ProRodeo Sports News - September 2, 2022

TREMONTON, UTAH

TREMONTON GOLDEN SPIKE RODEO

Baylor Roche picks up backyard win Hometown Hero BY JOLEE JORDAN, Special to ProRodeo Sports News R odeo is littered with superstitions and its own brand of urban legends – OK, maybe not urban legends but definitely a set of beliefs unique to the sport. One of the most cited examples in ProRodeo is that the toughest rodeo to win is your hometown TOP SCORES

TOP MONEY EARNER Tyler Milligan ($5,671, tie down roping) BAREBACK RIDING

rodeo. Big or small, and no matter the skill level, cowboys will attest to the difficulty associated with scoring big in front of the friendliest crowds. Of course, there are examples of competitors shucking off the cloak of bad karma inside their home arenas and the most recent was steer wrestler Baylor Roche. After turfing his steer in a brisk 3.5 seconds, Roche snatched victory at the Golden Spike Rodeo in his hometown of Tremonton, Utah on Aug. 25. The triumph on the stop of the NFR Playoff Series presented by PendletonWhisky netted Roche $4,130. “The last few years I’ve definitely had trouble with it,” Roche, 33, noted ironically of performing at peak levels at home. “It’s been feast or famine here for sure.” Roche represents the anomaly in the sport as he picked up his third career victory in Tremonton. The first came during his sophomore season in ProRodeo in 2011; the second time, in 2016, he shared the win. Roche was the first cowboy to compete in the opening performance. He said the key was drawing the right steer in the super competitive one head rodeo. “Drawing a good steer was definitely the first step,” Roche said. “I was lucky enough that Cameron Morman let me ride his good horse Rio.” WithMorman also providing hazing services, Roche was able to slide past Clayton Hass and Dakota Eldridge, who’s matching 3.8-second runs had been leading following slack, and it held up through the two remaining perfs. “It was fast enough that I sure knew it would win something but wasn’t sure if it would be first,” Roche admitted. While his peers scattered from Tremonton to rodeos in the Northwest and California, he hung around town, watching his son, Bex, show his calf in the local fair, winning fourth in his class. The young cowboy, who will turn seven in October, also just got a new horse. “He’s really got the bug, he’s out there roping the Heel-O-Matic pretty much every night.” The younger Roche’s new interest in riding suits his dad just fine. “He rides his horse every night and ponies mine, so it works good for me,” he laughed. “He’s just turning into my little shadow.” Roche is a veteran of three Wrangler National Finals Rodeos, competing in Las Vegas from 2015-2017. He is outside of the top 50 in the current PRCA | RAMWorld Standings and has mostly rodeoed within the Wilderness Circuit this season. “I had higher hopes for this season than what I did,” he said. Roche had a strong finish at the Wilderness Circuit Finals Rodeo last season, earning a berth to the NFR Open, the championship of the PRCA’s circuit system in July. “I was hoping to go there and win a bunch and then go up to the Northwest in the fall and set myself up for the buildings next winter. “I didn’t have any luck there (at the NFR Open) so now I’m just home training on some young horses and hoping I can get something going for another run at it before I get too old.”

Milligan

1. Dean Thompson . ................... 83 pts. 2. Jess Pope ..................................... 82 3. Caleb Bennett . .............................. 81 STEER WRESTLING 1. Baylor Roche ........................ 3.5 sec. 2. Dakota Eldridge . .......................... 3.8 (Tie) Clayton Hass . ...................... 3.8 TEAM ROPING 1. E. Rogers/P. Bray .................. 4.3 sec. (Tie) A. Ward/B. Hawkins II . ........ 4.3 3. L. Aguilera/C. Payne . ................... 4.4 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Chase Brooks . .................... 85.5 pts. (Tie) Sage Newman . .................. 85.5 3. Ross Griffin . ................................. 85 (Tie) Stetson Wright ..................... 85 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Tyler Milligan ........................ 7.9 sec. 2. Westyn Hughes . .......................... 8.1 3. Brushton Minton .......................... 8.2 BARREL RACING 1. Michelle Alley . .................. 17.02 sec. 2. Ivy Saebens ............................. 17.06 (Tie) Cheyenne Wimberley ....... 17.06 BULL RIDING 1. Jordan Spears . ...................... 90 pts. 2. Dalan Duncan . .............................. 86 3. Creek Young ................................. 85

Emily Hilton photo Veteran steer wrestler Baylor Roche enjoyed a special victory by winning the Golden Spike Rodeo in his hometown of Tremonton, Utah, with a 3.5-second run.

Complete results/Page 66

ProRodeo Sports News 9/2/2022

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