RENO - One by one, the bull riders dropped. Fifteen in a row to be exact. Staying on was the exception and not the rule. If a rider lasted more than two seconds, it was a moral victory.
Will Farrell, the last rider of the night, broke the streak with an 81 aboard E Time to move into eighth place and reach the finals at the annual Reno Rodeo Thursday night at the Reno Livestock Center.
"I've seen nights where there were no rides," Farrell said, accepting congratulations from fellow cowboys. "It doesn't happen a lot. Usually a big rodeo like this you'll have more than one (successful) ride because there is so much talent here.
"You can't think about (other riders). You just have to worry about what you are doing no matter what. I'd seen the bull before, but never ridden him. I was kind of excited. I knew somebody needed to ride one."
Alamo's Jake Wade leads the bull riding contingent with a 92, four points better than Wesley Silcox. Dustin Elliott (87), Matt Austin (85), Zack Oates (84), B. J. Schumacher (84), Ardie Maier (83), Farrell, Shane Gordon (79), Brian Curtis (79) and Cord McCoy (79) rounded out the qualifiers.
Nothing changed much in bareback and saddle bronc.
Davey Shields Jr. (164) is the leader going into the bareback short round. Rowdy Buechner (163), Heath Ford (159), Matt Mosher (159), Royce Ford (157), Cody Demers (157), Eric Swenson (157), Bo Casper (157), Bobby Mote (156), Andy Martinez (156), Silas Richards (155) and Wes Stevenson (154) rounded out the qualifiers.
Mosher, who had an 80 on his first go, followed that up with a 79, which tied him for third with Heath Ford.
"That was one good horse," said Mosher, who made his first Reno Rodeo finals. "It felt pretty decent.
"I'm pretty excited; anxious. I won't do much, maybe hang around with the guys. I'm kind of on a semi-honeymoon. I got married on June 5th, and this is the first big trip we've taken together. We haven't really had a honeymoon. We haven't had a chance to do much."
No doubt a big check might make it possible to have a "true" honeymoon.
Bo Casper moved into a tie for fifth with a two-round total of 157. Casper posted scores of 79 and 78. He was second last year.
"I like this rodeo," Casper said. "The good Lord willing, I'll win this year. This was a young horse. It had a few moves. I'd never seen the horse. I didn't know what to expect."
Two saddle bronc riders with Nevada ties - Battle Mountain's Matt Marvel (162) and Fallon's David Howard (158) - occupy the second and third spots behind leader Cody Demoss, who is at 167.
Cody Wright and Josh Reynolds are at 157, Mo Forbes and Rod Hay are at 156, Jeffrey Willert is eighth at 154, Scott Johnston is ninth at 153, Dan Erickson and Tony Bello tied for 10th at 152 and Bryce Miller grabbed the last qualifying spot at 151.
Veteran Dan Mortenson, a seven-time world champion, finished 13th at 150.
Reynolds, ranked sixth in the world, had rides of 78 and 79 to move into a tie with Wright.
"It was a good horse I drew," said Reynolds, who last came to Reno in 2000. "After the 78, I knew I had a good horse, and I knew I could get to the short round if I did my part."
"The third jump he jacked me right out of my saddle," Reynolds said. "I had to get back down (quickly). I had a good winter. It would be nice way to start the summer with a good check. I'd like to get to the Pace summer finals."
There was some movement in barrel racing. Linda Vick remained No. 1 with a 34.21, but Tammy Key moved up to No. 2 at 34.29 with a 17.08. Brittany Pozzi, thanks to a 17.16, moved up to third at 34.37. Amy Stevens, who was timed in 17.34, moved into a fourth-place tie with Kelly Kaminski at 34.54.
The rest of the qualifiers are Shali Lord (34.59), Tiffany Fox (34.60), Jana Jarreau (34.63), Laurie Sutton (34.67), Liz Pinkston (34.67), Rachel Myllimaki (34.72) and Stephanie Jones (34.72) round out the qualifiers.
Monty Lewis lead the tie-down ropers with a two-round total of 17.0. Ryan Jarrett (18.0) is second at 18.0. Nate Baldwin (19.4), Ryan Watkins (19.6) and Justin Weichel (19.6) round out the top five qualifiers.
Todd Suhn (9.6) is the top qualifier in steer wrestling, followed by Brock Andrus (10.3), Jason Lahr (10.6), Shawn Greenvied (10.3), Olin Hannum (10.8), Riley Johnson (10.9), Stockton Graves (11.2), K.C. Jones (11.8) and Mickey Gee (11.8).
Charly Crawford and Richard Durham topped the team roping qualifiers with an 11.3. Defending champs Steve Purcella and Britt Bockius are at 11.9. Colt Braden and Jace Crabb are third at 12.0, Matt Tyler and Cody Cowden are fourth at 12.1 and Jay Ellerman and Joe Roderick are fifth at 12.7.
Notes: Carson City resident Cethe Autumn sang the national anthem ... Carson City's Lita Scott participated in barrel racing and was timed in 17.92 for her second go. Fallon's Marvel Murphy was clocked in 24.09, including a penalty, for her second ride ... Tonight's finals start at 7 p.m. ... There were some big names missing this year. Defending saddle bronc rider Billy Etbauer was a no show, as was bareback rider Jason Jeter. Ranked saddle bronc rider Glen O'Neill also didn't compete.
