Charly Crawford and Logan Medlin turned in a time of 51.54 seconds on six head to win the Wildfire XXII Open to the World at the Circle T Arena in Hamilton, Texas, worth $12,000 a man, which made for their first-ever Wildfire win.
“I’ve been coming to this roping since it started,” Crawford, 9-time NFR Qualifier, said. “It was finally fun to get my first buckle.”
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On a quick set of steers, the team came back high-call and secured their win after knocking down a time of 6.95 seconds in the short round.
“I was just glad to catch six,’ Medlin, 2018 Hork Dog Champion Heeler, said. “Those steers were big and strong. It was just kind of a survival type deal. The conditions weren’t easy, but I just tried to stay focused and do my job.”
[SHOP: Logan Medlin’s Team Roping Essentials]
Crawford and Medlin could have been quicker on their six steers if it wasn’t for Medlin’s integrity. Though the flagger missed the call, the team got a leg on their third steer and Medlin made sure to do right by the roping.
“I didn’t really notice he called me clean when the flag dropped,” Medlin admitted. “As I was riding out, they called our time and I could tell that it didn’t have a leg with it, so I was like, ‘well, that ain’t right.’ I rode around to Dru and said, ‘I don’t really know what needs to be done but I roped a leg on that last one.’ He said, ‘well, I appreciate it.’ By the time we rode in for our fourth one, I was listening, and he rattled off 30 or something so I knew that had tacked it on.”
[Read: 5 Steps to Handling Cattle with Charly Crawford]
Despite the leg, the team made a comeback to be 44.59 on five head, which to Crawford’s surprise was fast enough to bring them into the short round at high team back.
“I asked him, ‘are we first out in the short round?’,” Crawford recalled. “He’s like, ‘no, we’re last out.’ Finally, he’s like, ‘you realize we’re winning it right?’. I had no idea.”
Crawford was riding high on his 13-year-old, running-bred bay, Nastee Leader.
“Nastee—He’s probably one of my better horses I’ve had,” Crawford said. “He’s the only horse that I’ve ever had that’s good at short setups and good at Cheyenne (Wyoming). He’s a running bred horse—an ex barrel horse. When they’re out there is actually when he does the best—he’ll try to outrun them. It helps me to where I don’t have to try to kick and and panic—everything just comes to me. Joseph Harrison actually started him. It’s nice to be able to have one that can go that fast but then not be out of control.”
Medlin was pulled back on Nita Win Playboy (Drago), a solid 11-year-old gelding.
“I bought him from a guy named Rusty Henard,” Medlin said. “I’d seen the horse for a long time and Rusty, he’s a real good hand with a horse. He broke him. I always told him I wanted a chance at him if he ever wanted to sell him and one day he decided he’d sell him. I guess he was 6 at the time. I bought him. He had taken him to a few little places but, I didn’t really have anything to ride at the time. I just threw him in the fire. I haven’t ridden a whole lot of them, and my career hasn’t been that long, but he’s been the best one I’ve ever had. He’s just pretty universal and he’s a blessing, that’s for sure.”TRJ
[READ: Setting Up the Handle with Charly Crawford]
Full Results:
1. Charly Crawford and Logan Medlin, 51.54 seconds on six head, worth $12,000 a man
2. Derrick Begay and Cory Petska, 53.18 seconds on six head, worth $7,750 a man
3. Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira, 54.44 seconds on six head, worth $6,250 a man
4. Brandon Webb and Kollin VonAhn, 56.40 seconds on six head, worth $4,500 a man
5. Chris Francis and Cade Passig, 56.66 seconds on six head, worth $3,250 a man
6. Colby Lovell and Jared Fillmore, 61.53 seconds on six head, worth $2,500 a man
7. Marcus Theriot and Brady Norman, 67.88 seconds on six head, worth $1,750 a man
Fast Time in Round 1:
1. Billy Bob Brown and Logan Moore, 6.49 seconds, worth $1,250 a man
Short Go Fast Time:
1. Cody Snow and Paul Eaves, 6.69 seconds, worth 1,250
