Begay and Yates Take Top Honors in the Ariat WSTR Title Fights XI Open

Derrick Begay and Trey Yates teamed up to dominate the Ariat World Series of Team Roping Title Fights XI Open.

Arizona’s Derrick Begay and Colorado’s Trey Yates teamed up to dominate the Ariat World Series of Team Roping Title Fights XI Open, as they came into the short round at high team back, on Feb. 13, 2021.

Begay and Yates roped their short round steer in 7.96 seconds to secure the aggregate win at Rancho Rio in Wickenburg, Arizona, making them a total time of 36.96 seconds on five head, worth $15,080 for the team.

“I was pretty nervous,” Begay said. “It’s been a slow winter. These ropings take a lot of money and the entry fees add up when you don’t do good. It seems like anytime that I need to win, financially, it puts a good kind of pressure on you. You don’t think about anything else, but just doing your job.”

Yates made the coveted call to Begay a week prior to the Title Fights XI to secure one of his team roping heading idols to turn him steers.

The Short Score: Open Title Fights Champions Derrick Begay and Trey Yates

“I called Derrick last week to rope here and he said yes,” Yates said. “I haven’t been home in a while, so it was good to come home and rope with him. I’m thankful to get to rope with him at some ropings and for us to have a win like this is pretty special. He’s kind of an idol of mine. I’ve always thought the world of his roping and him as a person.”

Begay roped on his bay mare Hannah on the long score roping.

“She’s coming around,” Begay said. “She did good all night. I didn’t want to break the barrier in the short round and pulled on my horse pretty hard. She kind of slipped.”

Yates, who drove all night from roping at the Dixie National Rodeo in Jackson, Mississippi, with his ProRodeo partner Tyler Wade, scored sharp on the heel side and pulled back on two feet on his faithful, black gelding, Tux.

“My goal was to not break the heeling barrier all day,” Yates said. “I knew going in high team, if I could do my job, we were going to win the roping. He’s my old faithful heel horse. I haven’t run a steer on him since November. Dillon Graham has been keeping him legged up for me and practicing on him some. He hauled him out here for me. It was nice after that long drive to be able to give those horses I had with me a break and still have a nice horse and one that fits me good to come over here and rope for this kind of money.”