ProRodeo Sports News - January 22, 2021

KALISPELL, MONT.

Return to Montana nets Brooks saddle bronc title Back Home BY TRACY RENCK M ontana is home sweet home for saddle bronc rider Chase Brooks. And it treated him well at the RAM Montana Circuit Finals Rodeo. Brooks won the average and year-end titles in Kalispell, Jan. 15-16. TOP MONEY WINNER Haven Meged ($6,674, tie- down roping) BAREBACK RIDING TOP SCORES Meged

It was Brooks’ first RAMMCFR year-end crown and the second time he’s won the average, the other coming in 2016. Brooks collected both titles in 2021 after scoring 249 points on three head at the Majestic Valley Arena. He clinched the average with an 85-point ride on NewWest Rodeo Productions’ Spirit World to win the third round. “That was a wild ride,” said Brooks, who lives in Ennis, Mont. “I scratched and clawed, and I was able to do enough. It was cool to be rodeoing with all the guys I grew up rodeoing with. I remember being in high school and watching the Montana Circuit Finals Rodeo, and it means a lot to me to win it.” Brooks was second in the first round with an 85-point trip on Brookman Rodeo’s Freaking Fabulous and was third in the second round with a 79-point ride on NewWest Rodeo Productions’ Beautiful Scars. “The ride on Freaking Fabulous was really good,” Brooks said. “I won the rodeo in Kissimmee (Fla.) on that horse last year. She had a really good trip (in Kalispell). The second horse I’d never seen before. I didn’t have a very pretty ride, but it worked out.” With his performance, Brooks qualified for the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo in Kissimmee, April 9-10. He won the 2019 RAMNCFR. “I’m excited to go back,” Brooks said. Brooks said getting back to action in Kalispell was a bit of a task after being off from the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Arlington, Texas, Dec. 12. “I tried to stay in shape, but I’m not going to lie, with Christmas and everything I got a little lazy,” Brooks said. “Fortunately, I was able to work out for a couple weeks and I have a bucking machine, so I was using that.” Brooks has qualified for three consecutive NFRs, finishing eighth in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings in 2019 and 2020. He was ninth in 2018. Brooks placed in four rounds and earned $98,635 at the 2020 NFR at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. He finished third in the average with 742.5 points on nine head. “It was awesome, and I was just glad we had an NFR,” Brooks said. “It was definitely a long, tough year, and getting to have the NFR and our (Montana) circuit finals rodeo was nice because there in June nobody knew if anything was going to happen.”

1. Wyatt Bloom ................ 260 pts. on 3 2. Richmond Champion .................. 256 3. Caleb Bennett ............................. 250 STEER WRESTLING 1. Scott Guenthner ......... 14.0 sec. on 3 2. Jake Nelson ............................... 18.2 3. Shawn Downing ........................ 18.4 TEAM ROPING 1. R. Day/T. Williams ...... 25.2 sec. on 3 2. B. Tryan/J. Viles ................ 10.1 on 2 3. J. Johnson/C. Gauger ............... 11.1 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Chase Brooks .............. 249 pts. on 3 2. Keenan Reinhardt .................... 238.5 3. Travis Nelson ........................... 168.5 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Haven Meged ............. 28.8 sec. on 3 2. Bryce Bott ................................. 31.5 3. Coltin Rauch .............................. 31.7 BARREL RACING 1. Erin Williams ............ 44.88 sec. on 3 2. Tara Simpson .......................... 44.96 3. Milee Dailey ............................. 45.04 BULL RIDING 1. Parker Breding ........... 173.5 pts on 2 2. Hawk Whitt ................................. 163 3. Connor Murnion ......................... 146

Jackie Jensen photo Saddle bronc rider Chase Brooks competes during the RAM Montana Circuit Finals Rodeo at Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell. Brooks won the average and year-end titles.

Complete results/Page 38

3 The number of RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo championships bull rider Parker Breding has won in his career. The Montana cowboy will go for No. 4 in the spring after winning the average at the RAM MCFR and the Montana Circuit year-end title.

ProRodeo Sports News 1/22/2021

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