Missouri’s Cody Stutenkemper and Chris Pomeroy won the #12 Exclusive after roping four head in 30.23 seconds, worth $33,500, plus $10,000 Ram Truck Vouchers, at the USTRC Cinch NFTR. 

“We just tried to be focused,” Pomeroy said. “We kept telling each other that for every steer we need to make sharp runs. He was trying to give me the best handles that he could and I was just trying to rope them the best that I could.”

Stutenkemper and Pomeroy came into the short round in the number-one spot. They didn’t have many teams to sweat but knew they needed to still knock one down to stay in it. 

“I think the second or third call-back team were about 8 something,” Pomeroy said. “I tried not to let that go to my mind. You know they say it’s an 8 but you can probably still go be 15 and still place. I just told Cody, ‘Let’s not worry about time, let’s just go make another run.'”

When it came time for Stutenkemper and Pomeroy to back into the box to run their final steer in the #12 Exclusive, Pomeroy’s only goal was to focus in on his target. 

“I just didn’t want to lose focus of the target,” Pomeroy said. “I told myself, ‘Do not take my eyes off of it no matter what happens.’ I did not want my eyes to drift.”

Pomeroy heeled two feet to win the roping. Luckily his friend, Coleman Proctor, talked him into trying the little sorrel gelding that helped him stretch that steer.

“That little horse that I’ve been riding, I just bought him a couple months ago. A friend of mine, Coleman Proctor, hooked me up with that horse. I actually tried that horse a year ago but they had the NFR setup and I just passed up on him. He came back around and Coleman said you really ought to try that horse again, so I did. I rode him at a roping down there and I think I won two or three thousand right off the bat. I thought he’d fit the program and since then he’s been a pretty good ride for me.”