Local riders score in bronc, bull events

Baker City cowboy Levi Bunch finished second in the first round at the Baker Elks 13th-annual Bronc Riding Blowout event Friday at the Baker County Fairgrounds.

Local riders Clint Johnson and Joe Meling made qualified rides in the 15th-annual Bull Riding Blowout on Saturday.

Bunch was among 11 riders who advanced to the second round.

Also advancing were Jared McFarlane (84); Delano Kjos, Spencer Wright, 2007 Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association World Champion Taos Muncy, and Gus Thoreson, all with 83 scores; and brothers Kayle Gray and Corey Gray at 82.

Bunch wasn’t among the six riders who advanced to the third round.

Those six were Kjos and Kayle Gray (87); Wright (85); Butler and Martinat (81); and Muncy (77).

Things got kind of interesting in the championship round.

Kjos and Butler each scored 84, and Martinat made the only other qualified ride, scoring 76.

As Kayle Gray and the last bronc were  preparing to go, the arena lights went out. 

After unsuccessful attempts to fix the problem, announcer Steve Kenyon asked the south bleacher crowd to part in the middle to allow light to radiate from the beer garden and the carnival.

Then a Dodge pickup trucks with its lights on was pulled up to the southeast return gate.

Kayle Gray nodded his head for the ride. He made a good effort on No. 140, Falling Timbers, but was bucked off with an end-for-end dismount.

The tie between Butler and Kjos held with Butler taking the champion buckle on a coin flip and Kjos taking the champion jacket.

Of the $25,150 total purse, Butler, of Leamington, Utah, took home $6,498, and Kjos took $5,734 home to Canada. 

The two-round Bull Riding Blowout took place Saturday with 40 contestants vying for $25,000 in prize money.

Ten qualified rides were made in the first round with scores of 86 for Colby Reilly, 81 for Casey Sullivan and for Baker City’s Clint Johnson, 79 for Garrett Wolfe and Vic Dubray, 77 for Joe Meling of Baker City, 76 for Lee Woolsey, 71 for Gideon Hershberger and R. J. Kriege, and 70 for Shawn Waite.

There was one qualified ride in the championship round, by Colby Reilly on No. 505, Sonny’s Delight, that earned him $10,000, in addition to the $4,950 he won in the first round.

For the third consecutive year, four sponsors pooled another $5,000 to go to the championship round winner that would score 90 points or more.

Reilly failed to make the 90-point minimum score, but he had an excellent payday regardless.

Again, Flying Five & Big Bend rodeo companies provided their outstanding rough stock for the two days of great action.