Kincade Henry, of Mount Pleasant, Texas, snags his calf to win the tie-down roping competition Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, with a time of 8.5 seconds at the Farm-City Pro Rodeo in Hermiston.

HERMISTON — It’s always nice to find a familiar face when you’re out on the rodeo trail.

For Brody Cress, that would be Calgary Stampede horse Sergeant Whitney. The pair teamed up for an arena record of 89 points Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, on the first night of the Farm-City Pro Rodeo.

“Last time I was here, I was on that horse,” Cress said, “and I had her in Calgary. This is the fourth time I have been on her. She is fun to have. I’ve been blessed to draw good horses.”

The former arena record of 88 points was held by six-time world champion Dan Mortensen (2005), and Bradley Harter (2010 and 2012).

“I always want to show up and do the best I can,” the Wyoming cowboy said. “It was a good matchup and we did well.”

Cress had some good competition on the night, with Dawson Hay posting an 87, Rusty Wright and Spencer Wright each had an 86.5, and Ryder Wright recorded an 86.

“The Wrights are some of my best friends,” Cress said. “They make you step up to another level. If not, you aren’t going to win any money.”

The rodeo committee had to shuffle events that night. There was an equipment issue with the timed events chutes, pushing the team roping and tie-down roping to the end of the rodeo to give a welder time to make repairs.

Bull riding

The bulls were getting their 15 seconds of fame the night of Aug. 11. The five cowboys out of the chute failed to stay on for an 8-second ride.

Dustin Boquet, the third man out, made it 7.98 seconds before State Law bucked him off.

Jeff Askey, the sixth man to try his luck, was the lone man of the seven to post a legal ride. He scored an 82 on Dirty Steve.

“I didn’t know this bull,” Askey said. “I have one game plan at every rodeo, and that is to stay on.”

As for no one else getting a legal ride, Askey said he doesn’t worry about the competition.

“You have to treat it the same whether they stay on or not,” he said. “You job is to stay on and not worry about them.”

Steer wrestling

Clayton Hass is no stranger to the Farm-City Pro Rodeo. He won the all-around title in 2017, and the steer wrestling title in 2016.

Wednesday night, Aug. 11, he turfed his steer in 3.6 seconds to place first in the round.

“It feels good to be back,” Hass said. “I love this rodeo.”

Hass broke the barrier in the first round, so go-round money is all he has to look forward to.

“Got to win where we can,” he said.

Heppner’s Blake Knowles had a run of 4.3 seconds, putting him fifth on the night, but his average on two runs is 8.4 seconds, which ranks him second.

Will Lummus has the top time on two at 8.2 seconds.

Bareback riding

Tildon Hooper has won some money, but he’s never won the bareback title at the FCPR.

That may change this year after he turned in a score of 87 on Girl Crush during the first night of action.

“That is a really good horse,” Hooper said. “I rode her at the National Finals and didn’t do real well on her. She won the fight the last time, and I won tonight.”

Hooper, who won the Pendleton Round-Up title in 2019, said he is happy to be back in the Northwest, and to have fans in the stands.

“After last year, it’s great to get back up here,” he said. “I love the fans. I feed off the energy of the fans.”

Hooper, who is sitting second in the world standing behind Tim O’Connell, might make a little ground after O’Connell did not complete his 8-second ride on Witless Margie.

Barrel Racing

Two Texas riders shared first place in the barrel racing competition.

Sissy Winn, of Chapman Ranch, and Kelly Bruner, of Millsap, tied with times of 17.2 seconds apiece. They topped a tough field that saw four other competitors with times lower than 17.35.

Winn said she was thrilled to come out of the gate as the second rider to compete on Wednesday night, Aug. 11. She said the riders were rushed getting ready, but that gave her less time to overthink things.

“It’s kind of nice because sometimes you don’t think about it,” she said. “That helped me a lot.”

Bruner echoed Winn’s sentiment, saying that “a new way to get my horse warmed up is to not warm her up.” She was glad to see how well her six-year-old horse did.

Neither Winn nor Bruner had competed at the rodeo before, and each said they were thrilled about how beautiful the stadium was. Winn said she’s happy with how her horse is competing at this point in the season.

“My horse is young, but he’s really come along,” Winn said of her horse Chewie, who she named because he chews on everything.

But Bruner said she’s “dropping like a rock” in the rankings, falling recently from 16th place in the circuit to 28th.

“This week, I’ve got to get it done or I’m heading home,” she said.

Team roping

The first team of the night rode off with the best time of the night, but they didn’t have many teams to beat. Only four of the 11 teams competing put up times.

Quinn Kesler, of Holden, Utah, and Caleb Hendrix, of Fallon, Nevada, took first with a time of 4.9 seconds. They just nudged out Derrick Begay and Cory Petska, of Arizona, who put up a time of 5.0 seconds.

“It went great,” said Hendrix, who is 21. “We drew a good steer.”

Hendrix, the heeler, said he’s been glad to learn from a veteran with a lot of experience like Kesler.

“It’s nice to be able to talk to a guy who’s done well at what I want to do in my life as a heeler,” he said. “He has a lot of pointers he gave me. He’s not just a header.”

Hendrix said he’s ranked top 30 among heelers (he’s 34th), which he said is higher than he thought he’d be at this point in the season. He also leads rookie heelers, he said.

“There’s a lot of great rookie heelers,” he said. “So it’s great to be leading it at this point in the season.”

Next stop for Hendrix and Kesler is Missoula, Montana, where they will compete on Aug. 12. Then they’ll head to Utah on Aug. 13 and 14, and “basically everywhere through the end of September.”

Locals Troy Murray, of Echo, and B.J. Roberts, of Hermiston, also competed in team roping but did not put up a time.

Tie-down roping

The final event of the night was tie-down roping.

Kincade Henry, of Mount Pleasant, Texas, took home first place with a time of 8.5 seconds. He barely beat Kyle Lucas, of Carstairs, Alberta, who finished in second with a time of 8.7 seconds. But only five other competitors out of 14 put up times.

Henry was headed to Missouri on Wednesday night, Aug. 11, and was unavailable for an interview. But he did have time to quickly mention to a broadcaster his favorite snack and thing to do on long drives — Skittles and watch Netflix.