California Dreamin' in Oakdale

Travel complications and a muddy arena could not prevent team ropers
Spencer Mitchell and Broc Cresta from a decisive victory at the
April 14-15 Oakdale(Calif.) Saddle Club Rodeo. (Larry Smith Photo)

By Blaine Santos/ProRodeo.com

     After an unseasonably cold winter season in their win column, Wrangler National Finals Rodeo team ropers Spencer Mitchell and Broc Cresta were anxious to get back home to California and warm up with the weather and the annual spring run of rodeos there.
     While winter may have officially passed on the calendar, it was still in the air in Northern California during the second week of April. Trying to make their way to the 61st annual Oakdale Saddle Club Rodeo, the event that kicks off the season in the Golden State, winter weather was still in their path.
     “We were up at Pocatello (Idaho) on Thursday, and we were driving over there to Oakdale for the slack on Friday, but the weather was bad,” Mitchell said. “It was snowing on Donner Pass (Highway 80, outside Reno) and we couldn’t get through there, so we drove down to Las Vegas and got on a flight to Stockton (Calif.).

     “Several other guys took the same route. When we finally got to Oakdale on Friday there were about five tie-down ropers left to run before we were up.”
     Their perseverance paid off when they placed on both steers to win the average by a whopping 4.3 second margin, and put $4,646 each in their pockets. The unusually wide gaps in the times that earned paychecks in all the timed events at this year’s edition were due in part to the same storm that had altered their route.
     “It had been raining a lot out there, and the arena was muddy, really soupy mud,” Mitchell said. And though he had to park his number one mount, Keeper, in Nevada when he traded transportation, he had another warmed up and waiting for him. “I rode my other horse, Dragon. I probably would have ridden him there anyway, with all the mud. He’s so tough; I wouldn’t rather be on anything else in conditions like that.”
     While the condition of the arena was unusual and unfavorable, the historic arena itself is not unfamiliar turf to this team.
     “Growing up in California, we’ve roped there many times,” said Mitchell, who turned 24 on April 22. “I think I went to my first junior rodeo there when I was about 7, and I roped in the big 10-steer roping there for the first time when I was a year or two older.
     “We like being home in the spring, and we usually do pretty well at this time of year. We didn’t have a very good winter, so we needed something to pick us up and get us going again.”
     The team also recorded the fastest team roping time, 3.9 seconds, at the Western Frontier Rodeo in Pocatello, Idaho, to win the second round there and raise their week’s wages to $6,594 each.
     Bareback rider Brian Bain took a much less complicated route to the rodeo, but one that included a leap of faith to board a bucking horse that was making his first trip in the event.
     “I had a horse (Rosser Rodeo’s Flood Light) that had never been out in the bareback riding,” said Bain, the newly crowned RNCFR champion. “He’s been good in the saddle bronc riding, and I think they needed a few extra horses in the bareback riding, so Reno (Rosser) put him in there. I asked some of the bronc riders about him, and they said he was kind of a bucker, so I thought I’d go and give him a try.
     “I’ve been going to Oakdale since back when I first started riding, and it’s one I’ve always wanted to win. I was there on Sunday afternoon, and the sun was shining and they had a great crowd. The arena was as muddy as I’ve ever seen, but I thought Rosser’s stock bucked really well, especially in those conditions. I almost got out of there clean, but my chaps broke when I was getting off on the pickup man and wrapped around my ankles. But a little mud washes off, and it sure made the bulldogging good watching.”
     One of the bulldoggers worth watching was hometown hero, Ryle Smith. He combined a third-place check in the average of the steer wrestling with a second-place finish in the tie-down roping to claim the all-around title, and have his name etched next to some of the greats in the sport’s history on the prestigious Bowman Trophy.
Winning all-around titles at some of the most prestigious and historic rodeos in the Golden State is becoming a habit for Smith. He also won the versatility title at the latest editions of California Rodeo in Salinas and the Grand National at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.
     To keep this year’s title at home in the town that for decades proclaimed itself the “Cowboy Capital of the World” on the city limits signs, Smith had to “cowboy up,” especially in the steer wrestling.
     “They had a fresh steer for everybody in both rounds,” Smith said. “It’s a big arena, and you had to have a good horse and a great hazer to have a chance. I rode a horse Trav Cadwell has and Brad McGilchrist hazed for me. You really had to ride all the way to their head before you got off, because they were running really hard, and they weren’t going to slow down.
     “I ran my second one way down there, and it was just wild. When my feet hit the ground it was raining mud. When I opened my eyes I couldn’t see; I could hardly breathe. It’s a great honor to have my name on that trophy. They had a little ceremony after the rodeo, and the local papers did stories, so I’ve been getting a lot of congratulations around town. I was really excited that I got the chance to dedicate the win to George Vierra, a long-time local cowboy who passed away earlier this year. He was a great guy who loved rodeo and roping, and always tried to help everybody.”

