ProRodeo Sports News - October 27, 2023

LOVELAND, COLO.

Coffman collects Mountain States victory Rookie Run BY JOLEE JORDAN, Special to ProRodeo Sports News A t the rate that Colton Coffman is going, he won’t be working in the oil fields of eastern Wyoming much longer. Just four months after entering his first ProRodeo, the 18-year-old bull rider claimed the average win at his first RAM Mountain States Circuit Finals Rodeo in Loveland, RAM MOUNTAIN STATES CIRCUIT FINALS

TOP SCORES

TOP MONEY EARNER Gage Hesse ($8,787, steer wrestling) BAREBACK RIDING

Colo., on Oct. 21. “I had a really good season, just a blessed year,” Coffman said. “I’ve got a lot of good people supporting me.” Ironically, Coffman’s march to the circuit title began years ago in his family’s roping arena. “My dad rode saddle broncs through high school and college and got on a few bulls in college,” Coffman explained. “But we always had horses and roped. Whenever we were practicing when I was a kid, I always managed to get on one or two a night.” The Lusk, Wyo., cowboy turned 18 back in January. Unfinished business in the form of high school took precedent until graduation but then Coffman looked to embark on a ProRodeo career. “My dad’s buddy, Eric Oliver, helped me out, gave me some money toward entry fees and to help me get my permit,” he said. After getting drawn out in his first attempts to enter, Coffman finally got his chance at Grover, Colo., on Father’s Day weekend. Two weeks later, he had filled his permit and won his first ProRodeo in Steamboat Springs. By fall, he was competing at the PRCA Permit Finals in Waco, Texas, and the circuit finals rodeo. “I’ve had a lot of success,” he said. “It’s been chaotic for sure and a lot of fun.” While working in oil field construction during the week, Coffman was able to earn better than $24,000 on his permit, finishing fourth in the national permit standings and third in the Mountain States going into the finals. “It was a lot of fun,” he said of the two days in Loveland. “We have a super good group of bull riders, who are willing to help a guy out. I knew a lot of them, either from high school rodeo or growing up going to the same ammies but there were some new faces, and it was fun getting to meet those guys too.” A tough pen of bulls beat the group up during the three rounds of action. Only two riders made qualified rides in each of the first two rounds. Coffman was not amongst them. “I think I got the jitters,” he admitted. “I was so freaking tense, and I was not that way in Waco. I kept thinking, this is the circuit finals, I need to do everything right.” The close nature of the race for the year end championship could have played a role, for all the riders. “We knew it would come down to the last penny and I think everyone was just too serious in those first two rounds,” Coffman said. “The last round, everyone relaxed a bit and rode better. They started good rides, right on the line, of getting them all rode.” The energy changed for Coffman too. “By the third go, I didn’t even care. I thought, I’ve already bucked off two, I need to just let it fly,” he said. “Then I loosened up and went out and won it.” In a round he called ‘fun to watch and be a part of,’ Coffman put up 87 aboard Rocky Mountain Rodeo’s Money Talks. It was the high marked ride of the rodeo and allowed Coffman to take home the average win as well as sneak past the leaders for the year-end championship after earning $8,270 in Loveland. While he was back to work Monday morning following the circuit finals, Coffman hopes the rodeo trail treats him well enough to make his days there limited. “I can’t find more rodeos to enter soon enough,” he joked.

Hesse

1. Keenan Hayes .............. 253 pts. on 3 2. Myles Carlson .......................... 248.5 3. Donny Proffit .............................. 248 STEER WRESTLING 1. Gage Hesse ................. 12.7 sec. on 3 2. Mike Garcia ................................ 23.8 3. Austin Eller ................................ 24.4 TEAM ROPING 1. Z. Murphy/D. Taylor .... 24.2 sec. on 3 2. G. Tonozzi/JW Borrego ........ 9.6 on 2 3. J. Staudt/C. Kreutzer .................. 10.9 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Bailey Small ................. 243 pts. on 3 2. Ira Dickinson .............................. 242 3. Ben Kukowski ............................. 222 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Jeremiah Peek ............ 30.1 sec. on 3 2. Seth Peterson ............................ 30.2 3. Owen Wahlert ............................ 30.5 BARREL RACING 1. Kelly Yates ................ 45.48 sec. on 3 2. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi .............. 45.57 3. Shali Lord ................................ 45.87 BULL RIDING 1. Colton Coffman ...................... 87 pts. 2. Dillon Tyner .................................. 83 3. Colt Rohrig ................................... 81

Complete results/Page 62

Tanya Hamner photo Bull rider Colton Coffman had an 87-point ride on Rocky Mountain Rodeo’s Money Talks, which propelled him to win the RAM Mountain States Finals Rodeo average title in Loveland, Colo.

ProRodeo Sports News 10/27/2023

ProRodeo Sports News 10/27/2023

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