RENO, Nev.—June 22, 2010 – Kory Koontz knows what it takes to win a pair of Reno Rodeo championship spurs. After all, the veteran team roper has done it twice before.

The first time he won the championship was in 1998 roping with Matt Tyler. Then, he got another pair with Daniel Green in 2002. Koontz, from Sudan, Texas, is roping here with Colby Lovell from Madisonville, Texas, and Koontz is hoping to add to his collection. It would be Lovell’s first pair.

They stopped the clock in the first round with a 5.5-second run during slack Tuesday afternoon. Then in the performance, they had a 5.7 and now are placing in both rounds and leading the over-all standings. With four more performances left before Saturday night’s finals, the duo is looking very good to make the trip back here.

Lovell is currently 18th in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world standings in the heading. Koontz is in 24th in the heeling. A big win here will definitely help them qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and give them momentum for the upcoming Fourth of July run.

The bareback riders and saddle bronc riders both had their first round competition on Tuesday. The high-marked ride in bareback went to Mountain States Circuit Champion Craig Wisehart. Wisehart is a student at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, but is originally from Platteville, Colo. He had an 82-point ride on Big Easy from Western Rodeo, a horse that had bucked him off at the Fort Worth (Texas) rodeo last February.

In the bronc riding it was one of the renowned Wright brothers that finished in first. Jesse, who travels with older brothers Cody and Alex and twin Jake scored 83 points on Western Rodeo’s Pine Ridge. Both Wright and Wisehart are currently second in the first round. A good score here on Wednesday will see them back here for the finals.

The fourth performance of the “Wildest, Richest Rodeo in the West” begins at 7 p.m. Monday. Tickets range from $12 to $25 and are available at www.renorodeo.com or by calling 800-225-2277. For more information, please call 775-329-3877.

RENO, NEV., June 22, 2010 --- Following are results after the fifth performance of the Reno Rodeo.

Bareback Riding: 1, Craig Wisehart, Stephenville, Texas, 82 points on Western Rodeo’s Big Easy. 2, D.V. Fennell, Neosho, Mo., 78. 3, Caleb Bennett, Paradise, Utah, 76. 4, Justin McDaniel, Porum, Okla., 75.

Steer Wrestling: 1, Shawn Greenfield, Lakeview, Ore., 4.1 seconds. 2, Todd Suhn, Hermosa, S.D., 4.5. 3, Kyle hughes, Olney Springs, Colo., 5.0. 4, Dustin Merritt, Stephenville, Texas, 5.2.

Team Roping: 1, Colby Lovell, Madisonville, Texas, and Kory Koontz, Sudan, Texas, 5.7. 2, Brad Lopez, Moreno Valley, Calif., and Clayton Van Aken, Descanso, Calif., 12.0. 3, Cooper Wimberly, Belen, N.M., and Matt Garza, Mesquite, N.M., 14.9. 4, Clay Tryan, Billings, Mont., and Travis Graves, Jay, Okla., 15.3.

Saddle Bronc Riding: 1, Jesse Wright, Milford, Utah, 84 points on Western Rodeo’s Pine Ridge. 2, Jesse Bail, Camp Crook, S.D., 80. 3, Wade Sundell, Boxholm, Iowa., 78. 4, (tie) Anthony Bello, Kamas, Utah and Jesse Kruse, Great Falls, Mont., 76.

Tie-Down Roping: 1, Cody Gerard, Eagle, Colo., 9.3 seconds. 2, George Rowland, Paradise, Texas, 9.8. 3, Jared Arave, Blackfoot, Idaho, 9.9. 4, Ace Slone, Cuero, Texas, 10.1.

Barrel Racing: 1, Brittany Pozzi, Victoria, Texas, 17.05. 2, Tana Poppino, Big Cabin, Okla., 17.07. 3, Jeanne Anderson, 17.20. 4, Timi Lickley, Jerome, Idaho, 17.24.

Bull Riding : No qualified rides.

