September 25, 2022 | Airdrie, AB | Packin’ For CFR
Nick Patterson picked the perfect time to put together the highest marked ride of his pro career.
The 26-year-old bronc rider combined with C5 Rodeo’s 642 Houchie Mama for 87 points to finish second at the Edmonton Pro Rodeo (an SMS Equipment Pro Tour stop), bettered only by two-time World and Canadian Champion, Zeke Thurston’s 90-point gem aboard C5’s A11 Oney.
Patterson’s $2291 payday on the final weekend of the CPRA regular season vaulted the Blackfalds, Alta. cowboy from 14thplace in the standings entering the weekend past Montana bronc rider Houston Brown and CFR/NFR stalwart, Dawson Hay, and into the 12thand final CFR qualifying spot. The talented Hay will have to be content with another NFR berth (one of six Canadian bronc riders heading to Las Vegas in December) as he’ll be absent from the CFR ’48 bronc riding roster as a result of Patterson’s weekend magic.
“I knew I had a shot,” the second-year pro acknowledged, “but I tried not to think about it too much. I didn’t know anything about the horse I had until about 45 minutes before I got on. Houchie Mama had been in the States for most of this season, so I talked to (C5 flankman) Tyson Cardinal and tracked down (Montana bronc rider) Qwinton Stroh to get a rein measurement. He was a pretty nice horse, a couple of ducks but nothing too bad.”
Patterson admits to being a bit of a late bloomer as he didn’t get on his first saddle bronc until he was 20 years old. “I was team roping with the Mestons and they convinced me to get on a saddle bronc they had and I was hooked.”
Turns out that was a game-changing moment for the central Alberta cowboy as he now heads off to his first CFR where he expects there just might be a few friends and family on hand from nearby Blackfalds to cheer him on.
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The bronc riding wasn’t the only event providing drama at the season’s final rodeo as there was a shake-up among the team roping headers as well. The 13thand 14thranked men, Wyatt Hayes and Travis Speer, both made big moves on their last runs of the regular season. Speer, the Blue Ridge, Alta. cowboy, and header Chase Simpson (Claresholm, Alta.) turned in a 4.1 second run to split the win (worth $2292) with two sets of brothers, Tyce and Tuftin Mcleod and Keely and Logan Bonnett. Meanwhile Hayes, a Granum, Alta. roper, and his partner, Lachlan Richardson (Nanton, Alta.) stopped the clock in 5.5 seconds for a 5/6 split with fellow Albertans, Jeremy Buhler and Roland McFadden, to collect a much needed $1292. The solid performances from Hayes and Speer moved Hayes to 11thand Speer to 12thin the heading standings and bumped Utah header Rhen Richard and Waldeck, Saskatchewan’s Tee McLeod to the sidelines.
And there’ll be additional intrigue in the days ahead as a couple of headers, Hayes and former World and Canadian Champion, Levi Simpson – along with heelers Jeremy Buhler and Tyce McLeod – will all head to Red Deer without their regular partners. Simpson and Buhler have a celebrated history together as in 2016 they became the first Canadians to win a world team roping title but no decisions on new alliances have been announced so far.
For complete unofficial results from Edmonton, go to rodeocanada.com.
Follow the Rodeo Canada website and cfrreddder.ca for Canadian Finals Rodeo details.
The Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) with headquarters in Airdrie, Alberta is the official sanctioning body for Professional Rodeo in Canada. The CPRA approves 55 events annually with a total payout exceeding $5.7 million. The organization oversees the SMS Equipment Pro Tour Finals each fall in Armstrong, BC, holds their premiere event – the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) – at Westerner Park in Red Deer, AB in early November and endorses the Maple Leaf Circuit Finals as part of Canadian Western Agribition in Regina, SK. Follow the CPRA on Twitter and Instagram @prorodeocanada, ‘Like’ Canadian Professional Rodeo Association on Facebook or online at RodeoCanada.com.
For more information:
Barb Poulsen
CPRA Communications and Media
Phone: 403 625-2797
Mobile: 403 625-9225
Email: media@rodeocanada.com
For a full 2022 CPRA event schedule, go to rodeocanada.com.