ProRodeo Sports News, June 29, 2018

son was born. “That week got hot for me and catapulted me to 11th, and that gave me the mindset and momentum to go on. It was a crucial part of my year last year.” Irwin went on to rank fifth in the 2017 world standings. He’s already in hot pursuit of making his fourthWrangler NFR

“Aggressive,” Irwin said. “You want to do good at every rodeo you go to, and this really helps.” This year, Thurston is planning to compete at about 10 rodeos in 10 days. “It wears on a guy, but it’s worth it in the end,” said Thurston, who ranked third in the Wrangler Tour standings as of June 25. “I’ve been pretty lucky with some good wins at Red Bluff (Calif.) and stuff that are part of the Wrangler Tour, and things are going good.” Thurston and his travel

EVENT NETWORK • World’s Oldest Rodeo June 29-July 4 ProRodeoTV.com* • Ponoka Stampede July 1-2 wranglernetwork.com • Greeley Stampede July 2-3 wranglernetwork.com • Cody Stampede July 3-4 ProRodeoTV.com • St. Paul Rodeo July 5-6 wranglernetwork.com *Replay July 15, 8:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network AIR DATE

qualification, ranking eighth in the 2018 PRCA | RAMWorld Standings as of June 25. The dollars and the points add up fast during the first week of July. “It kind of started my summer on a high note,” Melvin said of winning $8,714 at Greeley last year. “Any time you can win a big rodeo like Greeley it’s great, it’s one to mark off your list.” Melvin will be back in Greeley and plans to compete in Cody, in addition to the Roughrider Days Rodeo in Dickinson, N.D., Mandan (N.D.) Rodeo Days, the Black Hills Roundup in Belle Fourche, S.D., the Livingston (Mont.) Roundup and the Rooftop Rodeo in Estes Park, Colo., during his Cowboy Christmas run. “We entered a few rodeos we really wanted to go to, and try to make a good circle and hit as many rodeos as we can,” Melvin said. It’s no trade secret that a successful rodeo cowboy goes where the money is during Cowboy Christmas, but having the biggest rodeos on the Wrangler Tour is a bonus. “Most of them are part of the Wrangler Tour, and we are going to enter them regardless, so at the end of the year they’ll tell you how good you did at them,” Thurston said. Having the Wrangler Tour play such a key role in the Cowboy Christmas run will have an impact on how Irwin approaches the upcoming rodeos.

partners plan to compete at four rodeos within a six-hour period on Independence Day. “We’ll ride in Red Lodge, then go over to Cody as fast as we can and then fly fromCody to Livingston,” Thurston said. Unlike the competitors, fans won’t need to travel the continent to catch all the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour action. Media coverage of the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour will be divided between ProRodeoTV.com, the Wrangler Network and CBS Sports Network. ProRodeoTV.com will livestream 13 broadcasts, while the Wrangler Network will livestream the other 11 Tour rodeos. Additionally, Prescott, Ariz.; Nampa, Idaho; Hermiston, Ore.; Caldwell, Idaho; and Puyallup, Wash., are scheduled to be televised on CBS Sports Network. “I love it, it’s a great time,” Thurston said. “I’m always super excited to get started and get after it, and when it’s over I’m happy to relax for a couple of days. “It’s fun, but you’re out of whack on your sleep schedule. It’s like that movie, ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles,’ everyone is driving here and then flying there. It’s hectic, but it’s fun.”

ProRodeo Sports News 6/29/2018

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