For Oregon cowboy Trevor Knowles, the 22-hour drive from Reno, Nev. to Innisfail was well worth the trouble.
Knowles, the 2009 Calgary Stampede steer wrestling champion, rode Calgary cowboy Lee Grave’s horse, Jessie, to victory in the steer wrestling competition at the 51st Innisfail Pro Rodeo on Sunday afternoon after only arriving in town the night before. Knowle’s time of 4.5 seconds eclipsed the 4.7-second mark set by Luke Branquinho of Los Alamos, California on the rodeo’s opening night.
“It’s great,” he said after being presented with his championship buckle. “It wasn’t like I thought, ‘We’re going to get filthy dirty and win something.’ It just worked out.”
Steady rains fell for much of the weekend, reducing the rodeo grounds to a muddy mess, and many competitors struggled to get a firm grip on the steers. Knowles said the tough conditions made for a tight race for the title.
“A guy couldn’t screw around and be safe or anything,” he said. “You kinda had to try to take a run at it and be fast … try to be real fast and hope you win something.”
Rodeo organizer Jack Daines said the 51st edition would go into the books as one of the best ever.
“From a spectator point of view, to watch those cowboys splash down in that mud and go for the wins … it was just quite a thing,” he said. “(The cowboys and cowgirls) just roll on through.”
Cochrane’s Steven Turner repeated as all-around champion, riding “Spanish Fork” to an 87-point performance in bull riding.
Hanley, Sask.’s Dustan McPhee took the bareback riding competition on “Jay Bar Nine” with a score of 87, narrowly edging out Luke Creasy of Brownfield, who scored an 86.5.
In the saddle bronc event, Pincher Creek’s Dustin Flundra set the bar high early on Sunday aboard “Mata Fact” with a score of 85.5, and held on for the win.
Edson’s Craig McPhee and Turner each pocketed $5,401.12 after tying with the high score of 87 in the bull-riding event.
Jack Hannum of Plain City, Utah won the tie-down roping event with a time of 6.8 seconds.
“He’s top-10 for the world,” Daines said of Hannum. “These cowboys all love coming out here.”
Valentine, Neb.’s Trula Churchill narrowly won the ladies’ barrel racing competition with a time of 16.57 seconds. Seven other competitors came in with a time under 17 seconds. Churchill pocketed $10,427.50 for the win.
Lacombe’s Dustin Round and Ponoka’s Trevor Jones teamed up to win the team roping event with a time of six seconds flat – 0.1 seconds ahead of Vulcan’s Roland McFadden and Airdrie’s Jeffrey Quam.
Bowden’s Ky Marshall scored an 80 in the novice bareback riding event on Friday night and held on for the title.
The Rocky Mountain House duo of Kale McKenzie and Branden Dillman tied for the novice saddle bronc title with identical scores of 68.
Other winners included Clark Dixon for wild cow milking, Innisfail’s Ryan Shuckburgh for boy’s steer riding and Cochrane’s Baillie Milan for high point.
A veteran of six Innisfail Pro Rodeos, Knowles said he loves coming north to compete at rodeos that get better every year.
“Despite the rain it’s still a lot better weather and a lot better rodeo in my eyes than driving from Oregon to south Texas and Arizona,” he said. “I’d rather come up here and run at this money.”
A large crowd also turned out on Saturday morning for the Innisfail Rotary Club’s annual Rodeo Parade despite the cool temperatures and driving rain.
Daines thanked the fans, media and competitors for coming out, despite the weather.
“It was quite a crowd,” Daines said. “It was a lot of fun.”
