NFR Rodeo

I'm often asked "when's rodeo season" or "what's the status of rodeo season."

I've learned to say that we're always in rodeo season though there are rare times that rodeo activities are less intense.

When a person opts to participate at the top level of rodeos and horse shows, there will be little or no rest. For example, the first Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association events were in the first week of January and the National Finals Rodeo ends Dec. 9. The season for Professional Bull Riders' top series began Nov. 18 and ends Nov. 5. The National Cutting Horse Association circuit also goes year round.

And some competitors also have children on the high school or collegiate circuits from September through June.

For example, Texas High School Rodeo Association Region III (the North Texas area) concluded its regular season last weekend at Cowtown Coliseum, and the top competitors will advance to the Texas High School Rodeo Finals in June in Abilene. This weekend, Tarleton State will compete in the Howard College Rodeo in Big Spring, closing the regular season for the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Southwest Region. Top competitors will advance to the College National Finals Rodeo in June in Casper, Wyo.

Unlike most other college athletes, college rodeo competitors can compete on both the collegiate and pro levels. For example, Texas Tech bareback riding star Ryan Gray excelled at the 2005 College National Finals in Wyoming and the PRCA's 2005 Wrangler ProRodeo Winter Tour Finale in Reno, Nev., during the same week. The Reno rodeo helped Gray earn his first bareback berth in the NFR.

Rodeo and horse show circuits are different than mainstream sports such as football. Actual NFL competition runs from early September to late January or early February.

Briefly

Dylan Branson of Burleson won the boy's all-around and Shelby Smith of Stephenville won the girl's all-around at the Texas High School Rodeo Association Region III Finals last weekend.

Guilherme Marchi of Decatur earned $17,550, finishing second at the PBR's Built Ford Tough Series tour stop Friday and Saturday in Chicago.

Fox Sports plans to broadcast the PBR's Oct. 29 World Finals performance from Las Vegas. It's among three shows that the network has scheduled.

Tarleton State's men finished second in the team race at Tarleton's annual rodeo in Stephenville.

A few months ago, Fallon's Jade Corkill thought he'd be easing into life on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit.

That all changed in late November when the 18-year-old Corkill, a team roping heeler, received an offer he couldn't refuse.

The offer came from Matt Tyler, an 18-time qualifier for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and one of the top team roping headers in the world. Tyler was looking for a partner for the 2006 season and asked Corkill if he'd like to team up.

So much for taking it easy.

"My original plan was just to get out here and try to get my feet wet," Corkill said. "But knowing I'll have a guy like Matt turning steers for me, it's an amazing feeling. It was just like having the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders.

"We'll be shooting for the NFR and trying to win everything we possibly can."

Corkill might be a PRCA rookie, but he's a team roping veteran.

He roped his first steer -- a wooden one in the living room of the family home -- when he was 1 and won his first paycheck at a rodeo (good for $25) when he was 6. He practiced by roping goats at the ranch owned by his parents, Bruce and Mitzi, and when he wasn't tossing a rope, he was watching tapes of roping, By the time he was 12, he was competing against -- and beating -- adults in national team roping competitions.

This past November, he teamed with Joel Bach of Weatherford, Texas to win the 2005 World Junior Team Roping Championships in Enid, Okla., winning the title over 367 other teams. Bach's father happens to be Allen Bach, a three-time PRCA world champion team roper and 24-time qualifier for the NFR.

The elder Bach set up the meeting between Corkill and Tyler and they hit it off immediately. In fact, Corkill is living in Lipan, Texas with Tyler and his family.

"He's a good guy," Corkill said. "We get along real well. We practice every day that we're not going somewhere."

Though the season is young, Tyler and Corkill have already cracked into the top 45 in the world standings, winning money at three of the five rodeos they've entered thus far.

The 41-year-old Tyler is no stranger to teaming with younger ropers. In 2003, he teamed rookie Patrick Smith and won the average at the NFR. Smith won the world championship last year with Clay Tryan.

That's where Corkill hopes to end up some day.

"I've dreamed about making the NFR forever, and this (teaming with Tyler) is the best opportunity you could ever have to make it. To have a partner like him, all I will have to do is hold up my end and do my job and things should work out."

They're already signed up for the Reno Rodeo and the Bob Feist Invitational Team Roping Classic in Reno in June.

"I'm really looking forward to that," Corkill said.

HOWARD QUALIFIES FOR POCATELLO: Fallon's David Howard will once again be heading for the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo after he won all three rounds and the average title in saddle bronc at the recent California Circuit Finals.

WNCC RODEO FUNDRAISER: Western Nevada Community College will be holding its fifth annual rodeo team fundraiser on March 25.

The silent auction, live auction, dinner and dance will be held at the Fallon Convention Center, 100 Campus Way in Fallon, starting at 6 p.m.

The event's honorary chairman is Carlin saddle bronc rider Ira Slagowski, a two-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier.

Tickets are $25 per person or $200 for a reserved table for eight. Tickets are available at WNCC's Fallon campus, Jeff's Copy Express in Fallon or at Feeds of Nevada in Fallon.

