ProRodeo Sports News - August 5, 2022

CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS CHEYENNE, WYO.

O’Connell goes back-to-back for another Cheyenne buckle Repeating BY TANNER BARTH T he 2021 ProRodeo season didn’t end like TimO’Connell had envisioned. A tailbone injury and ultimately surgery forced him to miss the last two months of the regular season. He returned to action 100 days later to compete at the TOP MONEY EARNER Coleman Proctor TOP SCORES Proctor

($19,590, team roping and steer roping) BAREBACK RIDING

Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, but he admits his body wasn’t in sync as he finished fifth in the world. He says it finally feels like things are getting back to normal. “It wasn’t a week after this rodeo here last year that I broke my tailbone off,” said O’Connell, a three-time PRCAWorld Champion Bareback Rider. “It might not have been the NFR that I wanted, but I got to go and compete just 100 days from getting my tailbone taken out. “It’s not an excuse for how I rode because I showed up there to win a world title and I will always come to play. But I felt like from about February on, my spine realized that there’s not a tailbone in there anymore and my body has figured itself out.” O’Connell came to play and them some at the Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days rodeo. For the second straight season at the end of nine days of competition he was once again the man holding the coveted championship buckle. “It’s still a humbling and amazing feeling even after you’ve won it before. This is the Daddy Of ‘emAll, this is the rodeo that everyone just dreams of competing at when they’re growing up,” he said. “It doesn’t get any better than this.” He accomplished that feat in the finals with an 88.5-point trip on Sankey Pro Rodeo & PhenomGenetics’ Sozo. He knew after R.C. Landingham scored in the high 80’s right before him he was going to have to let it all hang out if he wanted to walk away with the title. “I got on Sozo here last year in my first preliminary round, so I knew that I had a shot today,” O’Connell said. “She has been so good for so long. I had watched R.C. (Landingham) ride and I had watched all these great bareback riders go in front of me and I was excited. “I knew that I had to go for it. I had to put everything out there and let it all hang out on the line and I was lucky the whistle wasn’t 8.1 seconds because it was a close finish.” In total, O’Connell walked out of Cheyenne with $10,264 in his pockets, which bumped him up to first in the latest PRCA | RAMWorld Standings. He was quick to credit his family and arrival of his baby boy Stratten in April for his recent stretch of success. “I feel great right now, you know we’ve had a great summer from the Fourth of July on,” he said. “My winter was a little bit slow, but you know we brought our new baby into this world in April, and I think that has had something to do with it. “I’m in a great place in life with my family and that’s all I can ask for. Rodeoing well is just a cherry on top for me.”

1. Tim O’Connell ..................... 88.5 pts. 2. R.C. Landingham ....................... 87.5 3.Two tied at .................................. 86.5 STEER WRESTLING 1. Trell Etbauer ......................... 5.4 sec. (Tie) Justin Shaffer ...................... 5.4 3. Talon Roseland ............................ 6.2 TEAM ROPING 1. C. Tryan/J. Corkill . ............... 7.5 sec. 2. E. Rogers/P. Bray ......................... 8.3 (Tie) C. Masters/P. Eaves ............. 8.3 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Stetson Wright ....................... 88 pts. 2. Lefty Holman ............................. 87.5 3. Two tied at .................................... 87 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Ryan Thibodeaux ............... 10.3 sec. (Tie) Cory Solomon . .................. 10.3 3. Blane Cox . ................................. 11.1 BARREL RACING 1. Andrea Busby . ................. 17.13 sec. 2. Leslie Smalygo . ....................... 17.21 3. Jessica Routier ........................ 17.24 STEER ROPING 1. Ora Taton ........................... 13.6 sec. 2. Cole Patterson ........................... 14.0 3. Shorty Garten . ........................... 16.6 BULL RIDING 1. Brady Portenier ................... 92.5 pts. 2. Josh Frost ..................................... 90 (Tie) Garrett Smith ........................ 90

Jackie Jensen photo

Tim O’Connell was a man on a mission at the Cheyenne Frontier Days. He made it back-to-back titles with an 88.5-point ride on Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics’ Sozo.

Complete results/Page 69

ProRodeo Sports News 8/5/2022

ProRodeo Sports News 8/5/2022

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