Justin M. Bowen

Scenes from Saturday night’s action of the 50th anniversary of NFR at the Thomas & Mack Center.

By Brett Okamoto (contact)

Sun, Dec 14, 2008 (12:52 a.m.)

His 10th trip to the National Rodeo Finals finally gave tie-down roper Stran Smith an honor none of the previous ones have -- a World title.

Although Smith has performed well in his previous NFR trips, he has never won the average or enough to claim a World Championship. He did both with a second-place 7.2-second run Saturday night in the final round of the 50th Anniversary NFR at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Smith, who missed a World title in 2004 by just $2,000, jumped from sixth to first in the World standings after the $42,998 average payout. He held off roper Tyson Durfery by 1.2 seconds and his nephew Tuf Cooper by 1.3 seconds to win the average. Had he fallen much further in the final round than second place, Smith would have probably came up just short again.

When asked what it finally felt like to be a World Champion after a 14-year career, Smith couldn't find the words.

"I can't, words can't even describe it," Smith said. "To win the average and win the World, and having it come down to the 10th calf is just one of those things. I had this exact same thing happen in 2004, it came down to the 10th round. I won the round, but ended up losing the championship by less than $2,000. What I want to say to people is, never give up."

No cowboy came into the final round of the NFR with more pressure than Smith. Not only did he have to keep his lead, he had to do it by riding before all the riders he was trying to hold off. Knowing he might need round money in addition to the average money, Smith went out aggressively, risking losing the average lead.

"I was in a different position than I've been in before," he said. "Normally, when I've had a chance to win the World, I was the last roper. I was first this time, and I needed to go just as fast as I could. I had the average lead, but I would gamble $43,000 for a Gold Buckle."

Smith was just one of six cowboys who won a career-first World title. Bareback rider Justin McDaniel became one of the most exciting stories of the NFR as he came from 10th place at the start all the way to first.

"This is the best day of my life," McDaniel said. "I knew coming into the Finals I was at the bottom of the pack and I just went out to try and win every time I nodded my head. I always try to base myself off the attitude that you always have a chance to win first, no matter what's stacked against you."

Team roper Matt Sherwood won the second World title of his career while his teammate Randon Adams took home his first. The duo won $83,834 throughout the NFR, enough to keep six-time all around cowboy Trevor Brazile and teammate Patrick Smith from taking the lead. It was a satisfying finish for the team after a long, trying year.

"It's such a long road," Sherwood said. "Sometimes it can be a struggle. When you have times that are tough and you're not winning, it's easy to want to change things -- do something different, blame your horse or whatever -- but you've just got to keep doing what you practice and stay with it."

The 50th anniversary NFR also saw a few records broken. McDaniel broke the NFR average score in bareback riding. Brazile became the sport's first $3 million cowboy by adding $150,000 to his career earnings. Barrel racer Lindsay Sears broke Janet Stover's 2001 NFR earnings record with $139,002. And steer wrestler Luke Branquinho shattered the event's single-season earnings record by nearly $40,000, set by Lee Graves in 2005.

Branquinho came into the final round with a $30,000 lead in the World standings and a 1.6-second lead in the average, but still said he felt more nervous than any other point in his career.

"It's a relief," he said. "I didn't sleep very good last night, wondering what could happen. I don't know why I was wondering what could go wrong -- usually I back in the box and don't worry about that stuff. It's a great honor. Watching this event growing up, it's special to be able to have two championships."

McTaggart Watch: Colin McTaggart is the cowboy with the closest ties to Las Vegas in the competition. McTaggart was a student at UNLV last year and plans on returning next year to earn his degree in marketing. He entered this year’s finals, the second of his career, in eighth place in bull riding. Last year he finished 15th in the final world standings.

McTaggart did not have the NFR he was hoping for after the best regular season of his career. He was thrown off early from his 10th round ride on the bull Grey Dog. He finished with 165 points off two rides, including a third-place finish in the second round. Las Vegas probably hasn't seen the last from this 23-year-old cowboy. His 11th place finish in the World standings is also the best of his career and he's made it a habit of getting better with every season.

Final Round winners:

Bareback Riding: Tilden Hooper; 90 points

Steer Wrestling: Trevor Knowles; 3.4 seconds

Team Roping: Colter Todd, Cesar de le Cruz; 4.0 seconds

Saddle-bronc Riding: Rod Hay; 89 points

Tie-down Roping: Jeff Chapman; 7.1 seconds

Barrel Racing: Terra Bynum; 13.90 seconds

Bull Riding: Shawn Proctor; 82.5 points

NFR Average Winners:

Bareback Riding: Justin McDaniel; 859 points/10 rides

Steer Wrestling: Luke Branquinho; 41.90 seconds/10 steer

Team Roping: Trevor Brazile, Patrick Smith; 60.10 seconds/10 runs

Saddle-bronc Riding: Cody Taton; 720.5 points/9 rides

Tie-down Roping: Stran Smith; 87.1 seconds/9 runs

Barrel Racing: Jill Moody; 140.11 seconds/10 runs

Bull Riding: J.W. Harris; 507 points/6 rides

World Champions (career titles):

All-around: Trevor Brazile (sixth)

Bareback Riding: Justin McDaniel (first)

Steer Wrestling: Luke Branquinho (second)

Team Roping: Header Matt Sherwood (second), Heeler Randon Adams (first)

Saddle-bronc Riding: Cody Wright (first)

Tie-down Roping: Stran Smith (first)

Barrel Racing: Lindsay Sears (first)

Bull Riding: J.W. Harris (first)