Spencer Mitchell and Clay O’Brien Cooper won the Oakdale (Calif.) Saddle Club Rodeo after roping two head in 13.9 seconds, worth $2,492 each. They tied Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira for sixth in the first round with a 6.9 second run, worth $470 each. Mitchell and Cooper placed fifth in the second round with a 7.0-second run, worth $795 each. Mitchell also found luck at the Clark County Fair & Rodeo in Logandale, Nev. with partner Jason Duby. their team won the first round with a 4.5-second run, worth $2,405 a man and sixth in the average with a combined time of 10.4 seconds, worth $1,255 a man. Mitchell is now sitting in the top 10 of the World Standings with $20,788.62 won. Duby is currently eleventh with $22,003.93 and Cooper is 35th with $11,090.47.
“Clay likes to rope to win something and not just place,” Mitchell said of their new team. “That fits my style pretty good too. I can do what I do and he handles his part. I just wanted to not change the way I rope because otherwise he wouldn’t have called me if he didn’t like the way I do it.”
Mitchell was breaking in fresh steers with his wife Whitney and friends when he got the call last month from The Champ.
“Justin Davis called me and said Clay was going to be calling me soon, that they’d just talked about it for 30 minutes,” Mitchell said. “Whitney is telling me to get off the phone because we’ve got steers to break in, so I tell Justin I have to go. I’m riding into the box when I see a number that had to be Clay. I put my phone back down, and my buddy said, ‘You just hung up on God.’ But I hadn’t hung it up, just didn’t answer, so needless to say I picked it back up and got that call answered because you don’t hang up when Clay Cooper calls you. A lot of guys would love to get that call, and you think someday it could happen, but you never know. It’s an opportunity you just can’t pass up.”
In other news, Andrew and Regan Ward won the Clark County Fair & Rodeo in Logandale, Nev. with a time of 15.1 seconds on three head, worth $3,607 a man. The Ward’s tied Victor Ugalde and Caleb Twisselman, Trevor Brazile and Patrick Smith, and Dustin Egusquiza and Kory Koontz for second in the first round with a 4.7-second run, worth $1,621 a man. They then tied for third in the second round with Jake Orman and Will Woodfin with a 4.8-second run, worth $1,621 a man. The Ward’s placed third in the finals round with a 5.6-second run, worth $656 a man. They are both currently fifth in the World Standings with $35,095.07 each.
Oakdale, Calif. Team roping: First round: 1. Luke Brown/Jake Long, 5.6 seconds, $1,662 each; 2. Garrett Rogers/Russell Cardoza, 6.0, $1,445; 3. Riley Minor/Brady Minor, 6.5, $1,228; 4. Joshua Torres/Jonathan Torres, 6.6, $1,011; 5. Jake Cooper/Logan Medlin, 6.8, $795; 6. (tie) Spencer Mitchell/Clay O’Brien Cooper and Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 6.9, $470 each; 8. (tie) Corey Fitze/Adam Fitze, Brandon Webb/Kollin VonAhn and Brock Hanson/Ryan Motes, 7.0, $48 each. Second round: 1. Clay Tryan/Travis Graves, 5.9 seconds, $1,662 each; 2. Brenten Hall/Chase Tryan, 6.0, $1,445; 3. Chant DeForest/Bronc Boehnlein, 6.3, $1,228; 4. Cody Tew/Nano Garza, 6.4, $1,011; 5. Spencer Mitchell/Clay O’Brien Cooper, 7.0, $795; 6. (tie) Lee Kiehne/Rich Skelton and Ryan Opie/Chase Hansen, 7.1, $470 each; 8. Blake Teixeira/Monty Joe Petska, 7.2, $144. Average: 1. Spencer Mitchell/Clay O’Brien Cooper, 13.9 seconds on two head, $2,492 each; 2. Kaleb Driggers/Junior Nogueira, 14.3, $2,167; 3. Riley Minor/Brady Minor, 14.4, $1,842; 4. Joshua Torres/Jonathan Torres, 15.9, $1,517; 5. Shay Carroll/Bucky Campbell, 16.4, $1,192; 6. (tie) Hayes Smith/Justin Davis and Doyle Hoskins/Joseph Shawnego, 16.5, $704 each; 8. Dale Benevides/Buck McCay, 16.8, $217.
Logandale, Nev. Team roping: First round: 1. Spencer Mitchell/Jason Duby, 4.5 seconds, $2,405 each; 2. (tie) Victor Ugalde/Caleb Twisselman, Andrew Ward/Reagan Ward, Trevor Brazile/Patrick Smith and Dustin Egusquiza/Kory Koontz, 4.7, $1,621 each; 6. (tie) Brock Hanson/Ryan Motes and Charly Crawford/James Arnold, 4.8, $680 each; 8. Garrett Rogers/Russell Cardoza, 4.9, $209. Second round: 1. Jr. Dees/Cody Cowden, 4.0 seconds, $2,405 each; 2. Chad Masters/Joseph Harrison, 4.7, $2,091; 3. (tie) Jake Orman/Will Woodfin and Andrew Ward/Reagan Ward, 4.8, $1,621 each; 5. Trey Blackmore/Matt Costa, 4.9, $1,150; 6. (tie) Aaron Macy/Wyatt Cox and Luke Brown/Jake Long, 5.0, $680 each; 8. Bert McGill/John Chaves, 5.2, $209. Finals: 1. Brandon Beers/Daniel Braman IV, 4.9 seconds, $1,001 each; 2. Luke Brown/Jake Long, 5.5, $828; 3. Andrew Ward/Reagan Ward, 5.6, $656; 4. Clay Tryan/Travis Graves, 6.7, $483; 5. Trevor Brazile/Patrick Smith, 10.6, $311; no other qualified runs. Average: 1. Andrew Ward/Reagan Ward, 15.1 seconds on three head, $3,607 each; 2. Luke Brown/Jake Long, 15.8, $3,137; 3. Brandon Beers/Daniel Braman IV, 17.1, $2,666; 4. Clay Tryan/Travis Graves, 17.5, $2,196; 5. Trevor Brazile/Patrick Smith, 21.4, $1,725; 6. Spencer Mitchell/Jason Duby, 10.4 on two head, $1,255; 7. Riley Minor/Brady Minor, 10.7, $784; 8. (tie) Tyler Wade/Trey Yates and Victor Ugalde/Caleb Twisselman, 11.6, $157 each.
Lauderdale, Miss. 1. Wes Goodrich/Jeffery Pierce, 16.3 seconds, $407 each; no other qualified runs.