The following are current leaders –

Bareback Riding : (first round) 1, Dusty LaValley, Bezanson, Alberta, 83 points on Flying Five Rodeo’s Wind Chimes. 2, Craig Wisehart, Stephenville, Texas,a 82. 3, (tie) Bo Casper, Fort Scott, Kan., and Eric Swenson, Denison, Texas, 81 points each. 5, Tilden Hooper, Carthage, Texas, 80. 6, Dave Worsfold, Queensland, Australia, 79. 7, (tie) Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas, and Cody DeMers, Kimberly, Idaho, 78 points each. (second round) 1-6: Heath Ford, Elkhart, Texas; Ethan McNeil, Grantsvile, Utah; Jared Keylon, Fort Scott, Kan.; Matt Bright, Azle, Texas; Joe Gunderson, Agar, S.D.; and Jessy Davis, Payson, Utah, 82 points. 7, Clint Cannon, Waller, Texas, 81. 8, (tie), Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas, and Royce Ford, Briggsdale, Colo., 80 points each.. (total on two) 1, Dusty LaValley, Bezanson, Alberta, 162. 2, (tie) Matt Bright, Azle, Texas, and Joe Gunderson, Agar, S.D.,159. 4, Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas, 158. 5, Tilden Hooper, Carthage, Texas, 157. 6, Royce Ford, Briggsdale, Colo., 156. 7 (tie), Eric Swenson, Denison, Texas, Heath Ford, Elkhart, Texas, and Cody DeMers, Kimberly, Idaho, 155 points each.

Steer Wrestling: (first round) 1, Dean Gorsuch, Gering, Neb., 3.9. 2, Gabe LeDoux, Kaplan, La., 4.1. 3, Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., 4.3. 4, Andy Weldon, Greenleaf, Idaho, 4.5. 5, Matt Reeves, Pampa, Texas, 4.6. 6, Cole Edge, Durant, Okla., 4.8. (second round) 1, Gabe LeDoux, Kaplan, La., 3.7 seconds. 2, Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., 3.9. 3, Dean Gorsuch, Gering, Neb., 4.0. 4, Shawn Greenfield, Lakeview, Ore., 4.1. 5, (tie) Ken Lewis, La Junta, Colo., and Hunter Cure, Holliday, Texas, 4.2. 7 (tie), Blake Knowles, Heppner, Ore.; Ben Goodman, Beaumont, Texas; Jule Hazen, Ashland, Kan., and Darrell Petry, Beaumont, Texas; 4.3. (total on two) 1, Gabe LeDoux, Kaplan, La., 7.8. 2, Dean Gorsuch, Gering, Neb., 7.9. 3, Luke Branquinho, Los Alamos, Calif., 8.2. 4, (tie) Ken Lewis, La Junta, Colo., and Andy Weldon, Greenleaf, Idaho, 9.0 seconds each. 6, (tie) Matt Reeves, Pampa, Texas, and Greenfield, 9.1.

Team Roping: (first round) 1, Colby Siddoway, Hooper, Utah, and Matt Zancanella, Aurora, S.D., 5.3. 2, (tie) Pace Freed, Pocatello, Idaho and Jason Werner, Chubbock, Idaho; and Colby Lovell, Madisonville, Texas, and Kory Koontz, Sudan, Texas; 5.5. 4, Kaleb Driggers, Albany, Ga., and Cody Doescher, Oklahoma City, Okla., 5.7. 5, Caleb Mitchell, Pollok, Texas, and Casey Chamberlain, Colorado City, Texas, 5.8. 6, (tie) Charly Crawford, Prineville, Ore., and Russell Cardoza, Farmington, N.M.; Justin Davis, Madisonville, Texas, and Cole Davison, Madisonville, Texas; and Luke Brown, Stephenville, Texas, and Martin Lucero, Stephenville, Texas; 5.9. (second round) 1, Matt Sherwood, Pima, Ariz., and Randon Adams, Logandale, Nev., 5.3. 2, Matt Funk, Hermiston, Ore., and Bucky Campbell, Benton City, Wash., 5.4. 3, (tie) Luke Brown, Stephenville, Texas and Martin Lucero, Stephenville, Texas; and Lovell and Koontz; 5.7. 5, Justin Parish, Mineral Wells, Texas, and Trey Johnson, Midland, Texas, 5.9. 6, (tie) Chad Masters, Justin Dvais, Madisonville, Texas, and Cole Davison, Madisonville, Texas, 6.0. (total on two) 1, Lovell and Koontz, 11.2. 2, Brown and Lucero, 11.6. 3, Davis and Davison, 11.9. 4, Masters and Corkill, 12.0. 5, Parish and Johnson, 12.2. 6, Crawford and Cardoza, 12.3.

