Young Bareback Rider Hayes Wins Biggest San Angelo Rodeo Victory

Forgive Keenan Hayes for kicking himself.

The young cowboy had a decision to make last fall and he opted to continue participating in his pro rodeo trial campaign for a second straight year.

After winning both rounds and the combined championship at the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo, he pushed his 2022 earnings to nearly $40,000.

Most young men would have taken their earnings from their first year of license and given themselves up to climb the world ladder, but Hayes is not eligible. He’s eligible to fight for license holder earnings and points, and that’s it. He really blamed himself after finding out he pocketed $16,506 in San Angelo.

“I got into the final of my circuit with my license and made money in the final of the circuit,” said Hayes of Hayden, Colorado, who raised $6,200 in the final of the circuit. Mountain States last October, and that money counts towards the 2022 rankings.

“At the time, I thought that if I bought my card, I would lose the money I had earned. Now I blame myself for not buying my card.

He looked like a seasoned professional inside the Foster Communications Coliseum. He won the opening round with an 86-point run on Hampton Pro Rodeo’s Rising Tide. This happened almost two weeks ago.

Hayes came back Friday with incredible earnings already in his pocket, then topped the championship round with a 90-point run on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Night Crawler.

In his wake, he left behind five cowboys with qualifications for the national rodeo finals, including three-time world champion, nine-time qualifier Caleb Bennett, six-time runner-up Tanner Aus and a few bronc busters who attended to the ProRodeo Grand Final once in their careers.

“It’s the biggest rodeo I’ve ever won,” Hayes said. “It couldn’t have come at a better time. I had some truck trouble this week so after that we’ll have the cost of that covered.

The reality of rodeo life is that young competitors can compete with a license and then they can buy their PRCA cards after earning at least $1,000 a year.

Hayes had that option, but he took what he thought was the best approach; there are several talented young bareback riders, and he wanted a little more seasoning.

He looks well made.

“At this point, I’m going to carry on after this and maybe set a new record for money earned on a license and see what happens next year,” he said. “It’s just awesome the kind of money they pay at this rodeo. I’m glad I had the chance to compete for this. I’m super lucky that it ended in my favor.

Even for those who rodeo, it seems like Hayes came out of nowhere. This is simply not the case. He honed his craft in the Rocky Mountains and now has a chance to prove it.

“Casey Colletti started a rodeo school in Craig, Colorado,” Hayes said of the NFR qualifier. “He taught me the basics, and I took it from there. From there, it raised my level of riding.

It’s riding pretty high in West Texas this weekend.

The rodeo performances will end with the extravagant Cinch Chute-out star show at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo

Final ranking

Bareback riding: First round: 1. Keenan Reed Hayes, 86 on Hampton Pro Rodeo’s Rising Tide, $7,428; 2. (tie) Tanner Aus and Tim O’Connell, 85, $4,952 each; 4. (tie) Bronc Marriott and Luke Barlow Thrash, 84.5, $2,228; 6. (tie) Seth Hardwick, Jayco Roper, Tim Murphy, Caleb Bennett and Bradlee Miller, 84, $594 each. Final Round: 1. Keenan Hayes, 90 points on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Night Crawler, $1,650; 2. Tim O’Connell, 89.5, $1,250; 3. Tanner Aus, 88.5, $900; 4. Caleb Bennett, 87, $600; 5. Bronc Marriott, 86, $350; 6. Jayco Roper, 84.5, $250. Average: 1. Keenan Hayes, 176 points on two rides, $7,428; 2. Tim O’Connell, 174.5, $5,695; 3. Tanner Aus, 173.5, $4,209; 4. Caleb Bennett, 717, $2,724; 5. Bronc Marriott, 170.5, $1733; 6. Jayco Roper, 168.5, $1,238; 7. Luke Thrash, 168, $990; 8. Seth Hardwick, 167.5, $743.

