CHEYENNE, Wyo.—While saddle bronc rider Billy Etbauer may be older than most competitors on the professional rodeo circuit, age didn’t get in the way of him winning the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo for the first time.
The 46-year-old Etbauer, of Edmond, Okla., has won the saddle bronc world title five times, but had never broken through in Cheyenne since he started competing at the world’s biggest outdoor rodeo in the late 1980s. He was one of a handful of ropers and riders to emerge as champions from a field of about 1,600 contestants Sunday.
Etbauer scored an 89 on Sunday’s ride to take the victory after scoring 77 and 85 earlier in the week.
“Really, you’re not any older than you act,” said Etbauer, who won more than $14,700 in the rodeo. “Every day’s a blessing, so horse by horse, day by day, and jump by jump, we’ll just see what happens.”
The 113th edition of the two-week rodeo wrapped up with about $500,000 in prize money—or half the total prize money—up for grabs in Sunday’s championship round.
Clayton Foltyn of El Campo, Texas, won the all-around title, the award for the cowboy that earns the most money competing in multiple events. He finished the competition with nearly $9,300 in total winnings in bull riding and bareback riding.
“There’s so many ropers out there that split the money up, and there’s so many good roughstock riders,” said Foltyn, who gingerly carried his championship belt buckle in his injured right hand. “It’s just which guy’s having their week. There’s probably 20 better cowboys here than me, but I drew good, and I won.”
Brad Pierce of New South Wales, Australia, won the bull-riding title with a score of 89 Sunday to follow up scores of 78 and 89 earlier in the competition. He said it was gratifying to have success after recovering from a 2007 groin tear that sidelined him for about a year.
“To do it in bull riding against the best guys in the world, you can’t go against any better, it’s unreal,” said Pierce, who currently lives near Abilene, Texas.
Will Lowe of Canyon, Texas, said his title in bareback riding will help propel him toward the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo this December in Las Vegas. The top 15 competitors in each event qualify for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association finals, and Lowe was in sixth place heading into Cheyenne.
“This will make a big, big difference,” said Lowe, who won more than $15,100 in Cheyenne. “This is a big rodeo. I don’t know what it’ll do in the standings. We’ve still got a couple of months and quite a few rodeos left, but I know it will help.”
Other champs from Sunday were Scott Snedecor of Uvalde, Texas, in steer roping; Cody Ohl of Hico, Texas, in tie-down roping; Chad Masters of Santo, Texas, and Jade Corkill of Fallon, Nev., in team roping; Jake Rinehart of Highmore, S.D., in steer wrestling; and Tiffany Fox of Fox, Okla., in barrel racing.
