ProRodeo Sports News - August 24, 2018

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Shift Change BY SCOTT KANIEWSKI C onnor Hamilton has taken to rodeo faster than most. Three years ago, the former Canadian hockey player traded his skates for cowboy boots and started climbing aboard bucking horses. On Aug. 18, Hamilton was crowned champion of the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour’s Caldwell (Idaho) Night Rodeo.

Hamilton picking up bareback riding quickly

to have your name beside if you’re hoping to win. I was pretty excited to have him, a little nervous, but nothing that doesn’t get you excited. I knew I had a big opportunity, and I wanted to do my best.” SWITCHING GEARS Hamilton had never been on a bucking horse before he was 19. His life, as many of his family members’ lives, was devoted to hockey. His brother Robert is a defender for the minor league hockey team Springfield (Mass.)Thunderbirds. But Hamilton decided hockey had run its course for him. “I just knew that my time was coming to an end playing hockey,” he said. “I didn’t have the same passion for it anymore. At the time I quit hockey, rodeo wasn’t a huge thing in my life. As soon as I quit I figured I needed to find something else to do. I got into bareback riding and picked it up fairly quickly.” Like any newcomer to the sport of rodeo, he soon discovered it was more than climbing aboard horses that tried to throw him off. “Everyone sees you doing the riding at the rodeo and no one sees the behind-the-scenes,” he said. “I try to tell everyone, it’s hard enough getting on bucking horses three, four, five days a week during the summer, but it’s all the stuff that nobody sees (that’s harder) – the travel, the planning, even the unexpected planning when a guy makes a short round or doesn’t get a good horse somewhere, you’ve got to split up and plans change all the time.” Hamilton pointed to three-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo

The former junior A-level center placed second in the first round with an 85.5, then drew 2016 Bareback Riding Horse of the Year Powder River Rodeo’s Craig at Midnight. Hamilton rode Craig for 88 points, splitting the final round with Kaycee Feild and winning the average with 173.5 points on two head. Hamilton took home $7,405. “This is definitely the biggest win of my career up to this point,” said Hamilton, 22, who also won the novice bareback division at the Canadian National Finals in 2017. “… I think the crowd at Caldwell was easily one of the best crowds I’ve been around. They were pretty electric and get you pumped up. They were a lot of fun to ride in front of, especially to win in front of.” Craig at Midnight was everything Hamilton had hoped for. “I’d heard a lot about him and seen some videos of him,” said Hamilton, who lives in Calgary. “I knew he was definitely a handful, but the one you want

TOPS AT CALDWELL — Aug. 14-18

ALL-AROUND COWBOY Trevor Brazile $6,843

BAREBACK RIDING 1. Connor Hamilton.......173.5 pts. on two 2. Tim O’Connell...............................171.5 3. Kaycee Feild ....................................171 4. Caleb Bennett...............................169.5

STEER WRESTLING 1. Tyler Waguespack..... 12.8 sec. on three 2. Blake Knowles................................13.4 3. Shayde Etherton.............................13.6 4. Kyle Irwin.......................................14.8

TEAM ROPING 1. L. Brown/J. Long...... 16.2 sec. on three 2. J. Orman/W. Woodfin.....................18.9 3. C. Snow/W. Thorp..........................18.3 4. J. Stipes/J. Smith...........................18.6

Tie-down roping and team roping

ProRodeo Sports News 8/24/2018

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