Steer wrestling: First round: 1. Cade Goodman, 3.5 seconds, $6,236; 2. (tie) Talon Roseland, Bryn Roy, Trell Etbauer, Gus Franzen and Gavin Soileau, 3.8, $3.796 each; 7. (tie) Dakota Eldridge, Brandon Harrison, Justin Shaffer and Tyler Waguespack, 3.9, $475 each. Second round: 1. Chance Howard, 3.3 seconds, $6,236; 2. (tie) Stetson Jorgensen and Walt Arnold, 3.5, $5,016 each; 4. (tie) Tyler Pearson and Kyle Irwin, 3.6, $3,389 each; 6. (tie) Dakota Eldridge, Rowdy Parrott and Dirk Tavenner, 3.7, $1,356 each. Final round: 1. Dakota Eldridge, 3.5 seconds, $1,622; 2. (tie) Payden McIntyre, Tyler Waguespack and Stetson Jorgensen, 4.1, $1,199 each; 5. Dirk Tavenner, 4.3, $776; 6. Rowdy Parrott, 4.7, $564; 7. Walt Arnold, 5.0, $353; 8. Landris White, 5.9, $141. Average: 1. Dakota Eldridge, 11.1 seconds on three-point, $9,354; 2 Stetson Jjorgensen, 11.7, $8,134; 3. Tyler Waguespack, 11.9, $6,914; 4. Payden McIntyre, 12.2, $5,694; 5. Dirk Tavenner, 12.5, $4,474; 6. Rowdy Parrott, 12.6, $3,253; 7. Walt Arnold, 12.7, $2,033; 8. Kyle Irwin, 14.2, $813.

Team stringing: First round: 1. Dustin Egusquiza/Travis Graves, 3.5 seconds, $5,206; 2. Cody Snow/Wesley Thorp, 3.7, $4,527; 3. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 3.8, $3,848; 4. (tie) JC Yeahquo/LJ Yeahquo and Lightning Aguilera/Coleby Payne, 3.9, $2,830 each; 6. Caleb Smidt/Sergio Gonzales, 4.1, $1,811; 7. (tie) Aaron Tsinigine/Paul Eaves and Dawson Graham/Dillon Graham, 4.2, $792 each. Second round: 1. Nelson Wyatt/Tyler Worley, 3.5 seconds, $5,206; 2. Tyler Wade/Trey Yates, 3.6, $4,527; 3. Cory Kidd/Lane Mitchell and Chace Thompson/Tyson Thompson, 3.8, $3,509 each; 5. Clay Smith/Jade Corkill, 3.9, $2,490; 6. (tie) Clint Summers/Ross Ashford, Erich Rogers/Paden Bray and Chet Weitz/Jace Davis, 4.1, $1,132 each. Final round: 1. Derrick Begay/Colter Todd, 3.9 seconds, $1,436; 2. Nelson Wyatt/Tyler Worley, 4.1, $1,188; 3. Lightning Aguilera/Coleby Payne, 4.4, $941; 4. Kolton Schmidt/Wyatt Cox, 4.7, $593; 5. Aaron Tsinigine/Paul Eaves, 5.8, $446; 6. Tanner James/Phoenix Everano, 10.0, $248. Average: 1. Derrick Begay/Colter Todd, 12.8 seconds on three-pointers, $7,810; 2. Lightning Aguilera/Coleby Payne, 13.6, $6,791; 3. Kolton Schmidt/Wyatt Cox, 14.1, $5,772; 4. Aaron Tsinigine/Paul Eaves, 14.6, $4,754; 5. Nelson Wyatt/Tyler Worley, 16.6, $3,735; 6. Tanner James/Phoenix Everano, 19.5, $2,716; 7. Payden Emmett/Lucas Falconer, 20.8, $1,698; 8. Kolby Krieger/Boogie Ray, 21.4 seconds on two points, $679.

Riding in the saddle bronc: First Round 1. Ryder Wright, 89 points over Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Uptuck, $7,047; 2. Spencer Wright, 88, $5,403; 3. Jake Finlay, 86, $3,993; 4. Rusty Wright. 85.5, $2,584; 5. Allen Boore, 85, $1,644; 6. Chase Brooks, 84.5, $1,175; 7. Statler Wright, 84, $940; 8. Stetson Wright, 83.5, $705. Final Round: 1. Spencer Wright, 89.5 on J Bar J Rodeo’s Straight Moonshine, $1,650; 2. Chase Brooks, 88, $1,250; 3. Riggin Smith, 87, $900; 4. (tie) Jake Finlay and Ryder Wright, 86, $475 each; 8. Kole Ashbacher, 84.5, $250. Average: 1. Spencer Wright, 177.5 points on two rides, $7,047; 2. Ryder Wright, 175, $5,403; 3. Chase Brooks, 172.5, $3,993; 4. Jake Finlay, 172, $2,584; 5. Riggin Smith, 170, $1,644; 6. Statler Wright, 168, $1,175; 7. Kole Ashbacher, $167.5, $940; 8. Allen Boore, 165, $705.

