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Clay Smith and Paul Eaves are 1-2 in the heading and heeling. – Kirt Steinke Photo

By Lane Karney
Special to Ropers Sports News
Photos by Kirt Steinke


The world’s greatest western sporting event will light up Las Vegas—best known as “Cowboy Town” during Rodeo’s Super Bowl—during the 10-day, $10 million run of the 2018 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
The NFR, which this year celebrates its 60th anniversary, will play host to the greatest triumphs and tribulations known to cowboys over the course of the December 6-15 showdown at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. While every event will undoubtedly unfold in dramatic fashion, as always, the field of team ropers at this year’s Finals will provide its own stellar storylines.

From first-time qualifiers Bubba Buckaloo, Lane Ivy, and Rhen Richard on the heading side, and Trey Yates, Cole Davison and Clint Summers on the heeling side, to Kory Koontz, who’s heeled at the NFR for more than two decades—for the 22nd time this year, to be exact—the 2018 team roping talent pool runs deep.
While the past world champions in the pack return to try and reclaim their titles at the top—guys like Clay Tryan (2005, 2013-14 world champion header), Chad Masters (2007 and 2012 world champion header), Aaron Tsinigine (2015 world champion header), Erich Rogers (2017 and reigning world champion header), and Cory Petska (2017 and defending world champion heeler, and the only former world champ in this year’s NFR heeling lineup)—there are some equally deserving cowboys determined to etch their names into the eternal rodeo record books and stake their claim on their first world team roping titles.
Clay Smith, who is #1 in the world among headers going into Vegas, and partner Paul Eaves, who’s less than $600 behind world heeling leader Junior Nogueira, are gunning for their first gold buckles. Kaleb Driggers, who’s less than $400 behind Smith’s pre-NFR earnings, and Nogueira enter the NFR with more than a legitimate seat at the table in the world-title conversation.
Nogueira was, of course, the 2016 world champion all-around cowboy. But it’s a heeling gold buckle that he has his sights set on now. Fellow frontrunners Dustin Egusquiza and Koontz also are legitimate contenders entering the NFR at third in the world. There may be no greater anticipation from team roping fans than looking forward to watching Egusquiza return to his second-straight Finals with the veteran of this year’s team roping field.
With just over two weeks before opening night of the 2018 NFR, I had the chance to visit with some of this year’s contender-type team ropers, and get their insights heading into Vegas. I hope you enjoy, as we look forward to the most exciting 10 days in western sports.
Clay Smith
Hometown: Broken Bow, Oklahoma
Age: 27
NFR Qualifications: 4 (2015-18)
Partner: Paul Eaves
Lane Karney: What does it mean to you to win the regular season?
Clay Smith: We set a goal for a certain amount of money we wanted to have won at the end of the regular season this year. We didn’t quite reach that, but winning the regular season in the process was good. We wanted to be winning the year-end going into the Finals, but we also wanted to win as much money as we could. We set a goal for a certain dollar amount, because it isn’t really fair to just say you want to lead the standings. You have no way of really knowing what that’s going to take ahead of time. What really matters to me is the standings after the NFR.
LK: What’s your team’s game plan going into the Finals?
CS: Ours is really to try and catch. A guy obviously wants to try and catch all 10, but you can’t get caught up just catching. We want to win something on every steer, but that doesn’t mean going out of the way to just win first. We want to make our run each night. If we win fourth, great. If we win first, great. It pays too good not to try and win something every night.
LK: What are you planning to ride?
CS: I’m planning to ride my gray, Marty (11). I’m going to take my sorrel, Ransom (8) out there, too, that I rode quite a bit this year. But I think Marty is going to be a little snappier and faster-footed. I’m planning to ride Marty, but I could ride Ransom, too. In that little set-up, I think Marty can get turned around and be a little snappier.
Paul Eaves
Hometown: Millsap, Texas
Age: 28
NFR Qualifications: 7 (2012-18)
Partner: Clay Smith
LK: What stands out to you about your regular season?
PE: The biggest thing was the start we had. We had a really good start, and won some money where it paid a bunch. It doesn’t always go that way, it seems like, and lucky for us it did this year. The All-American Finals was big, because we won about $15,000 there, and I don’t know if I’ve ever won that much at a (regular-season) rodeo before. That was a big boost early on for us.
LK: Your team aside, which team(s) do you expect to win a bunch in Vegas?
PE: I think Kaleb and Junior should probably win quite a bit. They’re a good team, and they can go fast—which is kind of what they’re known for—but they can also just catch when they need to. That’s a good quality to have out there. If they need to be super fast they can, but if they just need to knock one down they can do that, too.
LK: What are you planning to ride?
PE: I don’t know yet. I’ve got my sorrel horse, Casino (10), and my brown horse, Guapo (11). It’ll be up in the air until right before we head out there. I rode Casino last year, and I’ve been roping on both. So I’ll just see what I think will be better when the time comes.



