ProRodeo Sports News - June 26, 2020

COLEMAN PRCA RODEO COLEMAN, TEXAS Murphy wins against a stout Coleman field Rookie Shines BY TRACY RENCK T here’s risk and reward for going fast as a tie-down roper. PRCA rookie Macon Murphy loves to take chances, but when he backed in the box June 12 at the Coleman (Texas) PRCA Rodeo, he was focused on being fundamentally sound. The approach paid dividends. The Keatchie, La., cowboy clocked an 8.2-second run to capture the win in a stout field of 119 ropers.

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ALL-AROUND COWBOY Marcus Theriot ($1,007, tie- down roping and team roping) BAREBACK RIDING

“It was great to get that win,” said Murphy, 21. “It seemed like everybody who could enter was entered. It was exciting to win such a tough rodeo like that with so many entries. It was a big weight off my shoulders and a big pull of momentum for me.” Murphy earned $2,611 for his victory performance, which moved him into first place in the June 15 PRCA | Resistol Rookie Standings with $6,940. “The run just felt like a practice run for me,” Murphy said. “I knew I had a good calf and saw what I needed to see on the start, and the first time I thought I could catch him I let it go. I tried to not make any mistakes on the ground, and I got the job done.” Murphy made his run June 12 in the morning and then had to wait through the completion of the rodeo June 13 to see if his time would stand. He wasn’t nervous, however, based on what he was being told by fellow competitors. “Hanch (2013 world champion Shane Hanchey), Marcos Costa (2017 PRCA world champion) and (Wrangler National Finals Rodeo-qualifier) Ty Harris were telling me that I didn’t have anything to worry about,” Murphy said. “At the beginning of the year, I wanted to win rookie of the year, but now that I have some money won, I want to try and make the NFR.” Reid Zapalac and Kincade Henry split second place with 9.0-second times. “Macon is super-fast, and I actually try and get him to slow down,” said Cheyenne Harper, Murphy’s traveling partner, who bought his PRCA card in 2012. “We were talking at Coleman, and he had not done well at the rodeos we had gone to before. I asked him if he wanted some help. He said, ‘Oh, yeah, I always need help.’ I told him to slow down and do everything right instead of trying to go 100 mph all the time. He slowed down and did things right, and it paid off. (With his talent), he will be at the NFR.” At Coleman, Murphy was riding his 14-year-old bay gelding, CP. “My dad (K.C.) and I trained him,” Murphy said. “I’ve been riding him since I was a freshman in high school.” Unlike a lot of PRCA cowboys, Murphy didn’t have a one-track mind about competing in ProRodeos when he came of age. “I didn’t start doing (tie-down roping) until I was a freshman in high school,” the 5-foot-9 cowboy said. “I was a two-time all-state and a one-time All-American point guard in basketball (at Central High School in Grand Cane, La.). I had more college offers from Division 2 schools to play basketball than I did to rodeo, but I chose to rodeo at Panola College in Carthage, Texas. I chose rodeo because of the adrenaline rush. There’s just nothing like it for me.” Murphy recently completed his sophomore year at Panola. He helped the school win the 2019 men’s national championship while competing in tie-down roping at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo. He won the third round in tie-down roping with a 7.7-second run. “That was a really cool experience,” said Murphy, who is majoring in ag business. “The way I did it is that I spread my classes out over three years.” When Murphy isn’t rodeoing, he keeps plenty busy. “I build rent houses and framework when I’m at home,” Murphy said. “I like to know how to weld and do wiring, and the more stuff I can learn, the more it will help me. My grandpa, dad, uncle and I are all partners on rent cabins for kids in college in Panola, and Panola is only 30 minutes from our house in Keatchie. We do it from the ground up. The business is going really well.”

Theriot

1. Orin Larsen .......................... 88.5 pts 2. (Tie) Garrett Shadbolt ................. 87.5 Jayco Roper ............................... 87.5 STEER WRESTLING 1. (Tie) Tanner Brunner ............. 3.7 sec. Gabe Soileau ................................ 3.7 3. Clayton Hass ................................ 3.8 TEAM ROPING 1. T. Tomlinson/B. Norman ....... 4.0 sec. 2. C. Snow/J. Nogueira .................... 4.2 3. Jake Orman/B. Crites ................... 4.3 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Kolby Wanchuk ...................... 89 pts. 2. Shorty Garrett ............................... 85 3. Dawson Hay .................................. 84 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Macon Murphy ............................. 8.2 2. (Tie) Reid Zapalac ........................ 9.0 Kincade Henry .............................. 9.0 STEER ROPING 1. Cole Patterson .................... 37.3 on 3 2. Garrett Hale ................................ 37.6 3. Shay Good ................................. 47.7 BULL RIDING 1. Daylon Swearingen .............. 90.5 pts. 2. Elliot Jacoby .................................. 89 3. Two tied at .................................. 88.5

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ProRodeo Sports News 6/26/2020

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