Lashing rope: First round: 1. (tie) Tyler Milligan and Travis Rogers, 7.6 seconds, $6,219 each; 3. (tie) Kase Bacque and Marty Yates, 7.7, $4,483 each; 5. (tie) Hudson Wallace, Dakota Felton and Tuf Cooper, 7.8, $2,314 each; 8. (tie) Michael Otero and Ty Harris, 7.9, $289 each. Second round: 1. (tie) Riley Webb and Tuf Cooper, 7.3 seconds, $6,219 each; 3. (tie) John Douch and Zack Jongbloed, 7.4, $4,483 each; 5. (tie) Marcos Costa and Kincade Henry, 7.5, $2,748 each; 7. (tie) King Pickett, Ty Harris and Trenton Smith, 7.7, $675 each. Final round: 1. Tyler Milligan, 7.8 seconds, $1,817; 2. Marty Yates, 8.1, $1,580; 3. Tuf Cooper, 8.4, $1,343; 4. Ty Harris, 8.5, $1,106; 5. (tie) Kincade Henry and Kase Bacque, 8.9, $751 each; 7. Zack Joenbloed, 9.5, $395; 8. (tie) Michael Otero and Dakota Felton, 10.5, $79 each. Average: 1. (tie) Tyler Milligan and Tuf Cooper, 23.5 seconds on three-pointers, $9,328 each; 3. Ty Harris, 24.1, $7,376; 4. Marty Yates, 24.5, $6,074 5. Kase Bacque, 24.6, $4,772; 6. Kincade Henry, 24.8, $3,471; 7. Zack Jongbloed, 26.2, $2,169; 8. (tie) Michael Otero and Dakota Felton, 27.4, $434 each

Barrel stroke: First round: 1. Wenda Johnson, 15.47 seconds, $5,773; 2. Dona Kay Ruler, 15.48, $4,948; 3. Ericka Nelson, 15.57, $4,124; 4. Margo Crowther, 15.58, $3,574; 5. (tie) Cassidy Champlin, Bayleigh Choate and Liza Zachoda, 15.60, $2,199 each; 8. Shannon McReynolds, 15.64, $1,100; 9. Ivy Saebens, 15.65, $825; 10. Emily Mangioe, 15.66, $550. Second round: 1. Shannon McReynolds, 14.12 seconds, $5,773; 2. Michelle Alley, 14.16, $4,948; 3. Chani Graves, 14.19, $4,124; 4. Kailee Murdock, 14.21, $3,574; 5. (tie) rule by Jordon Briggs and Dona Kay, 14.29, $2,474; 7. Sherry Cervi, 2:30 p.m., $1,649; 8. (tie) Shelley Morgan and McKenzie Morgan, 14.31, $962; 10. Laura Mote, 14.34, $550. Final round: 1. Dona Kay’s Rule, 13.96 seconds, $4,277; 2. (tie) McKenzie Morgan and Margo Crowther, 14.24, $2,673 each; 4. Erica Nelson, 14.40, $1,069. Average: 1. Dona Kay’s Rule, 43.72 seconds on three-pointers, $8,660; 2. Margo Crowther, 44.22, $7,423; 3, Wenda Johnson, 44.26; $6,186; 4. McKenzie Morgan, 44.27, $5,361; 5. Ericka Nelson, 44.36, $4,124; 6. Michelle Alley, 44.41, $3,299; 7. Lisa Zachoda, 44.43, $2,474; 8. Bayleigh Choate, 44.68, $1,649; 9. Shannon McReynolds, 409.15, $1,237; 10. Jordan Briggs, 49.35, $825.

Bull Riding: First round: 1. Laramie Mosley, 90 points on Hampton Pro Rodeo’s Road Warrior, $7,259; 2. Stetson Wright, 88, $5,565; 3. Riley Barg, 87, $4,113; 4. Ky Hamilton, 85.5, $2,662; 5. Zach Parker, 85, $1,694; 6. Tristen Hutchings, 84.5, $1,210; 7. (tie) Jaron Sheehan, Tyler Bingham and Jordan Wacey Spears, 84, $565 each. Final round: 1. Toby Collins, 86 points over DJ Casper of Lancaster & Jones Rodeo, $5,000; no other qualifying ride. Average: 1. Toby Collins, 166.5 points on two rides, $7,949; 2. Laramie Mosley, 90 points on a drive, $6,094; 3. Riley Barg, 87, $4,504; 4. Ky Hamilton, 85.5, $2,916; 5. Zach Parker, 85, $1,855; 6. Tristen Hutchings, 84.5, $1,325; 7. (tie) Tyler Bingham and Jaron Sheehan, 84, $927 each.