Saddle Bronc Riding: (first round) 1, Heith DeMoss, Heflin, La., 85 points on Rosser Rodeo’s Flood Light. 2, Jesse Wright, Hurricane, Utah, 84. 3, (tie) Anthony Bello, Kamas, Utah and Shaun Stroh, Dickinson, N.D., 81 points each. 5, Jesse Bail, Camp Crook, S.D., 80. 6, Rusty Allen, Eagle Mountain, Utah, 79. (second round) 1, Rusty Allen, Eagle Mountain, Utah, 88 points on Flying Five Rodeo’s Spring Planting. 2, (tie) Cody DeMoss, Heflin, La., and Jace Garrett, Alliance, Neb., 83. 4, Ty Atchison, Jackson, Mo., 81. 5, Justin Arnold, Santa Margarita, Calif., 80. 6, Rod Hay, Wildwood, Alberta, 79. (total on two) 1, Allen, 167. 2, Bello, 157. 3, Cort Scheer, Elsmere, Neb., 156. 4, Justin Arnold, Santa Margarita, Calif., 154. 5, Joe Heguy, Elko, Nev., 148.

Tie-Down Roping: (first round) 1, Scot Meeks, Wills Point, Texas, 9.0. 2, Joe Parsons, Marana, Texas, 9.3. 3/4/5, Seth Hopper, Stanfield, Ore., Jack Vanderlans, Temecula, Calif., and Stetson Vest, Childress, Texas, 9.4 seconds each. 6, Jerrad Hofstetter, Portales, N.M., 10.3. (second round) 1, Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah, 7.5 seconds. 2, Bradley Bynum, Sterling City, Texas, 7.6. 3, Trent Creager, Stillwater, Okla., 8.3. 4, Jerrad Hofstetter, Portales, N.M., 8.4 seconds. 5, Jay Adams, Logandale, Nev., 9.1. 6, Joseph Parsons, Marana, Ariz., 9.5.
(total on two) 1, Jerrad Hofstetter, Portales, N.M., 18.7 seconds on two. 2, Joseph Parsons, Marana, Ariz., 18.8. 3, Hunter Herrin, Apache, Okla., 20.9. 4, Austin Adams, Logandale, Nev., 21.1. 5, Jack Vanderlans, Temecula, Calif., 21.8. 6, Curtis Cassidy, Donalda, Alberta, 24.3.

Barrel Racing: (second round) 1, Brenda Mays, Terrebonne, Ore., 16.95 seconds. 2, Brittany Pozzi, 17.05. 3,Tana Poppino, Big Cabin, Okla., 17.07. 4, Jolene Stewart, Springer, Okla., 17.15. 5, Kyna Johnson, Middleton, Idaho, 17.16. 6, Marcie Jarvis, Spanish Fork, Utah, 17.18. 7, (tie) Lindsay Sears, Nanton, Alberta, and Jody Sheffield, South Weber, Utah, 17.20 seconds each. (total on two) 1, Stewart, 34.29. 2, Pozzi, 34.33. 3, Lindsay Sears, Nanton, Alberta, 34.56. 4, Timi Lickley, Jerome, Idaho, 34.62. 5, (tie) Sherry Cervi, Marana, Ariz., and Nellie Williams, Cottonwood, Calif., 34.66.

Bull Riding: (first round) 1, Wesley Silcox, Santaquin, Utah, 90 points on Flying Five Rodeo’s #689. 2/3 (tie), Ben McPherson, Nephi, Utah, and Steve Woolsey, Payson, Utah, 83 points each. 4, Corey Maier, Timber Lake, S.D., 82. 5, Rankin Lindsay, Hillsboro, N.M., 81. 6, Corey Navarre, Weatherford, Okla., 80.