The Wrangler Horse and Rodeo News

4 The Wrangler, Horse and Rodeo News • December 1-31, 2016 Written By Melinda Clements Team roping is a part of many peoples lives and the United States Team Roping Championships (USTRC) has been instrumental in the growth of the equine world. People eat, sleep and breathe team roping and for many it is not just a hobby or passion, it is a way of life. Families are started and brought together through this sport. People fight over and for this game we love. Once this "way of life" is in your blood it stays with you no matter what you do or where you go. Ropers are a unique breed of people that may complain and bicker amongst themselves, however should you try to pick on one, they will stand up for their own and be there in a heartbeat. Every year durning the last part of October the team roping world focuses their attention on one event... The Cinch USTRC National Finals of Team Roping! The Cinch USTRC National Finals of Team is the ultimate experience for the team roping family. It doesn't matter if you rope or don't, the event will touch you and leave you with an experience you never thought possible. The 2016 Cinch NFTR event was held again this year at Fairgrounds Coliseum in Oklahoma City on October 22nd through October 3oth. It was an extravaganza of team roping at its absolute best. Lives were changed and altered in ways never thought possible. From the realm of roping, ropers and fans, alike, discovered new things about themselves and found a promise and hope they didn't know existed. It was nine days some will never ever forget. During the nine-day roping event some 4,763 teams ran through the coliseum. Around $5 million in cash and prizes was awarded and two Ram Trucks and two Case I-H Tractors were given away to first and second high money winners in each of the Gold Plus Shoot Out Ropings. The high money winners of the nine day event included Buddy Bledsoe who put $71,600 in cash alone in his pocket. JR Dees was a close second as he pocketed $60,200. There were ropers who came to the Cinch NFTR and established new partnerships and relationships. There were unlikely pairings and special and unique circumstances. There were highs and lows, ups and downs, tears of joy and tears of frustration and annoyance. There were new strategies and newfound disciplines, ideas and concepts. In short the 2016 Cinch USTRC National Finals of Team Roping changed lives. Maybe, it was your life or your neighbors, or someone in your family or a mere acquaintance or even someone you did not know at all. Regardless, whether you rope a little or a lot, team roping is a life changing experience. Take a minute to enjoy the stories and highlights in the pages that follow. Savor each one and meet the champions of the 2016 Cinch USTRC National Finals of Team Roping. Look to them for motivation, inspiration and let them be the driving force that keeps you in the practice pen and in the arena. Never give up and follow your dream. Your biggest win is yet to come and this is "YOUR USTRC!" 2016 USTRC National Finals Results # 15 Shoot Out 2016 Cinch USTRC National Finals of Team Roping J R Dees and Riley Wilson Once in a great while people come along in your life that you just know are a Godsend to restore your faith in humanity. Every once in awhile things unfold and you just have to smile. Such is the case with J R Dees and Riley Wilson. They just make you smile. They put joy in your heart and you suddenly realize we are all human and it is okay to be honest, open, joyous and sincere and one does not have to wear a mask or pretend. Life is, indeed, a ball so take it and run wild. J R Dees was ecstatic. He had just won the #15 Preliminary at the 2016 Cinch USTRC Team Roping in Oklahoma City with partner, Riley Williams. He so wanted to repeat the win in the #15 Shoot Out with partner, Riley Wilson. The kid ropes awesome. "I'm pretty lucky to have some good heelers," Dees voiced. "I've been a little nervous through all this." As it turned out Dees and his partner, Riley Wilson was the sixth high team back going into the short go round of the #15 Shoot Out at this years NFTR. Dees had tasted victory and he more than liked the feeling. To say he was on a role was to underestimate what was staring everyone in the face. Wilson, however, was like a cat on a hot tin roof. "You are not human if you are not nervous," Wilson voiced. "I could not sit still. I could not think. I had been a bundle of nerves and stressed from the moment I had stepped on a plane headed from Canada to Oklahoma. It had been a zoo, lost luggage, crazy horses and strange happenings. I lost my stirrups and made the shot of the century with no stirrups. I felt like a monkey trying to ride a basketball through the whole deal. I had to check and make sure I didn't need some clean clothes." Regardless of what Wilson was trying to cope with when he and Dees rode into the box in the short go round it was all business. "I had to put it behind me," Wilson elaborated. "I just rode into the box and thought about being fourteen #15 Shootout: J R Dees and Riley Wilson "I asked this kid how much money he had when this all started," Wilson teased and he actually had about five bucks left in his pocket. Now I can borrow money from him and not feel bad." "I couldn't find you when it was our turn to rope," Dees jabbed back. "I thought you had left. I just wondered where you were and what you were doing. I figured you had left me hanging." Dees is eighteen years old and Wilson wouldn't give his age then Dees ratted on him and Wilson denied it only to say that he was old enough to know better. As the interview ended and the coliseum became dark somewhere in the darkness a golf cart made its way to some distant stalls. Whoops and hollers and shouts of joy filled the cool night air and upon further investigation one reporter discovered two team ropers in the company of friends still celebrating their good luck. Dees and Wilson were embracing their good fortune. They had rerun and rehashed the #15 Shoot Out at the 2016 Cinch USTRC National Finals of Team Roping over and over again. Dees still wondered if it was real. With joy and a humble thanksgiving the ropers would never ever forget one evening in 2016 when they were crowned the National Champions of the #15 Shoot Out. Smile and think back. Team roping is a timed event and time is of the essence. Team Roping changes things and it always makes a difference. years old when roping was just fun and I roped because it is fun and what I love to do. By golly, it worked." It did work. Dees and Wilson posted a time of 6.46 on their short round steer and set into motion a chain of events that involved waiting and trying to stay calm, cool and collected. A waiting game is never fun. When the dust cleared and the numbers were totaled one team emerged that would make you smile. Dees and Wilson would take the win the #15 Shoot Out. Splitting $100,000 the pair would also take home Martin Championship Team Roping Saddles, Gist Championship Gold Buckles, Tony Lama Boots and Western Horseman Framed Prints. The win was phenomenal. "Is this real?" Dees asked when presented a check for $50,000. "Wow, I can't believe it!" "I just want to kiss this kid," Wilson said ecstatically. "You understand when you get older and slower you go find someone younger and faster? That is why we rope together. When the best header out there wants you to rope with them you just naturally say YES!" His mood was contagious. As the team posed for pictures and gathered for interviews the pair was electric. They reveled in the attention and wondered if it was all a dream. Cameras clicked as they tried to answer questions about being nervous and how it was to rope and suddenly have so much money. Photos by Allens Rodeo Photos

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