PublicationProRodeo Sports News - February 22, 2019

DIXIE NATIONAL RODEO

Team roping heeler Michael Tash, left, takes aim after his partner, Tucker Menz, catches, during the Dixie National Rodeo in Jackson, Miss. The duo won the two-head average with a 10.1-second time. Robby Freeman photo

Chase Dougherty had an 89-point ride on Universal Pro Rodeo’s Red Harvest at the Dixie National Rodeo. Dougherty, who finished second in the 2018 PRCA | RAM World Standings, earned $5,358 for his winning ride. Robby Freeman photo

INSTANT CONNECTION The odds of Menz and Tash winning in Jackson were plenty long – the duo had only competed in one PRCA rodeo together, making two runs at the Sandhills Stock Show & Rodeo in Odessa, Texas, in January. They also had never practiced together. “I knewMichael, and we had seen each other around and both of us had our runs back out in Odessa,” Menz said. “He texted me the day before Odessa and wanted to enter, and we made a couple of decent runs over there. We decided to keep entering. He ropes well, and I know if I do my job, no matter the steer, no matter the setup, he’s going to get him caught. Michael also is a little older than me and has experience, and he’s real consistent. It helps a lot knowing I have a good guy behind me.” Tash concurred. “I enjoy roping with Tucker,” Tash said. “He handles the competition very well. He stays cool and calm, and he’s very smart and knowledgeable about how to make a good run.” In Jackson, Menz was riding his horse, Skip. “He’s a 19-year-old sorrel,” Menz said. “I’ve ridden him through junior high, high school and college rodeos, and amateur rodeos, and he’s always been the same horse. He knows his job, and he does it well. He’s the same trip every single time. I know I can count on him. I’m going to finish this year off

at Weatherford and hopefully make the College National Finals Rodeo, and I want to win the Permit Challenge in Las Vegas (in December).” Tash competed on Tarleton State University’s rodeo team in Stephenville, Texas, graduating in December 2017. “I was a header forever, from about 2008 to January 2017, and then I switched to a full-time heeler,” Tash said. “I just wasn’t winning enough (as a header). I was a heeler when I was a little boy, and I quit heeling when I was about 13. My mom (Debbie) told me it was the worst decision of my life. I guess I finally decided to listen to Mom and go back to heeling. My main goal this year is to win rookie of the year.” Tash was aboard his bay mare, Lori, 9, at the Dixie National Rodeo. “The reason it was so hard for me going back to be a heeler was I didn’t have the money to buy a heel horse,” Tash said. “A good friend of mine, Clayton Eggers told me I should be a heeler. He has a great stud horse named Twister, and he’s a Freckles Fancy Twist horse. Clayton told me to take Twister until I left for the fall and just ride him. That was in 2017. Then, I found this little bay mare (Lori) on Facebook for a very little amount of money. I bought her because she was a Freckles Fancy Twist horse. She had never seen a rope before. She has come around, and she has a lot of years left in her.”

Complete results on Page 46

SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Jake Watson ............................. 86 pts. 2. Ryder Wright ................................ 84.5 3. Bradley Harter .............................. 83.5 4. Taos Muncy ..................................... 83

TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Blake Ash ................... 16.8 sec. on two 2. Tyler Milligan ................................ 17.4 3. Zack Jongbloed ............................ 17.5 4. Trenton Smith ............................... 17.6

BARREL RACING 1. Ryann Pedone .................... 14.31 sec. 2. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi ................. 14.34 3. Sabra O’Quinn ............................ 14.39 4. Sydni Blanchard ......................... 14.41

BULL RIDING 1. Chase Dougherty ...................... 89 pts. 2. Jacob O’Mara .................................. 87 3. (tie) Tyler Bingham ....................... 86.5 Cody Rostockyj ............................ 86.5

ProRodeo Sports News 2/22/2019

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