The fourth day of the 2021 World Cup Finals kicked off at 9am on 10/27/21. The ropers continue to roll in to Lazy E Arena as the week goes on. Day four consisted of the 10.5 Preliminary and Shootout, 10.5 Specialty 50 & Over, 9.5 Specialty 60 & Over, and 8.5 All Girl.
The 10.5 Preliminary started the day off by putting $40,500 in these ropers pockets:
1st : Gracee Walker & Troupe Coors, $15,380
2nd: Ben Scott & Austin Rains, $10,770
3rd: Raesh Casebolt & Dace Morris, $8,200
4th: Austin Huwa & Troupe Coors, $6,150
Fast Time: Shawn L Sullivan & Chance Sullivan, $400
Walker and Coors both had a miss prior to this roping, so they were focused on getting horns and feet this round. “I just knew we needed to catch,” Coors said, and the duo did just that. Walker gave some good advice and said, “You can’t get nervous or you’ll miss.” She said she eases her nerves by focusing on her breathing.
Following the 10.5 Preliminary was the 10.5 Shootout. This high-paying roping paid back $47,010 to the top three teams:
1st: Raesh Casebolt & Dace Morris, $21,250
2nd: Gracee Walker & Troupe Coors, $14,810
3rd: Levi Parker & Luke Crompton, $10,950
Fast Time: J D Robson & Wyatt Rita, $800
These two young ropers were as cool as a cucumber after winning $10,625 each. They explained they had no nerves in the box or during their run – they knew what they needed to do to win. “Make the best run with the steer you got and see how it falls,” Casebolt said.
The 10.5 50 & Over Specialty Roping was up after the 10.5 Shootout. Again, the ropers had their chance at being High Point Roper in order to win a John Deere Gator. The top three teams earned a combined total of $26,770:
1st: Dwayne Clay & Hank Morgan, $11,990
2nd: Connie L Harris & Robert Rita, $8,390
3rd: Jack Foster & Mark Linaweaver, $6,390
Fast Time: Tom Stamper & Tommy Hand, $400
Reed Flake asked the gentlemen how their nerves were for this run and Morgan said, “Everybody gets nervous, but you have to put that adrenaline in the right place.” Clay explained how he has a specific routine before his runs, and if he gets out of it, it sets him off.
Again, these ropers can become the High Point roper by placing in the top 20 and accumulating points. The first place team gets 20 points each, the second place team gets 19 points, and so on. The more times and the higher the ropers place in the top 20, the better their chances are at being the High Point Roper.
Tommy Hand was the High Point Roper of the 10.5 50 & Over. He earned 30 points in his two runs.
Hand was all smiles after his High Point win. His game plan through the roping was to “just catch the cows.” He did just that and caught himself a new Gator by doing so.
Following the 10.5 Specialty was the 9.5 60 & Over Specialty Roping. This roping paid back $27,860 to these teams:
1st: Jerry Bailey & Mike Goad, $10,490
2nd: Jay Rueter & Steve Zumbrunn, $7,490
3rd: David Hammit & Roy Cox, $5,690
4th: Jim Sharp & Robert Berndsen, $4,190
Fast Time: Teri Stamper & Hank Morgan, $400
These two knew what they wanted and went for it. Bailey and Goad worked together to successfully win first place, and they showed their gratitude for the win. At 78 years old, Bailey said he feels, “fortunate to be able to do what [he] can do.”
The High Point Roper of the 9.5 60 & Over was Robert Berndsen with a total of 61 points – the highest amount of the week.
Coming out of a dry spell, Berndsen was excited to do as great as he did. Out of six runs, he qualified back to the short round for four of them, and made his goal of catching two feet on every one he roped. Although he admitted he was nervous, he said, “really and truthfully I was real confident on every one of them. My horse gave me a perfect shot, I had them out in front of me, and I had confidence when I was throwing it today.”
To finish out the day, the 8.5 All Girls Roping came after 9.5 60 & Over. A total of $13,080 was paid out to the top five teams:
1st: Lily Henderson & Stacy Dehne, $4,580
2nd: Lily Henderson & Julie Henderson, $3,270
3rd: Jennie Buchman & Kiley Slavin, $2,490
4th: Stephanie Kinderknecht & Suzie Johnson, $1,830
5th:Trish McCalla & Jana Curry, $910
Fast Time: Trish McCalla & Meleigh Gray, $200
These two ladies got it done in the All Girls Roping. You would never know they were first-time partners by the way they matched each other to bring in first place. Dehne made the comment that they were just trying to have good, consistent runs.
We want to thank Purina Animal Nutrition for being the Official Feed Sponsor of the 2021 World Cup Finals. Purina has over 125 years of expertise, research and experience in feeding some of the most competitive horses in the rodeo world.
These athletes had a great day of roping and still have plenty ahead of them at the Lazy E Arena for the World Cup Finals. Watch the event live by checking back to our Facebook Page each day for the updated link. To learn more about the finals, check out the details here.
