ProRodeo Sports News - Nov. 22, 2019

WRANGLER NATIONAL FINALS RODEO

Tie-down roper Michael Otero, above, will be competing in his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, thanks to qualifying for RodeoHouston and earning $50,000 toward the world standings. Kirt Steinke photo

made it to where I could fly out there and just be there for a couple of days.” In San Angelo, Tsinigine and Lockett won the average with a 13.2-second time on three head. Blasingame and roping partner Brandon Bates placed second in San Angelo. By winning San Angelo, Otero and Lockett qualified to compete San Angelo, Houston key spots for several cowboys on NFR quest Unplanned Journey

BY TRACY RENCK T hanks to great timing and some good fortune an ordinary season turned into a memorable one for tie-down roper Michael Otero, team roping header Ty Blasingame and team roping heeler Kyle Lockett – one that ended withWrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifications for each of them. Otero, Blasingame and Lockett all entered the San Angelo (Texas) Rodeo for different reasons: Otero because he wanted to compete in a Texas Circuit rodeo, Blasingame to compete and Lockett to fill in for a friend. “I was just planning on going to the (Texas) Circuit rodeos and kind of staying home,” said Otero, who is fromWeatherford, Texas. “I wasn’t really planning on making a run for the NFR. I was just going to good circuit rodeos, and San Angelo was a good rodeo.” Otero won the San Angelo Rodeo, Feb. 15, clocking a 23.0-second time in the three-head average. Lockett also was in San Angelo as a last-minute fill-in. “I wasn’t really planning on going to San Angelo,” Lockett said. “Right before the books closed, Aaron Tsinigine (2015 team roping heading world champion) needed a partner for San Angelo and Fort Worth (Texas). He

QUALIFIERS TO NFR

ProRodeo Sports News 11/22/2019

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