Anyone who would like more information or those who would like to donate a prize for the auction, should contact Kathy McGee at (775) 423-5186 or mcgee@wncc.edu.

PRCA MOVING HEADQUARTERS TO NEW MEXICO: The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association plans to move its headquarters and the ProRodeo Hall of Fame facility to Albuquerque, N.M., a move that was announced by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

"For generations, rodeo has been an important part of our culture," Richardson at a Sunday press conference. "This announcement will ensure that rodeo remains a vital and exciting part of New Mexico's future as well."

The exact details of the agreement to move the PRCA to New Mexico are still being finalized. This includes the exact location of the headquarters and ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Albuquerque. However, the package will include state funding assistance to help finance the construction of a new facility within the next 18 months, and $5 million to promote the sport of ProRodeo. The package will include a public/private partnership.

PBR HEADING FOR RENO MARCH 3-5: The Professional Bull Riders will make their annual Built Ford Tough Series stop in Reno March 3-5.

The Reno-Tahoe Invitational wil be held at the downtown Reno Events Center.

Defending Reno and world champion Justin McBride will lead the all-star field of riders into town for the three-day event.

If you'd asked him during his college rodeo days what event he might someday win a world title in, Harley May probably would have said bareback riding or saddle bronc riding, or maybe even bull riding.

But if you look in the PRCA record books, you'll see May's name three times under the world champion category — for steer wrestling.

"I did steer wrestle in college, but I didn't win anything," May said. "I didn't start winning the steer wrestling until I turned pro. It was kind of funny, in college I won the bronc riding and the bull riding, but I could never win any steer wrestling."

May became familiar with winning in rodeo early, after being named the all-around champion of a children's rodeo in El Paso, Texas, when he was 12. He didn't rodeo much again until he started college at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, and joined the rodeo team there.

"That's when the (National Intercollegiate) Rodeo Association first started, and in 1949, they had their first rodeo at the Cow Palace," May recalled. "They invited 16 colleges to compete, and our college won the team trophy. I won the all-around, the bareback riding and bull riding and was third in the bronc riding."

He graduated in 1951 and headed straight to the Rodeo Cowboys Association, where he promptly began winning in steer wrestling events. May went on to win his first world title in 1952.

"The first one was the best," said May, who also won steer wrestling world titles in 1956 and 1965. "I was fresh out of college and pretty green when I won the first one. The rest of them I kind of matured into."

May was extremely busy on the rodeo trail. Not only did he compete in a lot of big rodeos, but he entered four, five, sometimes six events at many of them. In addition to steer wrestling, he competed in the roughstock events, did a little team roping and some steer roping too.

He said the steer wrestling became his forte' and "naturally" became his favorite event after winning the first world title. Still, he had some luck in the other events as well, like when he won the steer roping in Pendleton (Ore.) in 1961.

"That was one of the highlights of my rodeo career," he said. "Actually, in my career I've won almost all the big rodeos, like New York, Boston, Cheyenne, Calgary, Denver, San Antonio, El Paso and Omaha. I was lucky to win all of them at one time or another."

May stopped competing full-time after his world title in 1965, when he got interested in the real estate business in California. He pursued that career for 19 years, then retired and moved to Palm Springs to play golf, but "didn't like it." Then, he went to San Juan Capistrano (Calif.) and worked on a ranch for five years. There, he served as the environmental engineer on a pipeline project through the ranch.

"Then I was offered a job as a coach at my old alma mater," May said. "We moved to Texas, and I coached the rodeo team for three-and-a-half years. My wife and I were raising paint horses at the same time."

May retired from coaching, and his wife's job moved to the headquarters of the company, taking the couple to Midland, Texas, where they now live.

"I'm really retired at this point," the 79-year-old cowboy said, "except that I still have some friends who have ranches here, and I still help them when they do cattle work."

May and his wife of 15 years, Lynn, purchased a home in Midland, and he said he enjoys fixing it up, as well as spending time with his dog. He also likes to keep up with rodeo friends like Deb Copenhaver and Dwight Graham.

"We e-mail back and forth and talk all the time on the phone," he said. "Some of my old rodeo friends, I still see them occasionally. You can't just forget them."

May said, "at this point, I don't miss a thing" about rodeo but is happy to have lots of good memories of his rodeo days. A particular memory he recalled was after winning the steer wrestling in Denver (Colo.) in 1952. He won about $2,400 and took $1,800 of it and purchased a new car, something he noted could not be done today.

He said he's happy he suffered only a few minor injuries during is rodeo career. In 1963, a saddle bronc horse fell on him and broke his foot, and 13 years later, a horse flipped over in the chute and broke his wrist.

"I had somebody looking after me," he said, "because I never did really get injured seriously at all."

Even after leaving his competition days behind, May remained active in rodeo until a few years ago. He was president of the Board of Directors for the PRCA for several years and also served as vice president. May was the chairman of the first National Finals Rodeo commission, during its first four years of existence. He said the Finals are the "biggest thing rodeo has accomplished in 50 years."