ProRodeo Sports News - March 8, 2019

Smidt celebrates in rare fashion

T ie-down roper Caleb Smidt already has two world championship gold buckles to his name. But on March 3, at The American, the reigning World Champion Tie-down Roper did something he’s never done in a rodeo arena before – he threw his hat in celebration. Smidt wonThe American at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, March 2-3, with a shootout-round time of 6.97 seconds, topping a pair of competitors who roped in under eight seconds. That sub-7-second time earned Smidt $100,000 – $50,000 of which will count toward the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings. That kind of winning had Smidt tossing his hat. “I’ve never thrown my hat, and I’ve told my wife I never will,” Smidt laughed afterward. “So it (winning) must have felt pretty good, because I threw it and I stink at it. I don’t think it went very far.” Smidt is coming off a season in which he took home $232,817 to win his second gold buckle. (His first came in 2015.) The $50,000 in the tie-down roping also could go a long way toward helping himmake a run at winning the all-around title. Smidt already has more than $3,000 won in the team roping heading. The boost fromThe American shot him to the top of the all-around world standings and moved him into second in the tie-down roping world standings. Smidt and the other winners of The American also picked up big points at the ProRodeo Tour stop. Remarkably, Smidt hadn’t rodeoed much since the calendar turned to January. “I’ve only been to three rodeos this year, so

Tie-down roper Caleb Smidt, the reigning PRCA world champion, snared the title at The American with a 6.97-second run in the four-man shootout March 3 at the AT&T Center in Arlington, Texas. Smidt earned $100,000 for the win, $50,000 of which will count in the 2019 PRCA | RAM World Standings. Kay Miller photo

I was already eased up,” Smidt said, not including The American. “I already had $2,000 won, so now that I’ve got $52,000, it makes it a lot easier. “I don’t really rodeo hard all year. I go to plenty of rodeos and make the Finals, but I don’t go to 100 in a year. I don’t like flying around like some of these guys do and being tired. I just go to the good ones, and I’ve got one good horse (Pockets), the only horse I have, so I like to be on him when I show up somewhere. … I’ve got my family now, and I like being with them. It’s easier to take them and go to rodeos and do my job when I get there.” Smidt will keep doing his job and look to make the Finals yet again. As for tossing his hat, that may never happen again. But you never know. “A hundred-thousand dollars in one day,” he said, “that makes you excited.” – Scott Kaniewski THIS TIME, ERICKSON LIVES UP WINNING THE AMERICAN The first time Ty Erickson wonThe American he didn’t have time to enjoy it. This year, he rectified that. The steer wrestler fromHelena, Mont., posted a 4.2-second time in the shootout round March 3 to winThe American in Arlington, Texas. He took home $100,000, with half of that counting toward the world standings. Erickson also won the event in 2016.

“We had a Champions Challenge (event) in Scottsdale (Ariz.) going on at the same time as The American,” he said. “So as soon as I won it that year, I had to go with a few other guys and get on a commercial plane. So I wasn’t really able to enjoyThe American like I’m able to this year. I’m really, really excited.” Having the money fromArlington count toward qualifying for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is a key factor, Erickson said. “It’s huge this year, it changes a lot of stuff,” he said. “WithThe American and $50,000 of what you win here counting for the Finals, it doesn’t give you an automatic bid into the Finals, but it dang-sure helps and gives you a head start going into the spring.” – Scott Kaniewski SADDLE BRONC RIDER RYDER WRIGHT CAPTURES AMERICAN Pressure never seems to bother Ryder Wright. In his short PRCA career, he’s proven the bigger the rodeo, the better he is. Wright, 20, demonstrated that trait again at The American. Wright had an 88.5-point ride on Calgary Stampede’s Wild Cherry in the four-man shootout to claimThe American crown. “That horse is a ticking time bomb there, and she’s pretty intimidating

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ProRodeo Sports News 3/8/2019