Posted: Sunday, July 18, 2004 12:00 am
GILLETTE - D.J. Domangue, a bull rider from Shriever, La., rode Hair Trigger for 85 points in Saturday's performance to move into the average lead after the first night of competition at the Corral West PBR Classic at Cam-Plex.
In it's first year in conjunction with the National High School Finals Rodeo, the PBR event featured a number of former high school competitors and current Challenger Tour riders. Among the high-profile riders were 2000 NHSFR bull riding champion Justin Hermanson and 2003 NHSFR runner-up Kody Lostroh of Colorado.
It was Domangue who stole the spotlight. The cowboy scored 79 points in the first round on Wild Cherry to place sixth in the round. Coupled with his 85 points in the second round, Domangue finished with 164 points in the average.
Jed Ward was the only other rider to top two bulls on Saturday. The Kansas cowboy scored 82.5 points in the first round and 79, good enough for second place in the average heading into tonight's action.
Only eight of the 45 competitors earned qualified rides. Coby Wheeldon of Jackson and Chad Lorah of Bangs, Texas, rounded out the 10-man short round when their names were drawn randomly out of a hat.
Action continues tonight at 7 p.m. Many of the top riders on the PBR tour will be on hand, including Adriano Moraes.
Forty-five riders will compete in the long round and 10 qualify for the short round.
Saturday's Results
LONG GO: 1. Jake Huss, Wichita Falls, Texas, 88.5; 2. Josh Ehlers, McHenry, N.D., 86; 3. Kody Lostroh, Longmont, Colo., 84.5; 4. Jed Ward, Newton, Kan., 82.5; 5. Joe Meling, Camas, Wash., 81; 6. D.J. Domangue, Shriever, La., 79; 7. Claudenir Souza, Whitesboro, Texas, 76.5; 8. Stephen Harthcock, Temecula, Calif., 75.
SHORT GO: 1. D.J. Domangue, Shriever, La., 85; 2. Jed Ward, Newton, Kan., 79.
AVERAGE: 1. D.J. Domangue, Shriever, La., 164; 2. Jed Ward, Newton, Kan., 161.5.