ProRodeo Sports News - February 5, 2021

BRANCHING OUT One bad season could have knocked tie-down roper Blake Ash out of the mix for one of the biggest ProRodeo events of the year. After a decade of ProRodeo competition, Ash was starting to branch out and establish himself as a contender among the top cowboys in the world when the 2020 season turned south. In 2019, Ash finished a career-best 30th in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings with $54,248, but the following season didn’t go as planned. He ended the 2020 season outside the Top 50 with $14,866, so the only way he would get to compete at San Antonio was by finishing in the top four at Fort Worth. “This kind of thing gives you more chances and gives guys who took a year off or didn’t win as much a chance to get back in and have a good winter,” said Ash, 29. After placing third in the first round with an 11.0-second run, Ash won the finals with an 8.7-second run in the Cowtown Coliseum. “If you go down there and have a good week, the sky’s the limit,” Ash said. “When a man goes there and has a good week, then your year is going good again and you never know what you’ll win.”

“It really helps going with J.W., if he had been with me, he would have known that, but he was at home since he didn’t need to qualify,” said Harris, 22. “There’s a lot of bull rider IQ in my family, and if I have questions, I can call someone.” San Antonio success is a bit of a Harris family tradition since J.W. won San Antonio in 2019 and was co-champion in 2009. “It’s cool since last year was going to be his retirement year but COVID messed that up,” Harris said. “So he’s going this year and I’m traveling with him. It’s cool being in the truck and having all that experience around. I feed off his energy, and hopefully I can give some youthful spark to that old guy.” ROOKIE ROUGHIE Rookie bareback rider Clay Jorgenson also qualified for San Antonio after placing third in the final round. Although Jorgenson doesn’t have a world champion cousin in the rig to guide him, he knew there was a tiered process for rookies to qualify for San Antonio, starting with the Sandhills Stock Show & Rodeo in Odessa, Texas, which opened the door for the qualifier in Fort Worth. “It was essentially the only opportunity someone like me had to get into

San Antonio,” said Jorgenson, 24. “I bought my card when I heard about Odessa’s top 24 guys going to Fort Worth, and I entered Odessa with that goal in mind. I won some money there and that got things rolling for me.” Jorgenson was part of a three-way tie for sixth in Odessa and stood his ground in Fort Worth’s shootout with an 82-point ride to make it into San Antonio. “It’s kind of surreal,” Jorgenson said. “I’ve followed it since I was a kid, and the guys in San Antonio I’ve watched for years on TV and looked up to them. The cool thing about getting to the pros is being with these guys. They’re all friendly and nice, and having your idols becoming your rivals is one of the coolest things.” Steer wrestler J.D. Struxness competed at the National Finals Rodeo in 2016-17 and 2019 but missed out in 2020. The combination of uncertainty about which rodeos would be held and a rough start in 2020 had Struxness on the sidelines last season. “I didn’t want to dig a big hole financially and not be able to get out of it when things get going,” said Struxness, 24. “With last year not being a good year for me, these qualifying events are good. I’m lucky they’re having them. It gives me an opportunity to make up for last year and to get into those winter rodeos.” Now the only hole he has to get out of is regaining his qualifications to major competitions. “You usually just go to the ones that aren’t limited, but the really good ones like San Antonio, you have to sit them out for the year and hope you do better next year,” Struxness said. Struxness won the first round in Fort Worth with a 3.5-second run and placed second in the finals in 5.2 seconds to gain entry to San Antonio. “Rodeo has its ups and downs, and after a down year it’s nice to come back and strike and get into it,” Struxness said. RETURN OF THE WRESTLER

Click Thompson photo An 82-point ride on Smith Pro Rodeos’ Miss Dunny in the finals earned rookie bareback rider Clay Jorgenson his first qualification to the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo.

ProRodeo Sports News 2/5/2021

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