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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HASTINGS RODEO WRAPS UP

Hastings cowboy wins team roping title

HASTINGS, NEB. – (September 3, 2012) – Two Nebraska cowboys won the team roping at the 2012 Oregon Trail Rodeo in Hastings.

Justen Nokes, Juniata, and Levi Tyan, Wallace, roped two steers in 11.0 seconds to win the title.

Even though it’s close to home, the Adams County Fairgrounds can be a stressful situation for Nokes.

The 33 year old cowboy is the rodeo coach at Hastings College, so having his student athletes present can add stress. His wife’s parents also live close, so he was competing in front of his in-laws.

“There was a little pressure there, being a hometown crowd and in front of the rodeo team. But I just block it out, I guess.”

He had a game plan. “I just mainly tried to go out, score good, not make mistakes, and catch good. In a two head situation, that’s what we try to do. Levi is really fast, so that makes my job easier.”

The team finished in second place in the first go-round (5.6 seconds) and the second go-round (5.4 seconds) to win the average.

This isn’t the first time Nokes has won a title at the Oregon Trail Rodeo. In 2008, he won both go-rounds and the average in the steer wrestling.

A Texas cowboy won the saddle bronc riding at this year’s rodeo.

Sterling Crawley, College Station, Texas, rode the Korkow Rodeo horse Lights Out for 81 points and the saddle bronc riding championship.

He helped himself secure a place at the 2012 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, pro rodeo’s world championship, with his win in Hastings. Crawley is currently in the eleventh place in the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association’s world standings, and with the rodeo year about to end on September 30, every dollar counts.

Even though he’s well within the top 15 ranking of the cowboys in his event who qualify for the WNFR, he’s “never comfortable,” he said. “There are too many good bronc riders going.”

Crawley, who is 21, travels with his brother, Jacobs, another saddle bronc rider. Jacobs, age 24, just graduated with a degree in industrial engineering, and he makes sure his younger brother takes care of business. Sterling is a junior at Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Texas, so between pro rodeo, collegiate rodeo, and classes, he’s busy. But Jacobs helps him with his scheduling “Apparently engineers are very meticulous with their time,” Sterling laughed. But his older brother is his guardian angel, he said. “He does our entering (of rodeos), he makes sure I’m doing my classes, he watches over me a lot. He’s the closest person there is to me. He’s my brother and my best friend.”

Jacobs is ranked number nine in the standings right now, and for him, this will be his second trip to the WNFR. Sterling was there last year, but only to accept the Rookie of the Year award. He was introduced in the rodeo arena and accepted his award buckle there. “Last year, I got to see the dirt” in the arena, he joked. “I’d like to see the chutes.”

Other winners at this year’s Oregon Trail Rodeo are Tim O’Connell, bareback riding; Rance Maddocks, bull riding; Justin Maas, tie-down roping average; Jeff Johnston, steer wrestling average; and Gretchen Benbenek and Cindy Gillespie, tied for first in the barrel racing.

The 22nd annual Oregon Trail Rodeo will take place August 30-September 1, 2013. For more information, visit the fairgrounds website at www.AdamsCountyFairgrounds.com.

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2012 Oregon Trail Rodeo results

Bareback Riding

1 Tim O’Connell, Zwingle, Iowa 85 points on 716 Tent Tipper; 2 Jet Price, Buffalo, S.D. 83; 3 Bee Jay Scott, Otley, Iowa 78; 4 Jake Brown, Hillsboro, Texas 77

Saddle Bronc Riding

1 Sterling Crawley, College Station, Texas 81 points on 227 Lights Out; 2 Wade Yost, Ree Heights, S.D. 79; 3 Cody DeMoss, Heflin, La. 78; 4 Jace Garrett, Alliance, Neb. 77

