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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Brazile glitters

Texan matches Murray’s all-around mark

Zack Oakes scores 88.5 points on Hot Diggity Damn to place second in final go-round of bull riding.Special to  (Bob Click Special to)
From Wire Reports

LAS VEGAS – Trevor Brazile added two more gold buckles to his collection Saturday night at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

Brazile, from Decatur, Texas, matched the record of seven all-around titles held by Ty Murray and moved into a tie for third on the overall list with 11 gold buckles.

Brazile won his record-tying seventh all-around title with earnings of $346,779. The tie-down and team roper exceeded $300,000 for the record fourth straight year.

Josh Peek of Pueblo, Colo., was second in the all-around with $245,068, and Clint Robinson of Spanish Fork, Utah, was third with $200,021.

In tie-down roping, Brazile won the world championship with $188,343. It was his second gold buckle in three years in the event.

Tyson Durfey of Colbert placed sixth in the final round of tie-down roping, timing 8.1 seconds. He finished the event in third place, with 100.9 seconds on 10 head, and stood third in world standings with $159,214.

“The calf roping went pretty good,” Brazile said. “I don’t have any regrets. I had a lead to protect, and I had different strategies.

“In team roping, we (header Brazile and heeler Patrick Smith of Midland, Texas) came out to win as much money as we could. We were first or second (on the earnings lists) in the last two years, and we were just coming in with some severe confidence. We worked hard, but nothing changed other than we had a couple bad breaks that didn’t go our way.”

Tuf Cooper of Decatur, Texas, won the aggregate title with a time of 84.5 seconds on 10 head and was second to Brazile in the world standings. Cooper missed breaking Fred Whitfield’s 1997 record of 84.0 on 10 head.

In bull riding, Kanin Asay of Powell, Wyo., won the aggregate score title with 434 points on five bulls, while Corey Navarre of Weatherford, Okla., was second with 407 points and Bobby Welsh of Gillette, Wyo., third with 398.5. They were the lone riders to cover five bulls.

Zack Oakes of Elk, Wash., placed second in the final round with 88.5 points. His aggregate of 247 was good for sixth place, and he stood 10th in world standings with $100,888.

In bareback riding, Bobby Mote of Culver, Ore., took won the round with an 88.5 on Wonderland and claimed his third world championship with an event-record $310,219, the aggregate crown with 847 points over 10 rounds and the NFR earnings title with $139,879. Mote, who broke Will Lowe’s single-season earnings record of $280,227 set in 2006, had at least a share of first place in four of the last five rounds.

Ryan Gray of Cheney placed seventh with 82 points in the final round. His aggregate was 736 points, for ninth place, and he took sixth in the world standings for $159,692.

Mote won the aggregate race with 830 points on 10 rides.

“I’ve been here four times in the same situation in the 10th round when it was do or die, and I’ve done well a couple times and have messed up a couple times,” Mote said. “Having that experience sure enough helped, but it didn’t make it any easier.”

In team roping, header Nick Sartain of Yukon, Okla., and heeler Kollin VonAhn of Durant, Okla., came from behind to claim the world championship with $186,689 for Sartain and $185,522 for VonAhn. The duo also claimed the aggregate score crown with a time of 59.2 over 10 rounds and the NFR earnings title with $106,292.

In saddle bronc, Jesse Kruse of Great Falls won the world title with $194,465. Shaun Stroh of Dickinson, N.D., claimed the aggregate score crown with a score of 732.5 on nine rides.

In barrel racing, Brittany Pozzi of Victoria, Texas, placed third in 13.81 and claimed her second world championship with $279,435 compared to $272,344 for runner-up Lindsay Sears of Nanton, Alberta, who finished fifth in 13.94.

In steer wrestling, Lee Graves of Calgary, Alberta, claimed the world championship with an event-record $251,031, the aggregate score crown at 45.1 over 10 rounds and the NFR earnings title with $130,458. He was third in the round at 3.5.