ProRodeo Sports News - Jan. 21, 2022

ODESSA, TEXAS

Rocker Steiner gets first big rodeo win Steiner Rocks BY TRACY RENCK T his win was a long time in the making for Rocker Steiner. Steiner, who turned 18 in December, and has been training to be a PRCA bareback rider for five years, won the Sandhills Stock Show & Rodeo in Odessa, Texas, Jan. 15. “When I figured out, I wanted to ride bareback horses I was 13,” SANDHILLS STOCK SHOW & RODEO

TOP MONEY WINNER Adam Gray TOP SCORES

Steiner said. “I was a little fellow with some dreadlocks. The first guy we went to was Ty Murray. I got on his bucking machine with my piece of junk riggin at the time and his bareback riding glove. I got on the buck machine for heck a couple hours, and I left there a bareback rider.” The Weatherford, Texas, cowboy captured the Odessa victory with his 86.5-point ride on Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Ghost Town. He earned $2,117 “I filled my permit the weekend of Jan. 7 in Des Moines (Iowa), and Lafayette (La.),” Steiner said. “Then in Odessa the goal was to come here and ride good and try and qualify for Houston. When the cards fell, we accomplished two goals because I was able to get the win. “I had never been on that horse before, but I have been watching that horse and I always wanted to draw her. I expected that horse to be strong and it was everything I expected. It was a fight the whole time and it was a lot of fun. To be this fresh on the scene and to get this win is a huge accomplishment.” Steiner, who bought his PRCA card Jan. 10, is following the rodeo footsteps of his grandfather Bobby Steiner, who won a PRCA bull riding world championship in 1973 and his father, Sid, the 2002 PRCA Steer Wrestling World Champion. “My main goal is to have some fun this year and make the (NFR),” Rocker said. “If (Resistol) Rookie of the Year comes with it, that’s great. The main goal is to make the Finals. Everybody keeps asking if there’s pressure on me and there’s no pressure on me. It’s just good to be here and good to be rodeoing. “I’m not big enough to be a bulldogger and my grandmother didn’t let me ride bulls and I liked bareback riding more than saddle bronc riding. I thought it fit my mentality a little bit more and that’s what we went with.” The audience of the hit TV show Yellowstone was introduced to Rocker in rodeo when he rode a horse in the practice pen. He appeared in the episode with his grandfather and father. “The movie scene is a different lifestyle than what we are living, but you know Yellowstone is kind of letting people know what the rodeo world is like and the cowboy way,” Rocker said. “It was good to be a part of that and get to meet guys like Cole Hauser and Luke Grimes. Everybody who I have meant from the show was great.” Since his faithful days at Murray’s house, Rocker, who stands 5-foot- 6 and weighs 150 pounds, has had plenty of other support from the sport’s best. “Right after I worked with Ty, I messaged Kaycee Feild and he got me in touch with a guy with a bucking machine and I started working on a bucking machine,” Rocker said. “Then, I went to Fort Worth and saw Kaycee get on and I met guys like Tilden Hooper and Mason Clements, and they helped me a bunch along the way. Without meeting those guys, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”

($6,029, tie- down roping) BAREBACK RIDING

Gray

1. Rocker Steiner......................86.5 pts. 2. Dean Thompson. ........................... 82 (Tie) Nate McFadden.......................... 82 STEER WRESTLING 1. Shane Frey..................... 8.6 sec. on 2 2. Jason Thomas ............................. 8.7 3. Two tied at ................................... 9.1 TEAM ROPING 1. T. Wade/T. Yates ........... 8.2 sec. on 2 2. K. Schmidt/W. Cox....................... 9.0 3. C. Summers/R. Ashford .............. 9.8 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Sterling Crawley. .....................83 pts. 2. Three tied at................................ 82.5 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Adam Gray................... 16.9 sec. on 2 2. Ryan Jarrett................................ 17.1 3. Michael Otero. ............................ 17.2 STEER ROPING 1. Jess Tierney................. 55.1 sec. on 4 2. Ryan Willberg............................. 57.5 3. Kyle Cauthorn............................. 58.9 BULL RIDING 1. Elijah Mora. .............................88 pts. 2. Dylan Rice. .................................... 84 3. Scottie Knapp................................ 83

William Kierce photo

STERLING CRAWLEY GETS GOING WITH ODESSA VICTORY Saddle bronc rider Sterling Crawley, a seven-time qualifier for the NFR, is trying to make a return to Vegas after missing out in 2021. Crawley took a small step in that direction by claiming the title in Odessa

Bareback rider Rocker Steiner snared the win in Odessa with his 86.5-point ride on Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Ghost Town. He earned $2,117.

Complete results/Page 40

with an 83-point ride on Beutler & Son Rodeo’s That’s A Wrap. Crawley earned $3,012. Crawley has qualified for the NFR in 2012-13, 2016-20.

ProRodeo Sports News 1/21/2022

ProRodeo Sports News 1/21/2022

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