ProRodeo Sports News - Feb. 7, 2020

TIME CAPSULE FORT WORTH

Gustafson photo Jim Willuweit (pictured on Bag Pipes) was up against some of the best competition in ProRodeo history at the 1974 Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show in Fort Worth, Texas, as nearly all of the winners that year are now in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.

BY MATT NABER N early all the winners from the 1974 Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show in Fort Worth, Texas, were eventually inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame, as were the cowboys with the highest- scored individual rides in bareback riding and saddle bronc riding. Phil Lyne, the 1974 Fort Worth all-around champion, won $1,929 in steer wrestling and tie-down roping. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979 after winning five world titles (all-around, 1971-72; tie-down roping, 1971-72; and steer roping 1990). He’s one of a handful of cowboys to qualify for the Finals in three events (bull riding, tie-down roping and steer roping). He also won four average titles at Finals events – tie-down roping (1971), bull riding (1972) and steer roping (1983 and 1986). He remains the only cowboy to win average titles in three events. Bareback rider Joe Alexander won Fort Worth with 213 points on three head during a hot streak that helped land him in the Hall of Fame in 1979. Alexander won five consecutive world titles (1971-75) and two regular-season championships (1976-77). The 1974 season was particularly good for the Wyoming cowboy. That’s when he made a ProRodeo record- setting 93-point ride that stood until 2002. Bruce Ford had the highest bareback riding score at the 1974 Fort Worth rodeo at 79 points. Ford went on to win five world titles (1979-80, 1982-83 and 1987) during his 18 trips to the NFR. He was inducted into Stuff of Legends

1974 Fort Worth rodeo had Hall of Fame feel

the Hall of Fame in 1993. Steer wrestler Tommy Puryear won Fort Worth with 14.9 seconds on three head and went on to win the 1974 world title. Puryear, who qualified for the NFR nine times (1971-78 and 1983), was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017. Saddle bronc rider John McBeth joined Puryear in the winner’s circle in Fort Worth and the winner’s circle at the NFR after winning the 1974 world title. McBeth won Fort Worth with 274 points on four head and went into the Hall of Fame in 2010 after 11 NFR qualifications (1965-74 and 1978) and 10 years as the Prairie Circuit Manager (1975-85). Saddle bronc riders McBeth, Doug Brown and Mel Hyland tied with the high score of 73 points. Brown and Hyland made the Hall of Fame, with Brown being inducted in 2019 (for bull riding) and Hyland in 1999. Brown was the 1969 bull riding world champion and made 13 trips to the NFR, five in bull riding and eight in saddle bronc riding. Hyland won two world titles (1972, 1976) and made 11 trips to the NFR. He was the first cowboy to win the Canadian and PRCA saddle bronc riding championships in the same year. His Canadian titles came in 1967, 1972, 1979 and 1982 for saddle bronc riding and in 1974 and 1975 in bareback riding. Although Fort Worth’s 1974 tie-down roping winner Jeff Copenhaver isn’t in the Hall of Fame, he did have a decorated ProRodeo career with a 1975 tie-down roping world title and six NFR qualifications (1971, 1973- 76 and 1978).

ProRodeo Sports News 2/7/2020

ProRodeo.com

16