Bull Riding

1 Rance Maddocks Hecla, S.D. 82 points on 864 Scorpion; 2 Luis Antonio Blanca, Dallas, Texas 78; 3 Logan Allen, Crescent, Iowa 75; 4 Wrangler Dunda, Odessa, Texas 73

Tie Down Roping

1st go round

1 Jerome Schneeberger, Ponca City, Okla. 9.1 seconds; 2 Trevor Thiel, Greeley, Colo.; 3 tie Boe Brown, Harrold, S.D. 10.4, Riley Pruitt, Gering, Neb. 10.4, and Cole Wilson, Kincaid, Kan. 10.4

2nd go round

1 Forrest Elder, Athens, Texas 9.5 seconds; 2 Jeff Miller, Blue Mound, Kan. 9.6; 3 Bryson Sechrist, Apache, Okla. 9.7; 4 tie Justin Maas, Giddings, Texas 9.8 and Kyle Whitaker, Chambers, Neb. 9.8

Average

1 Justin Maas, Giddings, Texas 20.5 seconds on 2 head; 2 Jeff Miller, Blue Mound, Kan. 20.8; 3 Jerrad Hofstetter, Portales, N.M. 20.9; 4 tie Jerome Schneeberger, Ponca City, Okla. 21.3 and Bryson Sechrist, Apache, Okla. 21.3

Steer Wrestling

1st go round

1 Brady Hageman, McCook, Neb. 4.4 seconds; 2 Jeff Johnston, Thedford, Neb. 4.5; 3 Riley Duvall, Checotah, Okla. 4.7; 4 tie Jeff Miller, Blue Mound, Kan. 4.8 and Kyle Irwin, Robertsdale, Ala. 4.8

2nd go round

1 Shane Henderson, Winfield, Kan. 4.3; 2 Chancey Larson, Manhattan, Kan. 4.5; 3 Trevor Haake, Grand Island, Neb. 4.6; 4 tie Chad Van Campen, Granada, Colo. 4.7 and Zac Parrington, Hoyt, Kan. 4.7

Average

1 Jeff Johnston, Thedford, Neb. 9.5 seconds on 2 head; 2 Brady Hageman, McCook, Neb. 9.9; 3 Shane Henderson, Winfield, Kan. 10.0; 4 Kyle Sanderson, Chambers, Neb. 10.8

Team Roping

1st go round

1 Adam Rose, Willard, Mo. and Gabe Gwaltney, Carthage, Mo. 5.1; 2 Justen Nokes, Juniata, Neb. and Levi Tyan Wallace, Neb. 5.6; 3 Hunter Munsell, Arnett, Okla. and Derrick Jantzen, Ames, Okla. 5.7; 4 Trey Harmon, Pocasset, Okla. and Braden Harmon, Mustang, Okla. 6.1

2nd go round

1 Ryan Von Ahn, Sac City, Iowa and Derrick Peterson, Stillwell, Kan. 4.8; 2 Justen Nokes, Juniata, Neb. and Levi Tyan, Wallace, Neb. 5.4; 3 Hunter Munsell, Arnett, Okla. and Derrick Jantzen, Ames, Okla. 5.7; 4 Jeff Johnston, Thedford, Neb. and Dustin Harris, O’Neill, Neb. 5.9

Average

1 Justen Nokes, Juniata, Neb. and Levi Tyan, Wallace, Neb. 11.0 seconds on 2 head; 2 Hunter Munsell, Arnett, Okla. and Derrick Jantzen, Ames, Okla. 11.4; 3 Jeff Johnston, Thedford, Neb. and Dustin Harris, O’Neill, Neb. 12.7; 4 Trey Harmon, Pocasset, Okla. and Braden Harmon, Mustang, Okla. 21.2

Barrel Racing

1 tie Gretchen Benbenek, Aubrey, Texas 16.69 and Cindy Gillespie, Ransom, Kan. 16.69; 3 Fallon Taylor, Whitesboro, Texas 16.70; 4 Tana Renick, Kingston, Okla. 16.79