In front of a packed house on the red dirt of the legendary Lazy E Arena, Oklahoma City’s Cody Doescher became the first Sooner State cowboy to claim the coveted Cinch Timed Event Championship title in the events’ storied 39-year history.
The hometown crowd watched 33-year-old Doescher tackle 25 head in 312.7 seconds to best Russell Cardoza by 9.0 seconds to claim the $100,000 payday. Doescher had already won Round 2 and was second in Rounds 3 and 4, bringing his three-day total to $107,000. In his nine prior CTEC attempts, Doescher had only won $12,500.
“This is life-changing for us,” Doescher said. “We live in a single-wide, and we’re trying to get out of it because we’ve outgrown it with three kids. We’re trying to get us a place either bought or built. Right now, that money couldn’t have come at a better time. We’ve never seen that much money at one time. To be able to put it to good use, it’s all a blessing in itself.”
No Easy Road
Doescher had to work for every penny of that big check, with Terrebonne, Oregon’s Cardoza on his heels throughout the round and the every-steady Californian Lane Karney behind him. The race was tight throughout the weekend at the E, with rookie Riley Wakefield in the lead for much of the event until a 60 in the heading moved him to fourth in Round 5.
In the Round 5 steer roping, Doescher had 28 seconds to best Cardoza for the Ironman title, but even with that cushion, things got dicey.
“That steer hasn’t been tripped yet,” Doescher said. “He was an extra. Marcus ran him this afternoon, and he didn’t have any luck and ended up getting a neck. He was slow. When I took an extra swing, I got too close instead of taking my normal shot. I knew my horse was going to work and keep the steer down, and I just got too close. I threw a better neck loop there than I did in the calf roping. Thankfully he was slow enough that I could get another loop.”
He put his hands in the air in 19.8 seconds, then he held his breath as he remounted and waited for the untie crew.
But working for every penny isn’t anything new for Doescher. He stepped away from full-time rodeo in 2020 to start to build a career in the auction business, after having worked two or three events everywhere he went for nearly a decade.
“The expenses of rodeoing are through the roof,” Doescher said. “I wasn’t going to do that to my family. My dad raised me to be a man and support my family, and I made a promise to myself long before I had a family that I wasn’t going to go off chasing a dream when I had a family to support.”
Long Road Home
In the 10 years Cody Doescher has competed at the Cinch Timed Event Championship, plenty has changed. He went from a full-time rodeo cowboy with a focus on the heel side to a full-time ringman, husband and father—reshaping his outlook on what happens in and out of the arena.
“My mental game has changed 100%,” Doescher, who works full-time in the auction business these days, said. “It’s all because of my support system, my mom, my dad, my wife, my kids, everyone has been there for me. There was no pressure. It was more of come here, have fun, do your job. This event was made for me. I have competed in several events everywhere. For me to come here and finally put it all together and bring it home to Oklahoma is unbelievable.”
Doescher’s 11-year-old daughter Paizley was on the job helping get his horses in shape so he could keep working and focus on practicing for himself.
“My horses have been turned out, and I haven’t been rodeoing,” Doescher explained. “My daughter legged my horses up so I could practice. My wife Courtney has taken over everything with the kids to let me practice and focus and let me get mentally prepared. My mom and dad have been there for me through everything, good bad or indifferent. And I owe all of this to my mom and dad. They’ve been there for me no matter what.”
Teamwork
Behind the boxes, Doescher’s team of David “Coop” Reagor, his hazer who also provided his bull dogging horsepower, and Kyle Myers, his friend who provided his calf roping horse, took the win to heart, too.
“They won this too,” Doescher said. “Coop lets me ride that bull dogging horse everywhere I go. He’s never told me no, and that’s real-deal NFR-caliber horse. For them to come here out of their way, Kyle’s an auctioneer and he missed several sales this week to help me and be here. For them to support me the way they do, outside of this event—we’re friends outside of this event. I don’t even know, I don’t know how to put it into words.”
NFR heeler Douglas Rich was nearly flawless for Doescher in the heading and heeling, too, in his second appearance at the CTEC. Doescher rode friend Adam Hubbler’s head horse and his own 18-year-old mare Ginger in the heeling. But Doescher’s crowning achievement at the CTEC is the performance of his tripping horse, Holyfield.
“I’ve had so much help with that horse,” Doescher said. “To make one, and for him to work here , it’s rewarding. He’s quirky, but he held it together pretty well. So many people helped me with him. From Blake Deckard to Jason Stockton to Tony Reina, those guys have taken me in just like I’m a regular steer roper. They just opened the door for me and helped me in every way possible. I really love that event. I don’t know that I’ll ever team rope to try to make the NFR, but when I get my career lined out, with the auction business and everything, I’d like to try to make the NFR in the steer tripping.”
Aggregate Results (total on 25 head)
- Cody Doescher 312.7 seconds worth $100,000
- Russell Cardoza 321.7 seconds worth $25,000
- Lane Karney 355.3 seconds worth $15,000
- Riley Wakefield 366.0 seconds worth $10,000
- Nelson Wyatt 370.2 seconds worth $7,500
- Marcus Theriot 376.7 seconds worth $5,000
- Clayton Hass 377.6 seconds worth $4,500
- Jess Tierney 396.4 seconds worth $3,000
- Colby Lovell 408.2 seconds
- Paul David Tierney 413.33 seconds
- Erich Rogers 428.8 seconds
- KC Jones 434.9 seconds
- Seth Hall 445.8 seconds
- Kyle Lockett 486.8 seconds
- Justin Thigpen 533.0 seconds
Round 5 Results (total on 5 head)
- Jess Tierney 57.0 seconds worth $3,000
- Clayton Hass 57.1 seconds worth $2,000
- Marcus Theriot 57.5 seconds worth $1,000
- Lane Karney 62.2 seconds
- Cody Doescher 62.4 seconds (tie)
- Russell Cardoza 62.4 seconds (tie)
- Colby Lovell 68.5 seconds
- Nelson Wyatt 85.7 seconds
- Seth Hall 103.3 seconds
- Riley Wakefield 108.5 seconds
- Paul David Tierney 109.6 seconds
- Erich Rogers 109.8 seconds
- KC Jones 130.9 seconds
- Kyle Lockett 152.6 seconds
- Justin Thigpen 211.7 seconds
CTEC Total Payout $6,001,000 (1985-2023)
