Meier's money in bull riding short go at Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo

Instead of feeling overwhelmed, Meier rose to the occasion. He covered Carr Pro Rodeo’s Lineman for 87 points and claimed the buckle with a score of 254 points on three rides.

“As a bull rider, it helps you,” Meier said. “It seems to flow better and amp you up better to see rides where you know you have to do something to win, versus being in a situation where all you have to do is just not fall off.

“It definitely puts you on your edge and makes you go out and compete the way you’re supposed to.”

Winning the 118th “Daddy of ’em All” means a lot to Meier because he’s following in the footsteps of his cousin, Rusty Patrick, who won the CFD bull riding buckle in 2002.

“To bring another saddle into the family and another Cheyenne buckle is a dream come true,” said Meier, who had no trouble with Lineman spinning into his left hand.

Meier has split his time between the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and the Professional Bull Riders circuits. He’s ranked 44th in the PBR and wasn’t listed among the top 50 in the most recent PRCA standings.

Winning more than $12,177 in the Capital City could vault Meier into the PRCA’s top 50.

“I ride in the PRCA rodeos during the week and the PBR events on the weekends,” Meier said. “It’s not easy to make the schedule work. It takes a lot of homework to figure out what events you can get to and how to make the travel work out, but I try to enter as much as I can when I can – and try to win as much as I can.

“I’d love to make the NFR and winning rodeos like this will definitely help towards that goal. Mainly, I love getting on a lot of bulls and trying to win a lot of money.”

Harris walked away with $1,650 for winning the final go-round. The current world No. 2 was second overall with 252 points.

Smith, Harper & Morgan Rodeo’s Whirlygig gave Harris a steady spin to the right from the outset of the ride.

“I knew there were some guys coming in quite a bit higher than me in the average, so I knew there was a chance someone might overtake me,” Harris said. “No matter what, hanging on for second pays really well and makes me pretty happy.”

Tyler Smith of Fruita, Colorado, also took second overall. Sage Kimzey of Strong City, Oklahoma, sits first in the PRCA world standings and finished fourth at CFD with 247 points after an 86-pointer Sunday.

Saddle bronc

Chad Ferley of Oelrichs, South Dakota, became the first cowboy since 1936 to win consecutive saddle bronc titles when he rode Frontier Rodeo’s Let ’er Rip for 87 points. Ferley split the 2013 title with Wade Sundell. The last saddle bronc rider to win back-to-back titles in Cheyenne was Turk Greenough, who won in 1935 and 36.

“That’s pretty neat,” Ferley, 34, said. “If you can win Cheyenne once, that’s pretty good. I’ve won it twice, so I consider myself very lucky.”

Ferley got one of his spur straps caught in a saddle strap, which held up his spur stroke momentarily. The two-time world champion used his veteran savvy to overcome the hiccup and still post an outstanding score.

“It slowed me down just a little bit, but I don’t think it held me up one stroke because I was able to get it out of that strap pretty quick,” Ferley said. “That comes with years of experience. You know what that feeling is right away and you know what you have to do to get out of it.

“It’s also a lot of luck, too.”

Hardy Braden of Welch, Oklahoma, and Doug Aldridge of Carthage, Missouri, split second place in the aggregate. Braden scored 80 points on Carr Pro Rodeo’s The Darkness. Aldridge had an 87 on Frontier Rodeo’s Medicine Woman, the high saddle bronc score of the day.

Bareback

Richmond Champion felt confident in his ride on Carr Pro Rodeo’s Dirty Jacket was good Sunday.

How confident was he? Confident enough to extend his left index finger skyward just after the 8-second whistle sounded.

Champion’s 91-point ride was the best of the round, good enough to vault him to his first Cheyenne Frontier Days buckle.

“I could just feel that, from the time it bailed out of (the chute), it was the real deal,” the 21-year-old said. “I was just trying not to stub my toe. It felt like everything went right.

“When the pickup men are talking to you and they’re excited and you still haven’t gotten off the horse yet, you know you probably did an all right job.”

Champion was eight points behind two-time CFD champ Will Lowe when the day started. Lowe of Canyon, Texas needed just 84 points to claim the crown but received a no-score after touching Frontier Rodeo’s Showstopper with his free hand.

There were eight scores of at least 82 points in bareback Sunday.

Champion’s winning ride was wild from the start.

Dirty Jacket reared back and to the right as soon as the chute opened, but Champion hung on until the horse got into a rhythmic and snapping kick.

“I wasn’t expecting it to feel like that,” Champion said. “Everyone kept telling me that there was no cooler feeling than when it bailed out of there.

“I thought it was a little hinky but I thought, ‘OK, come with it now.’ It got me hustling right off the bat. I told Pete Carr that I’ve never tied to anything like that in my entire life. It was incredible.”

Cheyenne was especially kind to Champion.

Not only did he win more than $12,100 during the PRCA-sanctioned rodeo, he took home $10,000 as the inaugural champion of last Friday’s CINCH Rodeo Shootout. That money doesn’t count toward his spot in the PRCA standings.