Kaleb Driggers

Hometown: Albany, Georgia
Age: 28 (Driggers will turn 29 on December 19, just after the NFR ends.)
NFR Qualifications: 7 (2011-14, 2016-18)
Partner: Junior Nogueira
LK: What’s your team’s game plan going into the Finals?
KD: It’s about like everyone else’s, I’m sure—catch all 10 as fast as you can. There’s a fine line there trying to be fast, but still be consistent. I’ve never turned all 10 out there. That’s something we’ve really worked on so far is being consistent. We are two weeks away from leaving to head out to Vegas, and we haven’t really maxed any out yet. Even if I can turn nine out of 10, we can win a lot of money.
LK: How are you preparing for Vegas?
KD: We haven’t even set up the NFR practice arena yet. We will do that to get a feel for those dimensions before we head that way. It’s not only the width of the arena out there that’s different, but just the way the left corner is rounded over there. So we’ll do that to get a feel for finishing good. Like we talked earlier, we are really focused on being consistent. We’ve been trying to make 4- and 5-second runs, and have been working on being precise. I’ve figured out with myself that in years past I’ve typically done my best heading in the last five rounds. I’m trying to figure out why that is. I’ve been trying to figure out how to be precise enough and on the muscle enough to get a good go, but keep my mind clear also.
LK: What are you planning to ride?
KD: It’s in limbo right now. I’ve got three that I’m deciding between. I might ride Yahtzee (14), which is the gray I got from Dustin Bird and won The American on (with Patrick Smith in 2014, which was Driggers’ first of three American wins). Another option is my sorrel, Doc (13). I rode him in the regular season in 2016, and just bought him back from Jake Cooper. I might also ride Dre (22), which is the sorrel I rode at the NFR last year. I’m trying to figure out what’s going to give me the best chance to turn them fast, while being the most consistent.


Junior Nogueira
Hometown: Presidente Prudente, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Age: 28
NFR Qualifications: 5 (2014-18)
Partner: Kaleb Driggers
LK: What does it mean to you to win more than any other heeler during the regular season?
JN: It’s pretty good. That’s my third time in a row, so it’s a very cool accomplishment. It’s a cool bonus, but everybody wants to get out of the NFR in first place.
LK: Where did the extra money in your standings come from that Kaleb doesn’t have?
JN: I had one more rodeo to count at the end of the year, because Kaleb made the RAM National Circuit Finals, but Travis Graves beat me by, like, $100. So they roped together in Kissimmee, but didn’t win anything. I had an extra rodeo at the end of the year, so I counted Abilene (Texas, where he roped with Driggers), and we won something. So that’s why Kaleb and I have different amounts.
LK: Your team aside, which team do you expect to win a bunch in Vegas?
JN: There are some great teams and ropers, like Clay and Paul, and Luke (Brown) and Jake (Long). All those teams have done good. But veterans like Clay Tryan and Travis (Graves) know how to play the game. Everybody ropes good, it just depends on who gets on a good roll.
LK: What are you planning to ride?
JN: I will probably ride my black horse, Green Card (12). I am planning on riding him there, because I know him really well, and have ridden him twice there before. He did have an abscess a little while ago. But he should be good to go by Vegas. I’m going to try Ryan Motes’ horse Rockstar, so I have another option, and have a second horse available.


