ProRodeo Sports News - Dec. 20, 2019

RAM GREAT LAKES CIRCUIT FINALS Permit-holder Matt Palmer wins title Great Ride BY MATT NABER B efore he even begins his rookie year, bull rider Matt Palmer already has crossed off the RAMGreat Lakes Circuit Finals Rodeo from his ProRodeo to-do list. The permit holder placed third in the first round with 84.5 points and third in the second round to win the average with 160.5 points on two head – the only bull rider to cover two bulls in Louisville, Ky. – earning $6,014 Nov. 16. ALL-AROUND COWBOY Jeff Miller, TOP SCORES

$9,894, tie-down roping and steer wrestling BAREBACK RIDING

“Being consistent really will win the average at the (circuit) finals,” Palmer said. “They (rodeo staff ) said nobody has ridden three bulls there in quite a while and sure enough nobody rode three. “I didn’t have the finals I wanted to, but it’s better than a poke in the eye,” he laughed. The 20-year-old, Oklahoma cowboy ranked third in the 2019 PRCA | RAMRodeo Permit Standings for bull riding with $38,849 and finished second in the 2019 Great Lakes Circuit Standings for bull riding with $14,346. “This year has been a straight blessing for me,” Palmer said. “I’d hoped to go to Kissimmee, but they told me I had to make 15 rodeos and I only went to 11. But it’s better than walking away with nothing, and it’s still a great accomplishment to win the finals in my circuit and get second overall for the year, too. For my first year in my circuit, I didn’t do too bad.” Palmer got an early win in 2019 when he was co-champion at the PRCA Championship Rodeo with an 87-point ride on Mosbrucker Rodeos’ Up Motion in Park City, Kan., Jan. 26. He didn’t win another rodeo until he made a small change in his equipment near the end of June. “Man, I was like 0-and-10, and I was not doing good with that American rope, but then I rode with a Brazilian (rope) and it was a blessing on top of a blessing,” Palmer said, adding that he’d nearly broken his elbow the first time he tried a Brazilian rope when he was a teen. “Garrett Tribble said to try it again, and the first one back I won Granite Falls, Minn. I started riding everything. … It turned my career around.” Palmer won the Western Fest Stampede Rodeo with an 89-point ride on Championship Pro Rodeo’s Daytime Crime in Granite Falls, Minn., June 22. A couple weeks later he won the 43rd Annual Isanti (Minn.) Firefighters Rodeo with a 90-point ride on Dakota Rodeo’s Gambini, July 13. “It just shows that you’re meant to be there,” Palmer said. “For guys like Sage (Kimzey), 90 is nothing. But to get a 90 in a ProRodeo shows me that I’m here and I’mmeant to be here.” Palmer won two more rodeos before the 2019 regular season ended – the Pine City (Minn.) Championship PRCA Rodeo with an 89-point ride on Dakota Rodeo’s Buddy Joe, Sept. 1, and the Burden (Kan.) PRCA Rodeo with an 85-point ride on Championship Pro Rodeo’s Country Boy Bling, Sept. 14. “I feel like I’m riding really good now and need to take advantage of it while I can,” Palmer said. “If I go home, I’ll lose it, so I want to keep hustling and keep getting on and not slacking at all.” Bull riding will be Palmer’s main focus in 2020. “I had a job (welding), but you can’t keep up with that if you’re rodeoing 24/7,” Palmer said. “Everyone has been telling me to go on my card, but I feel like they give you two years for a reason.”

Miller

1. Jesse Pope ................... 257 pts. on 3 2. Tim O’Connell ........................... 256.5 3. Tanner Aus .................................. 252 STEER WRESTLING 1. Jeff Miller .................... 13.5 sec. on 3 2. Ty Standley ................................. 15.2 3. Chance Carlson .......................... 17.4 TEAM ROPING 1. M. Barney/ J. Nelson ... 17.8 sec. on 3 2. B. Spurgin/G. Gwaltney .............. 18.9 3. P. Emmett/J. Day ........................ 19.0 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Riggin Smith ............. 251.5 pts. on 3 2. Chance Masters ....................... 228.5 3. Weston Pierschbacher ................ 224 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Roy Lee ....................... 26.8 sec. on 3 2. Chance Oftedahl ......................... 27.0 3. Cody Huber ................................ 29.1 BARREL RACING 1. Angie Galliher ............ 46.50 sec. on 3 2. Melora Potter ........................... 46.58 3. Kiley Dalchow ........................... 46.64 BULL RIDING 1. Matt Palmer ............... 160.5 pts. on 2 2. Three tied with ............... 86 pts. on 1

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ProRodeo Sports News 12/20/2019

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