ProRodeo Sports News - August 4, 2023

PIONEER DAYS RODEO

OGDEN, UTAH

Unlikely Champ Circuit cowboy Blake Brown takes Ogden

BY JOLEE JORDAN, Special to ProRodeo Sports News I magine a guy who only plays baseball on the weekends stepping to the plate against Major League Baseball’s Cy Young winner Justin Verlander and hitting a home run. Better yet, a grand slam. Not going to happen but it’s not only possible, it regularly happens in ProRodeo, where circuit cowboys match against the sport’s best week in and week out. During the week surrounding Pioneer Days in Utah, where ProRodeo contestants competed for $2 million in prize money at Salt Lake City, Spanish Fork, and Ogden, it was family guy and full-time construction worker Blake Brown who hit the proverbial grand slam, taking the steer wrestling title at Pioneer Days in Ogden on July 22 Brown turfed a pair of steers in 7.5 seconds to earn $10,160. “It’s been a good season,” said Brown, 36. In addition to the Ogden win, Brown has also secured victories in Cortez, Colo., Mackay, Idaho, and Lehi and Nephi, Utah. “Yeah, I’m mostly a (Wilderness) circuit guy,” Brown said. “I work in construction, asphalt.” Luckily, Brown has an understanding boss who allows him to take off to rodeo. “That’s me,” he said with a laugh. Things get busy for Brown in the summer, the busiest season for both of his industries. “It’s the worst in the summer,” he said of construction. “But I’ve got a very good crew to help out.” While he may not be on the rodeo road full time, Brown has plenty of experience. He and older brother Coby picked up the rodeo bug from their father, Mike, who rode bucking horses. “I’ve never been on a bucking horse,” Brown admitted with the caveat, “at least not on purpose. My brother started in it, and I followed him. I grew into a pretty big guy so steer wrestling fits.” And there are more bulldogging Browns coming up. Brown has four kids with wife Jordin, and a fifth due around the end of July. His oldest is daughter, Mckaydie and boys Cooper, Dawson and Kaleb. Mckaydie and Jordin will get a little help with the gender balance when the newest, a baby girl, arrives. “More little bulldoggers,” Brown joked, noting that all his kids love horses and riding. “It’s a family activity.” A passel of horse-crazy kids means Brown has plenty of work to do in keeping everyone well-mounted. “I’ve already decided that I’m always going to ride the bad ones,” he joked of losing his best horses to the kids. In Ogden, Brown rode his horse Commissioner, who has been in his program for five or six years. “He kind of ran too much for the guy who owned him before,” Brown said, adding that training and working with horses is one of his favorite parts of rodeoing. After putting in the work on Commissioner, the gelding has grown to be a reliable mount. “He’s been pretty good.” Brown competed on July 22 in Ogden and made his mark early in the back-to-back competition. “My steer was really good, I had seen him in Gunnison,” he said of the first-round draw. “I got out pretty good and he was kind of right there. He hung a leg just a little, but it was good.” Brown threw him down in 3.5 seconds, good enough to split second and third in the round.

TOP SCORES TOP MONEY

EARNER Cole Clemons ($11,752, tie down roping) BAREBACK RIDING Clemons

1. Sam Peterson ...................... 88.5 pts. (Tie) Tim O’Connell .................... 88.5 3. Jess Pope .................................. 87.5 STEER WRESTLING 1. Blake Brown .................. 7.5 sec. on 2 2. Will Lummus ................................ 7.7 Tyler Waguespack ....................... 7.7 TEAM ROPING 1. T. Wade/W. Thorp .......... 8.5 sec. on 2 2. N. Wyatt/C. Tryan ......................... 8.9 3. J. Peterson/T. Smith ..................... 9.7 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Ben Andersen ..................... 86.5 pts. 2. Chase Brooks ................................ 86 3. Two tied at ................................. 85.5 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Cole Clemons .............. 16.6 sec. on 2 2. Matt Shiozawa ............................ 17.1 3. Shad Mayfield ............................ 17.2 BARREL RACING 1. Sue Smith ......................... 16.83 sec. 2. Kelly Allen ................................ 17.10 3. Jordon Briggs .......................... 17.11 BULL RIDING 1. Stetson Wright ....................... 88 pts. 2. Sage Kimzey ............................... 86.5 (Tie) Trace Redd ......................... 86.5

Amanda Dilworth photo Steer wrestler Blake Brown, a full-time construction worker, and Wilderness Circuit cowboy, beat a star-studded field to take home the title in Ogden, Utah, a stop on the Playoff Series.

ProRodeo Sports News 8/4/2023

ProRodeo Sports News 8/4/2023

ProRodeo.com

ProRodeo.com

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