ProRodeo Sports News - March 29, 2024

HOUSTON

Yeahquo/ Hawkins capture crown A new partnership meant matching different roping styles, but the goals remain the same for team ropers J.C. Yeahquo/Buddy Hawkins II. They want to strap a gold buckle to their belts at the end of the 2024 ProRodeo season. They took an important leap in that journey at RodeoHouston. The newly-formed team captured the title at the key Playoff Series stop with a 4.8-second effort in the Championship Shootout, four-tenths of a second faster than Jake Smith/Douglas Rich in the No. 2 spot. The win comes with a $54,375 payday for each cowboy, a chunk of change that will go a long way during the hot summer months. “A win like this means a lot,” said Hawkins II, a six-time Wrangler NFR qualifier. “I understand that there’s dividends with the money we make as far as making the National Finals Rodeo goes. It impacts the decisions you have to make in the summer. Maybe you rest your horses a little bit more and maybe they are better at the major events because of a win like this. “On the other side of things, I’ve come out of the winter run with $6,000 won before and qualified for the NFR. But it takes a ton of work in the summer. “You’re looking at having a 55,000-mile summer in 90 days. Whereas this can provide an opportunity where you don’t have to kill yourself quite as much. It allows you to rest the horses, rest the rig, and even more importantly rest your body.” The win moved both cowboys to the No. 1 spot in the world in their respective header and heeler standings. For Yeahquo, the decision to find another partner other than his brother L.J. wasn’t easy but he felt moving to Stephenville, Texas, and teaming up with Hawkins was best for his career. “I’ve always wanted to be down in Stephenville,” Yeahquo said. “So, I moved down there and got my own place. I figured that I needed to be down there to better myself when it came to my roping. I think it’s helped improve my roping and my horse a whole lot. “I’m just so happy to be where I’m at right now in my career. I told Buddy that I just got my own place, and I don’t have an arena there yet. So, this will give me the money to go do that and continue doing what I love.” RODEOHOUSTON

Dakota Eldridge is a true veteran of the sport of rodeo. The Elko, Nev., native has qualified for 10 Wrangler National Finals Rodeos and won two NFR average titles in 2015 and 2017. Well, Eldridge is still going strong as evident by his performance at RodeoHouston. Eldridge claimed the crown in the four-man Championship Shootout with an 8.1-second run. It was the second time he was the RodeoHouston champ – the first coming in 2016. “I was just trusting the good man above and I knew I had to just go do my job,” said Eldridge, 32. “I knew there were some strong steers (on March 17) and that fits my bulldogging. Honestly, I didn’t know Tucker (Allen) was that long (9.9 seconds and was in the lead). He was right before me, and I honestly thought he was 6 or 7. I stopped watching his ride and got on to get ready for my run. I was thinking I needed to be faster than 6 or 7. I had an internal clock in my head and Tucker is one of my good buddies and I was pulling for him just as much as myself. I looked up and saw (stock contractor) Binion (Cervi) and he was telling me to do down there and look at the board. I was like ‘Dang Tucker was 9 (seconds) and I was 8.’ “I wish I would have done a little more of a celebration out there in the arena for everybody, but I truly didn’t know I won.” Eldridge was riding Curtis Cassidy’s star horse – Tyson – the three-time winner of the Nutrena Horse of the Year presented by AQHA honor in 2020-22. “I’m blessed to ride a horse like that,” Eldridge said. “I had Tanner Milan hazing, and I can’t thank him enough. It’s amazing two of the best horses going right now are from Canada. I’m pretty lucky to rodeo with Curtis and Jesse (Brown) and that horse just makes my job easy.” Milan had the 2023 Horse of the Year in Eddie. Steer wrestler Eldridge wins RodeoHouston photo/Mallory Beinborn Dakota Eldridge won RodeoHouston for the second time in his career on March 17. He clocked an 8.1-second run to capture the title.

J.C. Yeahquo/ Buddy Hawkins II took care of business in the Champ- ionship Shootout with a 4.8-second run to win Rodeo- Houston.

RodeoHouston photo/Mallory Beinborn

Leighton Berry gets back-to-back titles

Repeating history was a great thing for bareback rider Leighton Berry. For the second year in a row, Berry won the lucrative RodeoHouston title.

The Weatherford, Texas, cowboy’s latest victory came March17 when he won the four-man Championship Shootout with a 91.5-point ride on Calgary Stampede’s Agent Lynx at NRG Stadium. “To win this rodeo once is a dream come true and to win it twice in back-to-back years, I’m at a loss for words,” said Berry, 25. “This rodeo always starts out rough for me, this year, just like last year, I barely squeezed through my set. I drew a great horse in the semifinals and drew well in the 10 and four-man (Sunday). I feel like I’m riding better than I ever have. When you get those good horses underneath of you, you have to capitalize.” Berry earned a $50,000 check for his final ride and left town with $53,750. “That was my third time on (Agent Lynx), the last time was Round 10 (at the 2023 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo),” Berry said. “I was 88.5 on that ride and I didn’t think I rode him quite as good as I should have. We both didn’t quite have a day like we had today. That horse really tried hard and showed its stuff. We have been talking about him in the locker room that the horse keeps getting better. He’s been in the four-man at the top rodeos in the world the last four or five years and now he’s becoming that No. 1 horse. “I know I’m going for a gold buckle, and I know that horse is going for a halter and hopefully we both end up there at the end of the year.” Berry has qualified for the Wrangler NFR three times in 2020, 2022 and 2023. He finished a career-best third in the PRCA | RAM World Standings in 2022. And he’s well aware of what a $50,0000 payday means to him in the standings in 2024.

RodeoHouston photo/Mallory Beinborn Leighton Berry and Calgary Stampede’s Agent Lynx combined for 91.5 points in Houston to allow him to walk away with the key Playoff Series win.

ProRodeo Sports News 3/29/2024

ProRodeo Sports News 3/29/2024

ProRodeo.com

ProRodeo.com

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