PRORODEO Sports News - November 22, 2024

NFR 2004 REWIND

BY PRCA STAFF A two-year succession of injuries had gotten Billy Etbauer wondering if he wasn’t “catch ing the hint” that he was supposed to retire. He didn’t want to quit, he didn’t feel it was the right time, and in 2004, he proved that when he could stay healthy, he was still one of the best saddle bronc riders of all time. Etbauer, at 41, became the oldest man to win a gold buckle in his event, and he managed to do it in a fashion that was at once convincing – he beat second-place Cody DeMoss by more than $45,000 – and dramatic in the final moments of the season. In Round 10 of the National Finals Rodeo, Etbauer posted a score of 93 points on Kesler Rodeo’s Cool Alley to equal the NFR record he had set a year earlier on the same horse. “What a horse to have in the 10th round,” Etbauer said. “Everything just came together.” An event-record $117,745 put Etbauer’s season earnings total at a career-high $222,592 and assured his fifth world title, one back of the record shared by Casey Tibbs and Dan Mortensen. Etbauer’s triumph and the culmination of the eight-year title run by Speed Williams and Rich Skelton stood as counterpoint to the prevailing theme of this 46th annual NFR, which was otherwise all about first-time event champions Tie-down roper Monty Lewis, bull rider Dustin Elliott and bareback rider Kelly Timberman all won gold buckles in their NFR debuts. Luke Branquinho won his first steer wrestling world championship on his fourth try, and barrel racer Kelly Kaminski broke through for her first title after two years as reserve world champion. Lewis, of Herford, Texas, had the closest call. He did not win a round at the NFR but placed in seven of 10 and won the average with event-best earnings of $93,672. That was just enough to get him past fellow Texan Stran Smith, who won three rounds but was just 13th in the average to fall short by a mere $1,778. Lewis’s title ended a nine-year run in which the tie-down roping gold buckle was won by either Fred Whitfield or Cody Ohl. It was also the year that the PRCA officially changed the name of the event from calf roping to tie-down roping. For Elliott, his bull riding victory at the Thomas & Mack Center marked the completion of the last of the goals he had set for himself in a little black book on his 20th birthday, three years before. He arrived in Las Vegas in first place and cashed in four rounds to hold off Matt Austin by $6,472 with total earnings of $193,779. Wyoming cowboy Timberman won the NFR average title on his way to winning the world title and setting an event record for earnings in a season ($225,181). “Your dream of doing things like this,” Timberman said, “but you are never sure you will realize them.” Branquinho, the PRCA Rookie of the Year in 2000, had great horses all year to get him in position for his world title, and he won three rounds in Las Vegas on Jesse Peterson’s horse Gunner to close things out in the ninth round. By finishing second in the steer roping finals to Guy Allen, ninth in the tie-down roping and 14th among team roping headers, Trevor Brazile claimed his third consecutive all-around title, the first time that had been achieved since Ty Murray a decade earlier. Legendary Billy Etbauer, 41, wins 2004 Saddle Bronc Riding Championship Defying the Odds

ProRodeo Hall of Fame saddle bronc rider Billy Etbauer had a National Finals Rodeo-record tying 93-point ride on Kesler Rodeo’s Cool Alley in Round 10 of the 2004 Nationals Finals Rodeo. The ride helped Etbauer win his fifth world championship. Mike Copeman photo

ProRodeo Sports News 11/22/2024

ProRodeo Sports News 11/22/2024

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