ProRodeo Sports News - September 2, 2022

CALDWELL, IDAHO

Hay gets huge Caldwell result in NFR push Critical Win CALDWELL NIGHT RODEO

BY JOLEE JORDAN, Special to ProRodeo Sports News I t was sometimes painful to watch but somehow Dawson Hay gritted through the Calgary Stampede in July, advancing all the way to Championship Sunday. The Wildwood, Alberta, saddle bronc rider was battling a torn quad muscle, one that forced him from competition after the gutsy performance at the Stampede. Fast-forward to the waning weeks of the 2022 ProRodeo season and Hay is back in the saddle and fighting to make up for the lost time. Having slipped in the standings during his absence, Hay delivered a clutch performance during the Caldwell (Idaho) Night Rodeo on Aug. 20, splitting the short round win and taking the average title outright for $7,075. Hay tied the arena record during the raucous short round after delivering a 91-point ride on Powder River Rodeo’s Miss Valley. “My traveling partner Zeke (Thurston) went right before me and he set the arena record,” Hay, 24, recalled. Thurston rode Powder River Rodeo’s Bet The Ranch, and ironically, posted a 90.5-point score on Miss Valley at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo a year ago. “Then, I was toward the end and matched him.” “It’s pretty awesome going home with two 91s in the rig,” Hay said. Shaun Stroh also had a 91-point ride in 2010, creating a three-way split for the best inside the D&B Arena. Hay’s high mark paired well with his 86.5-point ride from the opening round, which placed second behind PRCA | RAMWorld Standings leader Sage Newman’s 90.5, to land him the average win with 177.5 points. Hay was aboard the Calgary Stampede’s Zealous Departure, a veteran horse who left his brother Logan with a zero at Fort Worth this winter. “I actually had never been on either of those horses,” Hay said. “I knew they both were good draws and I needed to get some money won to get things rolling for the rest of the year.” It capped an outstanding weekend for Hay, who also won rodeos in Moses Lake, Wash., and Kalispell, Mont., to earn $14,057 for the week. The earnings moved him up six spots in the standings to 15th. “I’m trying not to focus too much on the standings but it’s hard not to look,” said Hay, who finished ninth in the 2021 world standings. “I need to just focus on riding good and not on trying to win a certain amount of money.” That goal got a little derailed with the torn quad in early June. The recovery was hampered by a painful hematoma. Other than gritting through Calgary, where he finished as the reserve champ behind older brother Logan, Hay was home frommid-June until the first of August. “Missing the Fourth of July run and all those rodeos was really disappointing,” Dawson said. “But I’m glad I took the time because I think I would still be really battling it if I hadn’t.” Hay is ready for the big money rodeos in the next few weeks including the $1 million Cinch Playoff in Puyallup, Wash. Hay is not quite inside the top 23 of the NFR Playoff Series presented by PendletonWhisky standings but the Caldwell win pushed him closer. “A lot of guys are short on rodeos, so it’s a good time for a guy to capitalize,” he said. “We’ve got maybe 15 or 20 more until the season’s done.” He’s got extra motivation this year from his family and friends. Logan is firmly inside the Top 15 and headed to his first Wrangler NFR and Hay is hoping to be there with him along withThurston, who fifth.

TOP MONEY EARNER Stetson Wright TOP SCORES

($10,876, saddle bronc riding and bull riding) BAREBACK RIDING

Wright

1. Tim O’Connell............. 170.5 pts. on 2 2. Rocker Steiner...........................169.5 3. Tanner Aus....................................167 STEER WRESTLING 1. Tanner Brunner........... 13.0 sec. on 3 2. Riley Duvall..................................13.4 3. Cameron Morman........................13.6 TEAM ROPING 1. J. Dees/L. Lord.............17.8 sec. on 3 2. T. Wade/T. Yates...........................18.1 3. C. Kidd V/L. Mitchell....................19.8 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Dawson Hay. .............. 177.5 pts. on 2 2. Zeke Thurston...............................174 3. Sage Newman............................173.5 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Macon Murphy. ............24.8 sec. on 3 2. John Douch.................................25.2 3. King Pickett. ................................26.2 BARREL RACING 1. Margo Crowther. ........51.81 sec. on 3 2. Megan McLeod-Sprague. ..........52.02 3. Dona Kay Rule...........................52.06 BULL RIDING 1. Stetson Wright. ....................... 93 pts. 2. Trey Holston. ...............................85.5 3. Levi Gray. .......................................85

Complete results/Page 50

Ty Stockton photo

Saddle bronc rider Dawson Hay tied the arena record during the short round after delivering a 91-point ride on Powder River Rodeo’s Miss Valley. He won the two-head average with 177.5 points.

ProRodeo Sports News 9/2/2022

ProRodeo Sports News 9/2/2022

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