RNCFR 2013 Steer Wrestling Champion – Ethen Thouvenell

2013 RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo Steer Wrestling Champion Ethen Thouvenell

“…’This is a big honor to win here, a huge honor,’ Thouvenell said.  ‘We had a lot of great bulldoggers out there.  You don’t get to do this every day.  All the greats have done it.’  And now, he’s among them…”

The following story is courtesy of our friends at ProRodeo Sports News (April 26, 2013 issue).

2013 RNCFR Champion Steer Wrestler Ethen Thouvenell – Photograph by James Phifer (used with permission)

Big paycheck saves Thouvenell from hunting for a different job – by Bob Stephens

“Ethen Thouvenell wore a look of liberation following his steer wrestling victory at the Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo.  It’s no wonder, since the 33-year-old probably needed to win more than any cowboy at the Oklahoma City event.

“I was going home to get a job, because I was dead broke,” he said with a big smile.  “This is a big relief.  I can pay my bills now.”

Thouvenell earned $14,396 from April 4-6 at the RNCFR.  He’s pocketed more than $429,000 in his career but had hit a tough stretch recently.

“My winter’s been real slow and I needed to win something,” he said.  “It’s been pretty stressful.  If I hadn’t won here, I was going back home to build up some money for a while.”

The 33-year-old Thouvenell, who competes on the California Circuit, faced a similar situation in the past.

“In 2010, I left the house with $270 and made the (Wrangler National Finals Rodeo),” he said.

He placed in four rounds of the 2010 WNFR and was ninth in the world standings.  In 2012, he placed in four rounds at the WNFR and was seventh in the world standings.

At Oklahoma City, Thouvenell won the second round in a lightning-quick 3.2 seconds, breaking the RNCFR record of 3.3 seconds, set by Stockton Graves in 2011.

Graves had a 10-second penalty leading off the RNCFR final round this time and Thouvenell followed with a 3.5 second run.  Dean Gorsuch and Seth Brockman both no-timed.

“I knew Gorsuch had the steer I had a 3.2 on, so I wasn’t going to back off,” Thouvenell said.  “I wanted to go out fast and put pressure on the other two guys.”

Pressure is something cowboys are accustomed to dealing with, he said.

“There’s always a bunch of pressure.  It never stops,” Thouvenell said. “Everybody says it’s a mental game, and it is, all year long.  We love to compete, but you’ve got to win money to stay out here.”

Earning the championship meant more to Thouvenell than just money.

“This is a big honor to win here, a huge honor,” Thouvenell said.  “We had a lot of great bulldoggers out there.  You don’t get to do this every day.  All the greats have done it.”

And now, he’s among them.”

The California Circuit again congratulations Ethen Thouvenell for his determination and dedication to the sport of professional rodeo!

The following is an interview conducted with Ethen at the RNCR – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGfQyNx07JI.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGfQyNx07JI

To subscribe to ProRodeo Sports News (PSN) call 1.800.RODEO4U (1.800.763.3648).

First Ever Wrangler 2013 PRCA Champions Challenge at Redding Rodeo

The Inaugural “Wrangler PRCA Champions Challenge” happens this weekend, May 18, 2013, at the Redding Rodeo Grounds.  For event times/information/contestants, please visit the Redding Rodeo links ( website / Facebook ).

The following is from our friends at Prorodeo.com ( website ):

“COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – As part of its ongoing commitment to increasing the popularity of the cowboy sport, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association will launch a special made-for-TV series of Champions Challenge rodeos this year on Great American Country (GAC), [website / Facebook ] featuring 10 top competitors in each event and the sport’s best livestock.

Wrangler PRCA Champions Challenge

There will be four Champions Challenge rodeos aired in a one-hour format in 2013, starting with the May 18 Redding (Calif.) event, which will air at 5 p.m. (ET) on July 7 and then be rebroadcast at 9 a.m. on July 13. Subsequent events will be held in Amarillo, Texas; Kissimmee, Fla., and Winnie, Texas. (See full schedule below.)

Redding Rodeo

Each of these events, except for Kissimmee, will be held in conjunction with a regularly-scheduled PRCA rodeo and will offer $80,000 in additional prize money which, at least initially, will not be counted in the world standings.

“You have the best guys going against the best stock in a one-head event,” said four-time World Champion Bareback Rider Bobby Mote. “From the competitor’s standpoint that’s exciting, knowing you are going against the best in every rodeo. And it’s a great opportunity for the fans to watch the same guys in each broadcast. It’s difficult to promote the sport when you might be seeing 12 totally different guys from one telecast to the next. That’s why the (Wrangler) NFR is so unique. You are seeing the 15 best guys every night. The Champions Challenge is a step in the right direction for the sport.”

Commitments have been received from all eight reigning PRCA World Champions – All-Around Cowboy Trevor Brazile, Bareback Rider Kaycee Feild, Steer Wrestler Luke Branquinho, Team Roper (Header) Chad Masters, Team Roper (Heeler) Jade Corkill, Saddle Bronc Rider Jesse Wright, Tie-down Roper Tuf Cooper and Bull Rider Cody Teel.

“This is the future of ProRodeo on television,” says PRCA Commissioner Karl Stressman. “Over the last 70 years, we’ve tried to figure out the optimal method for TV coverage, and now we know: Showcasing our top athletes – contestants and livestock – is our greatest opportunity to create a new fan base as well as to reward our existing fans, by ensuring they see the best of the best.”

The top seven finishers in each event from the 2012 world standings were automatically invited to participate. Two of the remaining three spots will go to whoever is leading the 2013 world standings and the 2013 Wrangler Million Dollar Tour standings 30 days before each Champions Challenge event.

The last spot will be awarded to the host rodeo’s defending champion. If, as is the case with Kissimmee, there is no defending champion, the final spot will go to the highest-ranked competitor in the 2013 standings who is not already in the field.

The format will be a 10-person, single-round rodeo with the wins going to the fastest times and highest scores.

GAC’s team of announcers for the series is the same one that works the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo each December with Jeff Medders, Joe Beaver and Butch Knowles in the booth and Suzanne Alexander handling interviews and feature inserts.

Medders has announced the Wrangler NFR for the past 19 years while Knowles, who won the 1987 NFR saddle bronc riding average title, has been providing expert commentary for 24 years and eight-time World Champion Beaver for the last four years. Alexander joined the team in 2011, working the nightly pre-NFR reports from the ProRodeo Fan Zone.

Medders, Knowles and Beaver have all received the PRCA’s Excellence in Broadcast Journalism Award.

CHAMPIONS CHALLENGE SCHEDULE:

Good luck to all !!!