ProRodeo Sports News - August 4, 2023

CALIFORNIA RODEO SALINAS

SALINAS, CALIF.

Clicking Rahlmann/Torres see Salinas win as start of hot streak TOP SCORES TOP MON EY EARNER Josh Frost ($14,931, bull riding)

BY ALEX RILEY, Special to ProRodeo Sports News F or Coy Rahlmann/Jonathan Torres, their worst critics are never far away. Since winning the Wild Horse Stampede in Wolf Point, Mont., on July 8, the team roping duo has been on a bit of a dry spell. As a pair, they hadn’t placed well enough together to pick up a paycheck since that Montana victory. Yet, through it all, each of them kept the angst internalized. They will critique a performance, but never criticize. The conversation is always constructive, no matter how tough. “If he messes up and I feel like I could have done a better job, I always put the blame on myself,” Rahlmann said. “Even if he messes up one that was pretty tough, he’ll put the blame on himself and feel like he should’ve caught it. We always usually try to build each other up when it’s not going good.” Even as the winless streak mounted over the month of July, the tandem never lost faith in each other – a mindset that was finally rewarded at California Rodeo Salinas. Thanks to a steady focus over the five-head competition, Rahlmann and Torres were able to break out of their funk with a check in the opening and final rounds, along with an aggregate time of 48.5 seconds on five head, to win the average and collect more $10,000 in prize money. “We placed on the first one, went long on the next couple, but we were still up there in the average. The whole time, we just kept telling ourselves, keep catching and knocking them down and we’ll see where it puts us,” Rahlman said. “As long as we keep catching and doing our jobs, it’s going to win us something. We probably need to tell ourselves that over these next couple weeks because if you don’t do your job, there’s a zero percent chance you’re placing or winning any money.” Rahlmann, an Ellsinore, Mo. native, and Torres, an Ocala, Fla. cowboy, are a new and somewhat unlikely pairing. Torres has long partnered with his brother, Joshua, while Rahlmann has spent much of his pro career teamed with Douglas Rich. For different reasons, both pairings parted ways at the end of last year, resulting in the search for a new partner. Torres is almost 10 years older than his new teammate and has been competing at the PRCA level since Rahlmann was still in middle school. “It’s been a little different – not bad or nothing – just different,” Torres said, noting that he now finds himself focusing on the little things before and after a competition,

Frost

BAREBACK RIDING 1. Orin Larsen ................... 171 pts. on 2 2. Kade Sonnier ............................... 164 (Tie) Jacek Frost .......................... 164 STEER WRESTLING 1. Tucker Allen ................ 20.2 sec. on 3 2. Kyler Dick ................................... 22.0 3. Tanner Brunner ........................... 23.2 TEAM ROPING 1. Rahlmann/Torres ........ 48.5 sec. on 5 2. E. Rogers/P. Eaves ...................... 49.3 3. Z. Kilgus/T. McKnight ................. 50.9 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Lefty Holman ................ 173 pts. on 2 2. Isaac Diaz ................................. 172.5 3. Q Taylor .................................... 170.5 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Caleb Smidt ................ 32.4 sec. on 3 (Tie) Ty Harris ............................ 32.4 3. Chance Thiessen ........................ 32.5 BARREL RACING 1. Taycie Matthews ....... 65.18 sec. on 4 2. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi ............... 65.31 3. Liz Pinkston .............................. 65.48 BULL RIDING 1. Josh Frost ........................... 84.5 pts. 2. Dustin Boquet ............................ 83.5 3. Creek Young ............................... 82.5

like his older brother often did for him.

While the pairing might be fresh, both competitors are no strangers to winning. Each cowboy has made an appearance at the National Finals Rodeo and, despite that lull in July, each are still among the top 25 in the header and healer standings, respectively.

Click Thompson photo Heeler Jonathan Torres, left, and header Coy Rahlman leave the box at California Rodeo Salinas. The twosome won the rodeo with a 48.5-second time on five head.

ProRodeo Sports News 8/4/2023

ProRodeo Sports News 8/4/2023

ProRodeo.com

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