ProRodeo Sports News - July 28, 2023

King of Casper Brennan follows college championship with win TOP SCORES TOP MONEY CENTRAL WYOMING FAIR & RODEO

CASPER, WYO.

BY ALEX RILEY, Special to ProRodeo Sports News A month ago, Damian Brennan left Casper, Wyo., as a champion. The Queensland, Australia cowboy hit a high mark in his collegiate career with Western Texas College back in mid-June, scoring a combined 323.5 points on four rides to place him in a tie for first at the College National Finals Rodeo for the saddle bronc title. About 30 days later, Brennan returned to town and found himself in a very similar situation. At the Central Wyoming Fair & PRCA Rodeo, Brennan completed his summer domination of “The Oil City” by securing the saddle bronc title with a combined score of 172.5 points on two rides. “Casper has been really good to me,” Brennan admitted with a laugh. His 86.5-point effort in the opening round on Rocky Mountain Rodeo’s Wingman was good enough to place second in the go-round and bring him back for a spot in the finals. After drawing Cervi Brothers’ Resistol Triple Threat, Brennan posted an 86-point ride to hold off Bailey Small by two points for the average title and earn more than $8,000 in prize money. The dominance in Wyoming was only the second PRCA championship for Brennan all season, and his first since taking home the top spot at the one-head Rocky Mountain Extreme in Kalispell, Mont., back in late January. Since then, it’s been all about collecting checks at stops along the way – $5,500 in San Antonio, $1,250 at RodeoHouston, about $3,600 in Greeley (Colo.) and so on. It all culminated last week with a championship in Casper and a sizable payday at the Calgary Stampede, where he finished third in the average. In all, Brennan vaulted up to No. 16 in the PRCA | RAM World Standings with just shy of $62,000 earned for the season, putting him about $2,000 back of a spot in the Top 15. “I had a steady winter. I’ve just been chipping away, no real big checks, just kind of chipping away, collecting little checks here and there,” Brennan said. “But I needed a week like this to get back into things.” Last year, Brennan won almost $93,000 over the course of the season to finish in 16th place, just outside the qualifying line to make his first appearance at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. While his efforts did lead to his selection as the PRCA | Resistol Rookie of the Year for saddle bronc riding, it also left him short of where he wanted to be – competing in December on rodeo’s biggest stage in Las Vegas. Now, sitting in a familiar spot at 16th once again, Brennan has a lot of season left in front of him to “chip away” at the leaderboard and earn himself a place at the NFR. Last week was certainly a good place to start. “It’s huge. I didn’t have a really good Fourth (of July stretch), but I think I just had a $25,000 week,” Brennan said. “To have a week like that, right now, coming into the end of the season, is freaking awesome. I’ve bumped up to nearly the Top 15 now, so it’s a good roll. Now, I’m just trying to finish strong.”

EARNER Bryce Derrer ($9,697, tie down roping) BAREBACK RIDING Derrer

1. Jess Pope .................. 173.5 pts. on 2 2. Cole Franks ................................. 170 3. Will Lowe .................................... 167 (Tie) Weston Timberman ............. 167 STEER WRESTLING 1. Denell Henderson .......... 8.2 sec. on 2 2. Blake Knowles .............................. 8.3 3. Tyler Waguespack ........................ 8.4 TEAM ROPING 1. J. Smith/D. Rich ............ 9.8 sec. on 2 2. C. Summers/J. Long .................... 9.9 3. B. Crites/R. Doyal ....................... 11.2 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Damian Brennan ........ 172.5 pts. on 2 2. Bailey Small .............................. 170.5 3. Isaac Richard .............................. 170 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Lane Livingston .......... 17.8 sec. on 2 2. Dylan Hancock ........................... 18.0 3. Bryce Derrer ............................... 18.1 BARREL RACING 1. Paige Jones .............. 34.23 sec. on 2 2. Hayle Gibson ............................ 34.71 3. LaTricia Duke ............................ 34.82 BULL RIDING 1. Trevor Reiste ................ 177 pts. on 2 2. Cooper Jacobs ............................ 174 3. Hayes Weight .............................. 172

Jackie Jensen photo Saddle bronc rider Damian Brennan went on a hot streak, which included this 86-point ride on Cervi Brothers’ Resistol Triple Threat in the short round at the Central Wyoming Fair & PRCA Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., which helped him clinch the average title.

ProRodeo Sports News 7/28//2023

ProRodeo Sports News 7/28/2023

ProRodeo.com

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