moulin Rouge. "She's not very big, but she bucks super hard. She's fast and she's strong, circled right around to the right, and she kind of got me a little bit out of shape, but all I could do was keep going as long as I could."

Havens said the Clovis Rodeo's format -- each cowboy had just one go, instead of preliminaries and finals -- worked better for him.

"The money was split up three ways," he said. "Now, where it's just one head, it pays a lot better. You've got one shot, and if you ride good, it's going to pay."

Havens earn $5,949.37 for the win.

Bull riding

Another cowboy who made the best of his one shot was Marcus Michaelis, whose 84-point ride won the bull riding and a $5,614.50 check. The Caldwell, Idaho, native had never even seen his bull, 20-Inch Monkey, before his ride.

"That's what I like about it," said Michaelis, who placed second at last year's Clovis Rodeo. "That way I don't overthink it."

Fresno's Josh Verburg, aboard Taylor Made, tied for fifth (80).

"It's always good to come back home and see some old faces," said Verburg, who pumped his fist and waved to the crowd after his ride. "It's always a good time to come here. I've been riding good this year and everything's just going well. Seems like every time I get more pumped up."

Barrel racing

Melanie Southard rode Snickers to victory in the barrel-racing event, although, Snickers was barefoot.

"Some people don't think he'll get enough traction barefoot," said the Temecula resident. "Their feet aren't very hard, but obviously he's done tremendously without shoes."

Southard's time of 32.89 seconds over two runs was enough to pick up the $1,705.72 first-place check.

Tie-down roping

Kelsey Garrison's 28.1-second mark over three runs withstood a furious charge by Barry Burk, whose time of 8.3 on the final day landed him three-tenths of a second behind Garrison.

Garrison won $2,554.63.

Former Clovis resident Scott McCulloch (Morro Bay) clocked an 8.4 for the second-best time of the day.

Steer wrestling

Luke Branquinho, last year's Clovis Rodeo steer-wrestling champion, had a 4.4-second time in the final bulldogging go-round, but it wasn't enough to place the Los Alamos resident in the aggregate standings. Ken Lewis' time of 4.9 in the final go-round earned him the title (17.4 seconds over three go-rounds).

"I had a pretty good chance this year, if the judge hadn't made me get [the steer] up," said Branquinho, who pocketed some money for winning the go-round. "Anytime you come, you try to win some money."

Lewis (La Junta, Colo.) earned $2,743.52 for the win.

A busy day for the medics

The Justin Boots Sportsmedicine Team, a traveling training facility, kept rodeo competitors ready to ride during the four-day event.

"This is basically a full athletic training room. It's just on wheels," said Tami Conrado, a trainer. By rodeo standards, the 94th annual Clovis Rodeo was fairly quiet, though, April 26 had its share of exciting moments.

Pandora's Box, one of the PBR's top bulls, threw rider Sean Case back into the gate only a couple of seconds into his ride. He exited the arena saying he might have broken his right collarbone -- he broke his left last fall -- but it turned out OK. Likewise, Mike Randall fell underfoot of a bull named Butcher Boy, and took a full minute before he was able to get to his feet and leave the arena, where he received further treatment.

Randall was also deemed a little shaken up.

"If you look at our sheets, we're still seeing about 20 athletes a day," said Justin Boots Sportsmedicine Team program director Rick Foster. "But it's the chronic stuff or non-competition-ending injuries. It's the big nicks and the little strains. The small fractures."

The most significant new injury during this year's rodeo was the bruised, and maybe cracked, ribs of bareback rider George Gillespie IV, stepped on by his horse during an April 26 ride.

"These guys are professional athletes, but their lifestyle makes it hard to get follow-up care," Foster said. "The big thing is, it's not a 285-pound linebacker running a guy over, it's a 1,200-pound horse or a one-ton bull. So these injuries are usually on the worse side."

Influencing Hollywood

Richard Pearce, a movie director since 1977, was on hand April 27, doing research for a project he's working on. He couldn't say much about the project, as it is in the early stages, but he did say the fictional story involves an aging bull rider.

"I've never been behind the scenes before, but I have sat in the audience," Pearce said. "As the director, this is the place to start."

He said he was at the rodeo to pick up little things like the cowboys' behavior, the preparation that goes into each ride, and who the riders give their equipment to after their go.

"The writer has done his research," Pearce said, "but you can never do too much."

Record crowd

More than 30,000 people attended the 2008 Clovis Rodeo -- a record since the rodeo became a four-day event six years ago -- in weather topping out at 93 degrees April 27, including the largest ever crowd (6,500) for the April 24 bulls competition.

"We didn't lose any of the crowd," said arena director Vince Genco of the fans that stayed to the very end. "If you start losing the crowd, you know you've gone too long."

E-mail David Witte at dwitte-@clovisindependent.com.