Photo courtesy of the St. Joseph News Press
On
March 31, St. Joseph Civic Arena once again came to life with explosive
action at the tenth annual Federation Finals. The ten year anniversary was
quite possibly the most exciting Finals ever held. Chris Pyle opened the
event, getting the audience going with Perry's Pyros. For the
introduction of the top 25 of the NFPB, flames
and fireworks heightened the enthusiasm of the crowd. Entertainer of the
Year, Shawn "Boom Boom" Thompson was superb and had the fans
clapping and laughing through all three nights. He answered any questions
about why he was entertainer of the year.
The
save team of Craig Check, Todd Pettigrew and Chris Lewis were outstanding
through the whole finals. They made saves that were first rate and nothing
short of great. The guys with the pencils and clip boards had no easy task
and that was made apparent the first round when there were 15 out of 25
bulls rode. Never before has there been so many rode with such quality. Bulls that go un-ridden all year were
ridden time and time again.
Todd Crase, JR Fisk and Joel Chaffin had to stay sharp to keep up on the
action on the arena floor.
Round
one went to Matt Pojanowki when he spurred Double S's bull # 118 for 92
points. Justin Carlton split second and third with Travis Sellers with a
pair of 90 point rides. Carlton rode Corey Check's bull # 011 and Sellers
rode High Risk's bull # 01. Fourth was a three way split of 86 point
efforts between Dustin Hall who rode High Risk's bull #129.
Virgil Alsup
rode Scott Burruss's bull #17 and Curtis Seamans rode Corey Check' bull #
00.
Round
two was just as tough with one and two going to Wisconsin. Adam Mace put
together an 88 point effort aboard Joe Simon's bull # 833. Curt Check
gathered 87 points on Goose Creek's bull # 195. Third and fourth was a
pair of 86 point rides from Danny Schlobohm and Dustin Hall.
Schlobohm
knocked Six Crown's bull # 00 and Hall twisted McDonald's bull #
40.
Friday
night saw a large crowd that had a larger time as things continued to heat
up. The action met the expectation of everyone with competition staying
hot for the third round. Minnesota's Matt Pojanowski struck again with 90
points as he teamed up with High Point's bull # 2. Missouri man Ben
Ferrell went 88 points for second on Six Crown's bull # 43. Dustin Hall
struck again when he split third and fourth with Terry Dabney with a pair
of 86's. Dabney rode Double S bull # R and Hall partnered with
Jackson's
bull # J24.
Round
four saw Tanner Grass and Jimmy Twedt claim the top spot with a pair of
89's. Grass topped Grand River's bull # 44 and Twedt heard the whistle
aboard High Risk's bull # 5. Ben Ferrell struck again with an 88 point
effort aboard Scott Burruss's bull # 429. Virgil Alsup picked up an 86
point effort to finish fourth in the round and jump into first in the
average riding all four bulls he had competed on so far.
Round
five went to Federation Cup Champion Curt Check when he turned in an
outstanding 91 point ride on Cory Check's bull # 00. Willy Ropp went to
gather some money for his 90 point trip on High Point's bull # B4.
Danny Schlobohm placed again with 88 points on High Point's bull #
77 and average leader Virgil Alsup finished fourth in the round with 87
points on 5J's bull # 4F.
In round six Seth Reynolds won the round with 89 points on Burruss's bull # 96. Illinois man Matt Werries found a good partner in Jackson's bull # 18 for 88 points for second in the round. Ben Ferrell and Tyler Freeman finished splitting third and fourth with 86 points. Ferrell rode Joe Simon's bull # 12 and Freeman topped Six Crown's bull # 5. The spot light was hard to keep from shinning on the Mississippi man named Virgil Alsup. Going into the sixth round he had ridden all 5 of his previous bulls and was one short of doing what no one had been able to do in the ten year history of the NFPB. Alsup drew bull #6 Harlan's Shuffle of Jackson Bull Co. When the whistle blew Alsup was there and achieved the goal he had set at the start of the season. This clinched the average for Alsup as well.
The 2004 season was a great year for record breaking. Along with Virgil Alsup breaking the record for riding all six bulls, the 2004 Federation Cup Champion, Curt Check, ended the season the highest money winner in NFPB history. Check's goal was to break $20,000 which he successfully achieved. Congrats to both of these men.
We
want to thank Julia Bixler for being such a great representative. That
smile and golden personality will be greatly missed. Julia, you are welcome to come
around any time.
A
special thanks to Trailer Connections and US Rodeo Supply Co. for bringing
Scott Mendes to the Federation Finals and having church service on Sunday morning.
It meant a lot to us. We
hope to have them back next year.
A big thanks to Sherri Prather with S & P Management for hosting the Rodeo Marketing Seminar with the help of Rodeo Attitude, Two Bulls Pro Sports Rub and Power-Cel. Great information for all.
2005 Federation Finals videos are for sale. Orders can be placed by calling 715/536-9867.
2-3 Justin Carlton 90 pts on bull #011 "Too Cool" of CC Bucking Bulls
2-3 Travis Sellers 90 pts on bull #01 "Psycho" of High Risk Bull Co.
4. Virgil Alsup 86 pts on bull #17 "Lazy Daisy" of Scott Burrus Bull Co.
4. Dustin Hall 86 pts on bull #129 "Back in Black" of High Risk Bull Co.
4. Curtis Seamans 86 pts on bull #00 "High Roller" of CC Bucking Bulls
2. Curt Check 87 pts on bull #195 "Sub Zero" of Goose Creek
3-4 Danny Schlobohm 86 pts on bull #00 "Bloody Bill" of Scott Burruss Bull Co.
3-4 Dustin Hall 86 pts on bull #40 "Excaliber" of McDonald Rodeo Co.
2. Ben Ferrell 88 pts on bull #43 "Blue Duck" of Six Crowns Rodeo Co.
3-4 Dustin Hall 86 pts on bull #J24 "Duncan" of Jackson Bull Co.
3-4 Terry Dabney 86 pts on bull #R "Repo Man" of Double SS Bull Co.
1-2 Jimmy Twedt 89 pts on bull #5 "Shrek" of High Risk Bull Co.
3. Ben Ferrell 88 pts on bull #429 "Hemi" of Scott Burruss Bull Co.
4. Virgil Alsup 86 pts on bull #21 "Copper Head" of Grand River Rodeo Co.
2. Willy Ropp 90 pts on bull #B4 "Little Head Hunter" of High Point Rodeo Productions
3. Danny Schlobohm 88 pts on bull #77 "Cinch Loose" of High Point Rodeo Productions
4. Virgil Alsup 87 pts on bull #4F "Jungle Love" of 5J Rodeo Co.
2. Matt Werries 88 pts on bull #18 "Sharpie" of Jackson Bull Co.
3-4 Ben Ferrell 86 pts on bull #12 "Rat Patrol" of JS Pro Rodeo
3-4 Tyler Freeman 86 pts on bull #5 "Rodeo Joe" of Six Crowns Rodeo Co.
2. Ben Ferrell 433 pts
3. Matt Werries 424 pts
4. Matt Pojanowski 346 pts
5. Danny Schlobohm 340 pts
6. Tyler Freeman 339 pts
