hatbender.com - all things rodeo

From the PRCA:

They come from all over the country with the same thing in mind: winning a national title. That’s what is at stake once again in Pocatello, Idaho, at the 22nd annual Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo, presented by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, March 19-22, with nearly 200 of the PRCA’s top contestants doing battle for national glory.

Each of the 12 PRCA circuits will be well-represented at Holt Arena on the campus of Idaho State University, and this year’s list of contestants is a who’s-who of ProRodeo. Seven world champions are among the 189 contestants, as are 10 past or reigning DNCFR champions.

The event’s only defending champion will be team roper Colt Braden of Dewey, Okla., who won last year’s title with Jake Long. This year, Braden will rope with heeler Kollin Von Ahn of Sac City, Iowa, as they represent the Prairie Circuit and Braden looks to become the DNCFR’s first repeat champion since bareback rider Deb Greenough and team ropers Jake Barnes and Clay O’Brien Cooper accomplished the feat from 1995-96.

While there is some pressure on Braden, the grandson of past National Finals Steer Roping qualifier Frank Braden, he’s excited about the opportunity to win another title.

“It was a great experience,” Braden said of his 2007 victory. “I went up there pretty much as a rookie, and I think I’m a lot more prepared and ready this year to go up there because I know what the setup is and kind of what the steers and times are going to be like. Last year, I just went up there cold turkey and knew that I had to catch and do my best, but I didn’t know what it was going to be like.

“I feel more confident this year going there, knowing what I’ve got to do and what I’ve got to be (time-wise) to win something like that.”

Braden, who won a collegiate title at Northeastern Oklahoma State University in 2002, said he hasn’t decided which horse he’ll ride this year and may get his young 7-year-old horse Norman in the mix. Despite a new partner and possibly a new horse, Braden is confident in his chances this year and would love to duplicate the experience he enjoyed a year ago.

“It’s unbelievable,” Braden said. “The only other thing I’ve ever won like that was the college finals, and there’s nothing that compares to the DNCFR. It’s just a phenomenal feeling when you win it, and it really doesn’t hit you until you get home and everybody’s calling and wanting to talk to you. Then you finally get the truck that you won, and you’re like, ‘Wow, I actually did this.’”

As in past years all DNCFR champions will receive a one-year lease to a Dodge truck, a great perk for contestants who spend much of the year on the road. Another cowboy who knows what it’s like to win the DNCFR is steer wrestler Stockton Graves, who won the 2006 DNCFR.

He’ll be back in Pocatello this year representing the Prairie Circuit along with Braden and is excited about having a chance to win another DNCFR title.

“It’s a great deal, and that’s why I try to make the circuit finals every year and make Pocatello every year,” said Graves, of Newkirk, Okla. “I was lucky enough to win the average at the circuit finals and go to Pocatello this year. Those trucks are nice, and there’s good money up there. Pocatello is a super place, and it seems like they like to have the DNCFR.”

This year’s field is once again filled with talent at every turn and in every event, and world champions are numerous.

Reigning and two-time World Champion Bareback Rider Bobby Mote of Culver, Ore.; and reigning World Champion Bull Rider Wesley Silcox of Payson, Utah, highlight a group of seven world champs in the DNCFR field. They’re joined by World Champion steer wrestlers Luke Branquinho of Los Alamos, Calif. (2004) and Mickey Gee of Wichita Falls, Texas (1999); team ropers Matt Sherwood of Queen Creek, Ariz. (2006) and Patrick Smith of Midland, Texas (2005); and bull rider Cody Hancock of Taylor, Ariz. (2000).

Sherwood also is the only world champion cowboy in the field to have also claimed a DNCFR title, doing so in 2005.