We’re digging through our archives for Classic Moments in team roping and came across the time in 2007 when Colter Todd and Travis Graves took the WestStar Ranch Open win, a favorite during the Northwest run.
The WestStar Ranch is a haven to cowboys during the Northwest rodeo fall run. Scott and Jo Repp play host to all the top timed-event hands and have an open-door policy. For years, any time a cowboy needs a place to keep his horses or hook-ups for his trailer, he doesn’t even need to call. Just drop in on the Repps and there’s everything a guy could need—there’s even a washer and dryer for the cowboys who spend months at a time away from home for the Northwest run.
What’s more, the evening before the Ellensburg Rodeo slack, the Repps host a Best of the Best Invitational Team Roping and Calf Roping. In addition to the big dog ropings, there’s also a pro-am. While the WestStar Open hasn’t cracked the ranks of the BFI, George Strait or Wildfire Open, the sponsor list and prize money is steadily climbing.
This year, Colter Todd and Travis Graves won the open division by roping five head in 37.59 seconds. They were presented with WestStar Rifles and $10,000 a man.
“It’s a good little roping,” Todd said. “We don’t get to go to any good jackpots in the fall, so that one’s timed just right. There’s a lot of good money and a good production and it pays really good. They’ve even got their fees so that where if a guy’s having a tough year, you can still afford to enter. They work around the cowboy’s schedule and try to make it work for everybody. It pays good and they’ve got a lot of unique prizes. It’s a great roping for that time of year.”
The fast time of the evening was a 6.25, posted by Brandon Beers and Brady Minor.
In the calf roping, an elimination-style match tournament that featured Ryan Jarrett, Cade Swor, Brad Goodrich, Houston Hutto and others, came down to Trevor Brazile and Stran Smith. Smith beat out the 4-time all-around champ for a rifle of his own and $3,000. Smith also had the fastest time of the day—a 7.53-second run that won him an Acer laptop computer.
