ProRodeo Sports News - March 19, 2021

RODEO ARCADIA, FLA.

Sellars wins for second time in three years Double Play BY MATT NABER D riving from snowy Utah to sunny Arcadia, Fla., and arriving with only moments to spare isn’t the best way to warm up. It also doesn’t help when there’s an unfamiliar bull in the chutes. None of that bothered Clayton Sellars though, as he won the 93rd Annual Arcadia All-Florida Championship Rodeo with a 90-point ride on Championship Pro Rodeo’s Excessive Force. TOP MONEY WINNER TOP SCORES

Tuf Cooper, ($7,055, tie- down roping) BAREBACK RIDING

“I thought he was a different bull, but when I got there and saw him he looked like he bucked, and it turns out he actually does,” Sellars said. “Riding him felt easy. A lot was happening, but it was easy and it felt like you were in control in that wild situation.” Arcadia holds a special place in Sellars’ heart. He grew up in Fruitland Park, Fla., and attended the rodeo as a kid and competed in the old arena in high school. “It’s cool to come back to the home state, and it’s one of the few high- caliber rodeos we have (in Florida),” Sellars said. “It was always cool to see the ProRodeo guys come compete here.” Now Sellars is a two-time Arcadia champ. He split the win in Arcadia in 2019 with an 87.5-point ride on Frontier Rodeo’s Dark Moment. “It feels great, just like it did then,” said Sellars, 22. This was the first time Sellars had scored 90 points since the Spanish Fork (Utah) Fiesta Days Xtreme Bulls on July 20. Sellars made his second consecutive qualification to the National Finals Rodeo in 2020. He placed in two rounds to finish eighth in the average with 256 points on three head and finished 12th in the 2020 PRCA | RAMWorld Standings. “I think about it (the world title) all the time, and sometimes I kick myself for not taking it the first two times I was there,” Sellars said. “But I know for sure that winning the gold buckle definitely is in my future.” He’s $5,020 closer to that goal. Winning Arcadia had Sellars in ninth place in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings with $16,828. “Every rodeo I go to is important, but this one is slightly more important since it is a Tour rodeo and has more money,” Sellars said. “My performance impacts my mindset. No matter where I’m at, if I rode the best I could but didn’t place then I’ll feel great, and I showed up in Arcadia and performed my best.” Sellars wasn’t at the ProRodeo Tour Finale last year, but he’s on track to change that this year. “It can be extremely important if you’re in the bottom 15, and it’s just cool to win the thing since it’s more or less bragging rights,” Sellars said. “I’mmaking a lot of mental adjustments this year, too – finding an attitude, mindset, rhythm and pattern that works for it and working to stay in that frame of mind all the time, no matter what happens. It’s training your mind so that when you show up you have no doubts. It’s what I work on on a daily basis, training myself to be a warrior when I get there.”

Cooper

1. Clayton Biglow ....................... 90 pts. 2. Jess Pope ...................................... 89 3. Three tied at ............................... 88.5 STEER WRESTLING 1. Talon Roseland ..................... 3.7 sec. (Tie) Tory Johnson ....................... 3.7 3. Remey Parrott .............................. 4.0 TEAM ROPING 1. C. Snow/W. Thorp ................. 4.1 sec. (Tie) J. Orman/B. Crites ................ 4.1 3. B. Hall/C. Tryan ............................ 4.3 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Wyatt Casper ....................... 89.5 pts. (Tie) Cody DeMoss .................... 89.5 3. Brody Cress .................................. 88 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Tuf Cooper ............................ 7.6 sec. 2. King Pickett .................................. 7.8 (Tie) Chris McCuistion ................. 7.8 BARREL RACING 1. Kelly Bruner ...................... 16.51 sec. 2. Christine Laughlin .................... 16.65 3. Sissy Winn ............................... 16.70 BULL RIDING 1. Clayton Sellars ....................... 90 pts. 2. Koby Radley ............................... 89.5 3. Three tied at .................................. 87

70% The amount that Arcadia’s payout increased from 2020 to 2021. Last season, Arcadia paid out $106,139. This year, the ro- deo boasted $180,325, shattering its 2019 record of $118,266.

Complete results/Page 50

ProRodeo Sports News 3/19/2021

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