Kennewick Cowboy On Top Corey’s Bareback Rides At Finals Puts Him In Position To Win Crown

Clint Corey didn’t plan on competing much this season. Sunday night, he placed first in bareback riding in the third go-round of the National Finals Rodeo, giving him more than $100,000 in season earnings.

“At the start, I figured I wouldn’t go very hard and just try and qualify for the National Finals,” said Corey, of Kennewick. “But then things started really rolling in the spring so I figured I’d better go harder and try to win the world championship.”

Corey, who started the spring with a $10,000 win at the San Antonio Livestock Exhibition Rodeo, rode a horse named Copenhagen William of the Sankey Rodeo Company for an 83 score Sunday and first place.

The $11,035 gives him $103,400 on the season. At the $3 million NFR, he’s already won $19,952 and has surpassed Marvin Garrett of Belle Fourche, S.D., in the lead for the world championship.

In bareback riding Monday, Lance Crump of Cooper, Texas, won his second go-round in four nights with an 80. He has won $24,076 at the NFR and has moved from 13th to sixth overall. Corey was second in the round with a 79.

For Dan Mortensen, a disqualification Sunday may have been a blessing in disguise. Monday, the saddle bronc rider came back with an 80-point ride to win the go-round and jump into first place in the world standings with $105,197.

“They said I slapped the horse, but I don’t believe I did,” said Mortensen, of Manhattan, Mont. “But sometimes you get to worrying about the average a little too much and stop being aggressive. This way, I wasn’t thinking about the average (on Monday).”

Mortensen entered the NFR second in the world standings and has been in the money in three of four go-rounds to claim the lead from Tom Reeves of Stephenville, Texas.

Jerome Davis of Archdale, N.C., rode his fourth straight bull at the NFR and won for the second time with an 88 on Skoal Swamp Rat. Davis has won $24,411 and leads the standings with $86,959.

Team ropers Bobby Hurley of Ceres, Calif., and Allen Bach of Toltec, Ariz., won for the second time in four go-rounds with a 4.5 second run; Cody Ohl of Orchard, Texas, won the calf roping with a 7.8-second run for his third straight night in the money; in steer wrestling, Brad Gleason of Ennis, Mont., won the round at 3.9 seconds, the fastest NFR time this year.