Dustin Egusquiza
Hometown: Mariana, Florida
Age: 23
NFR Qualifications: 2 (2017-18)
Partner: Kory Koontz
LK: What’s your team’s game plan going into the Finals?
DE: It’s my first time coming in in this situation, with this good of a chance to win it. Everybody has a chance to win it, but this year we are close enough that if we do our job and catch 10 we should have a good chance. It felt like more of a long shot last year, and like it’s more of a realistic chance this year. I don’t want to back off. I want to try to get good starts, and catch 10 of them. I’m not going to change much. My biggest deal is trying to get a good enough start, and do my job. You can’t be late there, or it’s hard.
LK: How much different is the feeling heading into your second-consecutive NFR than the first?
DE: It’s still the best feeling in the world to get to go out there and rope at that rodeo that I’ve wanted to rope at my whole life. It feels like it’s coming faster this year, and last year it seemed like it took forever to get here. I was just counting down the days. This year it feels like I just looked up, and it’s almost here. It’s still really exciting, but it’s probably a little less nerve-racking this year.
LK: What are you planning to ride?
DE: I’m going to ride Kickstand (13). He’s the sorrel I switched to in the fourth round last year, and we won the round. He doesn’t score just great, and kind of wants to go with the gates. That’s actually good over there, because I can get going fast enough. He’s strong to the horn, which is good on those bigger steers out there. He finishes fast enough in that building, too, so that’s what I’m going with.


Kory Koontz
Hometown: Stephenville, Texas
Age: 47
NFR Qualifications: 22 (1992-2007, 2010-12, 2015, 2017-18)
Partner: Dustin Egusquiza
LK: Since joining the PRCA in 1991, how would being a 22-time NFR qualifier sound to your 20-year-old rookie self?
KK: I didn’t even expect to make it once, much less 22 times. As a rookie, I’d have had a “that’ll never happen” kind of attitude. After I’d made it a few times, my thought process was, “I’ll make it as many times as I decide to make it.” Then I made it 16 times in a row before I didn’t make it. When I didn’t make it, the reality of not being good enough was very apparent. Without a good team, working at it, and good horses it was very plausible to not make it. I went through ups and downs with myself of not being good enough. I went through the thought process of asking myself if I was good enough to keep making it. I think everyone that does this later in life goes through that. So to answer your question, as a rookie this would have seemed crazy.
LK: What stands out about your regular season?
KK: The month of July was amazing for us. We had a lot of first-place wins, and placed at big rodeos consistently from the shortest set-ups all the way to Cheyenne. One year prior, we went the whole month of July and didn’t win a dime. This year, our Fourth of July run started basically right at the end of June, and when we got done at Cheyenne (July 29) we had won right around $50,000. That was by far the best (regular-season) month I’ve ever had in my career. That put us in a great position. Of course we had the Finals made, so then we could set our sights on maybe going in in the lead, and being successful. It slowed down some, but we continued to pluck along and are going in third. It put us in a great position going into the NFR to win the world.
LK: What are you planning to ride?
KK: That’s a good question. I’ve got a yellow horse called Nanner (15) and my dun, Remix (10). I’m still undecided as of a couple weeks before go-time, but we’ll be roping a lot and going full blast in the next week or so before we leave, and I’ll make my decision. I’ll weigh out what each horse gives me, and factor in their strengths and weaknesses. After being there so many times, I’ll weigh in what’s worked good for me in the past in that arena, and which horse will give me the best opportunity. Nanner is more cowy and has more rate. I’d give him a chance, because that’s worked for me in the past there. Remix is more free and forgiving. As far as catching 10 in a row, I feel Remix probably gives me the best opportunity. As far as being 3 and making faster shots, I think Nanner gives me the best chance. I’ll weigh all that in as we go. I’ll have both available, and there have been three or four times I’ve made a horse change mid-stride out there. I’d rather make it all the way through on the one I start on, but I’m not above changing when I’m there.


Rhen Richard
Hometown: Roosevelt, Utah
Age: 29
NFR Qualifications: 2 (2018 Team Roping and Tie-Down Roping)
Partner: Quinn Kesler
LK: How’s it feel to not only make your first Finals this year, but to do it in two events?
RR: It’s a dream come true. I kind of always hung around Trevor (Brazile), and expected this of myself. I feel like I’ve put the time and work in to get it done. I haven’t tried to overdo it or think too much about it, but just treat it like other rodeos we go to. It’s going to be 10 nights in a row for lots of money.
LK: What’s your team’s game plan going into the Finals?
RR: My horse is going to be sharp in that building, I think, so we’ve been trying to not get too much rope out and give ourselves a chance to catch nine or 10 steers, instead of trying to be 3 every time. Obviously, you’re going to try and win a gold buckle. The only way to do that, especially in the spot we’re coming in, is to be at the top in the average. There’s a lot of money in the average at the end.
LK: What are you planning to ride?
RR: I’m going to ride the little buckskin, Festus (12), that I rode all year. I can ride him everywhere, but his deal is short set-ups. He’s kind of a smaller, shorter-made horse, and that’s his cup of tea. He came from Canada, so he’s been ridden in those types of conditions a lot, and I think he’ll really fit it.