Although it was “raining mud,” he couldn’t see and could hardly breathe, hometown hero Ryle Smith combined a third-place check in the average of the steer wrestling with a second-place finish in the tie-down roping to claim the all-around title. (Larry Smith Photos)

     All-around cowboy: Ryle Smith, $3,391, steer wrestling, team roping and tie-down roping.
     Bareback riding: 1. (tie) Brian Bain, on Rosser Rodeo’s Flood Light, and Luke Creasy, on Rosser Rodeo’s Peppy Bound, 81 points, $1,625 each; 3. Teddy Athan, 80, $1,009; 4. Dan Ketter, 78, $673; 5. Austin Foss, 77, $392; 6. (tie) Tyler Scales, Steven Peebles and Bobby Mote, 76, $93 each.
Steer wrestling: First round: 1. Riley York, 4.7 seconds, $1,203; 2. Adam Strahan, 6.0, $996; 3. Ethen Thouvenell, 6.5, $788; 4. Luke Branquinho, 7.8, $581; 5. Kacey Kenny, 9.0, $373; 6. Bray Armes, 9.2, $207. Second round: 1. Timothy Hayes, 7.6 seconds, $1,203; 2. (tie) Linn Churchill, Cody Harmon and Dani Leslie, 8.1, $788 each; 5. Ethen Thouvenell, 9.1, $373; 6. Walt Anseth, 9.2, $207. Average: 1. Ethen Thouvenell, 15.6 seconds on two head, $1,203; 2. Billy Bugenig, 24.5, $996; 3. Ryle Smith, 26.5, $788; 4. Bray Armes, 27.0, $581; 5. Casey Harmon, 29.3, $373; 6. Clayton Morrison, 36.3, $207.
     Team roping: First round: 1. Justin Yost/Bucky Campbell, 5.1 seconds, $1,653 each; 2. Spencer Mitchell/Broc Cresta, 6.3, $1,368; 3. Clay Tryan/Travis Graves, 6.4, $1,083; 4. Zayne Dishion/Tristen Luther, 7.1, $798; 5. Travis Tryan/Jake Long, 7.8, $513; 6. Bobby Mote/Mike Beers, 7.9, $285. Second round: 1. Aaron Tsinigine/Caleb Twisselman, 5.0 seconds, $1,653 each; 2. Turtle Powell/Dugan Kelly, 5.4, $1,368; 3. Keven Daniel/Chase Tryan, 6.2, $1,083; 4. Spencer Mitchell/Broc Cresta, 6.5, $798; 5. David Motes/Evan Arnold, 8.2, $513; 6. Colby Lovell/Russell Cardoza, 10.7, $285. Average: 1. Spencer Mitchell/Broc Cresta, 12.8 seconds on two head, $2,480 each; 2. David Motes/Evan Arnold, 17.1, $2,052; 3. Justin Yost/Bucky Campbell, 17.6, $1,625; 4. Zayne Dishion/Tristen Luther, 18.9, $1,197; 5. Turtle Powell/Dugan Kelly, 19.6, $770; 6. Bobby Mote/Mike Beers, 20.6, $428.
     Saddle bronc riding: 1. Rusty Allen, 79 points on Rosser Rodeo’s No. 709, $1,921; 2. Spencer Wright, 77, $1,473; 3. Joaquin Real, 75, $1,089; 4. Ryan MacKenzie, 74, $704; 5. (tie) Jake Huserik and Levi Berry, 73, $384 each; 7. (tie) J.C. DeSaveur and Lucas Wilson, 65, $224 each.
     Tie-down roping: First round: 1. Blair Burk, 9.9 seconds, $1,078; 2. Kyle Lockett, 10.1, $892; 3. (tie) Blake Hirdes and Cade Swor, 11.8, $614 each; 5. Bradley Bynum, 11.9, $335; 6. Ryle Smith, 13.0, $186. Second round: 1. Ryle Smith, 9.8 seconds, $1,078; 2. (tie) Bradley Bynum, Chad Finley, Blair Burk and Taylor Winters, 12.0, $614 each; 6. Jerrad Hofstetter, 12.7, $186. Average: 1. Blair Burk, 21.9 seconds on two head, $1,618; 2. Ryle Smith, 22.8, $1,339; 3. Bradley Bynum, 23.9, $1,060; 4. Cade Swor, 27.4, $781; 5. Kyle Lockett, 27.7, $502; 6. Beau Marshall, 28.1, $279.
     Barrel racing: 1. Lindsey Ewing, 16.06 seconds, $2,086; 2. Rachael Boyle, 16.17, $1,773; 3. Jessi Eagleberger, 16.58, $1,460; 4. Brenda Mays, 16.76, $1,252; 5. Aimee Kay, 16.97, $1,043; 6. Sheena Robbins, 17.01, $730; 7. Destri Devenport, 17.09, $522; 8. Courtney Cline, 17.27, $417; 9. Linda Vick, 17.32, $365; 10. Holly Stormont, 17.34, $313; 11. Bailey Castello, 17.40, $261; 12. Kappy Allen, 17.46, $209.
     Bull riding: 1. Dustin Smith, 85 points on Rosser Rodeo’s Patriot, $2,460; 2. (tie) A.J. Hamre and Trevor Kastner, 83, $1,640 each; 4. Tyler Stueve Knoles, 82, $902; 5. Jacob Tyner, 81, $574; 6. (tie) Tag Elliott and Ty Hamaker, 77, $368 each; 8. Kaycee Rose, 76, $246.