Blake Hohenberger put up the money to straight enter the Ariat WSTR #11.5 Finale with his partner Cagney Anderson—a decision that paid off in dividends. The Texas cowboys are $300,000 richer after turning in an aggregate time of 31.95 seconds on four steers.

“We stopped and roped in Wickenburg and won quite a bit out there,” Anderson said. “We already had our expenses covered so that made it nice coming out here.”

When Anderson turned their short-round steer at second call back Hohenberger wheeled in on his homegrown red roan mare, Lilly, and pulled back to be a solid 7.36 and secure the win after the high call team of Jay Adams, Riesel, Texas, and James Terrell, Moody, Texas, were a tick too long.

The day-working duo from Cooper, Texas, had already discussed how they weren’t going to have a mediocre victory lap and they tore into the arena at full-speed, making for the most thrilling victory lap of the Finale.

Anderson was riding an 18-year-old sorrel head horse owned by his partner.

“I brought my head horse out here too and I didn’t make the decision to use Razor until just before the Finale,” Anderson explained. “I had ridden him in the practice pen, and I knew Blake roped good behind him. I just felt a little more confident. I couldn’t ask for a better horse.”

On the weekends Anderson fights bulls at amateur rodeos.

“When I was at community college, I was on the rodeo team and everybody had to help out,” he explained. “Riding definitely wasn’t for me, but I figured out I loved fighting bulls. I’ll just see where it takes me.”

Hohenberger picked up roping when he was 12.

“My parents used to rope, and they had actually quit, but we still had horses,” he said. “I just decided it was something I wanted to do.”

At only 22 years old, this was Anderson’s first trip to the Finale. Hohenberger had competed in 2016 without much luck, but to him the reason for their success was simple.

“We just executed,” he finished.