Trey Yates
Hometown: Pueblo, Colorado
Age: 23
NFR Qualifications: 1 (2018)
Partner: Aaron Tsinigine
LK: What’s the feeling like going to your first NFR, and how proud are you to carry on the Yates family tradition?
TY: It feels good, and I’m absolutely stoked. I hope I carry on the family tradition well. I hope I can compete to the fullest of my ability at the NFR. I’m excited to hang my back number up in the room next to theirs (Grandpa Dick, Dad J.D., and Aunt Kelly have all made their NFR marks), hang my coat up next to theirs, and get to wear my own for once.
LK: What stands out about your regular season?
TY: The College (National) Finals (Rodeo) was the highlight of my summer (Trey represented Casper College, and was the CNFR champion heeling for Gillette College’s Kellan Johnson). But Reno really sparked my professional rodeo career. That was really cool to win the Reno Rodeo. Throughout the year, I had a lot of partners and life experiences, and was lucky to win quite a bit. I had a lot of people behind me that helped my dream come true.
LK: What are you planning to ride?
TY: I’m going to ride my sorrel, YY (18). I’ll have Dude (9), which is my bay, out there, too. I’m going to ride YY, because I feel the most comfortable catching on him. I’ve ridden him since I was in junior high school, so I know every move he makes.


Erich Rogers
Hometown: Round Rock, Arizona
Age: 32
NFR Qualifications: 8 (2011-18)
Partner: Clint Summers
LK: What’s your team’s game plan going into the NFR?
ER: To catch all 10 steers is my biggest goal. I want to catch 10 steers in a row, and give my partner a good chance to catch. I want to run to ’em, and go for that average. I’m not a big fan of reaching and going fast-fast. We’ll let the time come to us. If we can place in five out of 10 rounds, and get a good average check, that makes the Finals that much more fun. You give yourself a chance to win another $30,000-$60,000 at the end of those 10 days. You give yourself a chance at making money and getting ahead instead of going round by round, and taking a low-percentage shot of winning each night. The last few years, Cory and my goal was to win the average. I like to take a higher-percentage catch shot rather than a lower-percentage shot. Some guys like to come right over the chutes, and it seems like they’ll end up riding out regretting it sometimes. Winning third each night is a good check. I want to give Clint the best chance, being a rookie there, to show up and win a lot of money.
LK: How are you preparing for Vegas?
ER: We are going to start a couple days before Thanksgiving. I’m going to work on catching and catching fast. I want to duck a few back to give Clint a glimpse and a feel for it, and see what he likes, and work on setting up a good corner for him. I want to work on catching, and setting it up for him to help him relax. I want to set ’em up so he has an opportunity to do good. I don’t want to go way too fast right off the bat. I told him to be patient, and not feel like we have to go so fast that we’re rushing.
LK: What are you planning to ride?
ER: I’m planning to start on Boogie Man (11). He’s the dun I rode most of the summer. I’ve ridden different horses there in the past. I’ve ridden Dustin Bird’s (great bay mare, Dolly) for a long time there. I’d like to see what my horses will do there. I rode Boogie Man in four rounds at the Finals last year, and he felt good. I like the feel of him, and I know I can catch on him. He scores good, stays flat, and it feels easy. Dustin said they’ve been riding Dolly and exercising her, so that’s really good. I’ll have her out there on standby.


Cory Petska
Hometown: Marana, Arizona
Age: 39
NFR Qualifications: 15 (2003-11, 2013-18)
Partner: Derrick Begay
LK: What’s your team’s game plan going into the NFR?
CP: Honestly, we haven’t talked about it. My game plan is to try to win the average. The last time I won it was with Tee (Woolman) in 2005. That’s my goal. Hopefully when Begay and I talk about it, that’ll be his game plan, too (Cory laughed). But that’s what I’d like to do.
LK: How would you describe your regular season?
CP: I would say it was like the dream season, honestly. I had no intentions of making the NFR. When we went to winning, I thought I’d make it, but didn’t think Derrick would. He was just coming back out to help me make it. It was the best regular season I’ve ever had.
LK: What are you planning to ride?
CP: I’m going to ride Chumley (14). That’s the horse I rode to win the world last year, and he’s the best horse I’ve ridden.

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