Lawrence & Bucking Fantastic Team Up to Win Aaron Roy PBR Invitational in Asquith, SK

31 May 2012

Asquith, SK: The clouds were looking pretty dark on the way over to Asquith, SK in Scott Schiffner’s ’89 Lincoln Town Car when Beau Hill made a slightly sarcastic comment about how much he enjoyed riding in the rain.

Those clouds must have been listening because there were only about three drops of rain that hit the ground all evening at the Asquith Sports Grounds.

Every seat in the stands was full when the first gate cracked and not one person moved an inch until the last bull was bucked.

It all got started with the first solid qualified ride was turned in by Stetson Lawrence on the Skori Bull everyone likes to get on that Elli calls Smoke Ring.

Jason Finkbeiner came in with the same score on the Skori Bull Boilyn Hot.

Zane Lambert went to 7.8 seconds on Big Valley Black to probably win the Long Go. Do you think he made it?

Beau Hill took over the lead shortly there after on the grey horned Battle River Rodeo Bull Whisky Hangover for an 84.5 point score.

The event’s namesake, Aaron Roy made the ride he should every time on the Battle River Bull rightly named Spinner.

Ty Pozzobon took on the R-Saga Ranch 807 Bull Burglar and checked in to take over the lead himself at 85.5.

Tanner Byrne one up’d Pozzy because he knows how to spur one. Away from his hand he took it to Braithwaite’s Hardcore Sutsy for an 86.

Ty Elliot finished off the Long Go on the Girletz Bull Big Easy to get himself a comfortable spot in the Championship Round.

Going into the Championship Round, things looked like this:

Tanner Byrne 86
Ty Pozzobon 85.5
Ty Elliot 84.5
Beau Hill 84.5
Kyle Lozier 83.5
Aaron Roy 81.5
Jason Finkbeiner 81
Stetson Lawrence 81
Dusty Ephrom 76
Jake Wislon 71

Before the short round, Brian Symington and Ty Ellis had a Jr. Bull Riding Match. Both of them rode well enough to make the short round in the open bull riding with scores of 83 & 79.5 respectively. We will hopefully see those rides from the guys over at Hell on Hooves from Juxtapose Productions at some point!

From the top down, each rider “picked their poison” as to which short round bull they would get on. The match-ups would prove to be great.

It started off on a high note for the contractor side of things when Vold’s 400 Slash threw down with Dusty Ephrom.

Next up proved to be the eventual champ with Stetson Lawrence teaming up with 2BIT 861 Bucking Fantastic owned and raised by Josh & Tammy Berezay of Two Bit Bucking Bulls.

With only one ride in between, Aaron Roy then took on Braithwaite’s 581 Jackson James. This bull has been having an outstanding year. So has Aaron. The crowd was ecstatic when the event’s namesake and hometown hero was sitting in the middle at 8.0 seconds. He even threw in a flying dismount to add to it all.

Crack Back Jack of the Girletz’s has been an impressive bull this year thus far. This bull was taken down to a big futurity in Las Vegas before last year’s PBR World Finals. He finished in the top ten there. Kyle Lozier made it further on this trip than anyone else has before.

Right after that, Beau Hill took on a Girletz Bull as well. This one was also in Las Vegas last October. First Nation Sensation was a PBR World Finals Qualifier in 2011. This trip shows just why.

As one of the last men with a shot to win the event, Canada’s top bull rider on the PBR’s Built Ford Tough Series, Ty Pozzobon took on the Girletz Bull Bush Hog.

Tanner Byrne had the first pick in the bull draft for the Championship Round. He took the veteran bull Unabomber of Eno & Kubinchak. We all thought he had him knocked out about half way through the ride.

The Championship Round finished up looking like this.

Stetson Lawrence 91 points on Buckin’ Fantastic (Two Bit)
Aaron Roy 89.5 points on Jackson James (Braithwaite)
Ty Pozzobon 83.5 points on Bush Hog (Girletz)

When you add in the long round of competition, here’s how the Average Results looked:

Stetson Lawrence 172/2 – $3,165
Aaron Roy 171/2 – $2,261
Ty Pozzobon 168/2 – $2,034
Tanner Byrne 86/1 – $1,808
(5/6 tie) Ty Elliot 84.5/1 – $791
(5/6 tie) Beau Hill 84.5/1 – $791
Kyle Lozier 83.5/1 – $271
Jason Finkbeiner 81/1 – $180
Dusty Ephrom 76/1
Jake Wilson 71/1

After the event, Stetson had a few things to say in this interview.

Stetson wouldn’t have won the event if it wasn’t for the bull that was under him. Again, it was the Two Bit Bucking Bull by the name of Bucking Fantastic. Josh Berezay told me a bit more about that very bull after the event.

That about wraps up the 2012 Aaron Roy Invitational which was the 3rd stop on the SIGA 3D Bullriding Tour for this year. Thank you to all the great sponsors for another great event as well as the fans for making it all happen! We look forward to coming back next year.

Next on tap will be the Wanham Bull Riding Extravaganza June 15th & 16th at the Wanham Sports Grounds. Look for more information on that event this coming week!

Ted Stovin