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  • Several days of rain turned the surface inside Coyote Hills Arena into a mucky soup, as members of the Tongue Rivewr Ranch team discovered during the cow milking competition Friday, at the fifth Waurika Chamber of Commerce Ranch Rodeo. Nathan Bardin/The News-Democrat

    Sloshin’, slippin’ & slidin’ at Coyote Hills
July 15, 2010

Crutch is first to repeat

Borger team sets standard by winning second Chamber of Commerce Ranch Rodeo

Jeff Kaley Waurika News-Democrat

WAURIKA — Crutch Ranch isn’t the oldest cattle operation in the state of Texas, but the cowboys from the Borger-based outfit can claim a first in Jefferson County, Oklahoma.

Building a big lead on the first night of the Waurika Chamber of Commerce Ranch Rodeo, Crutch Ranch cruised to a team title Saturday evening and became the first two-time winner in the rodeo’s five-year history.

When it won its first Waurika title in 2009, Crutch Ranch had to hold on to a narrow lead in the final round, but that wasn’t the case in the soupy mud of Rex Dunn’s Coyote Hills Arena on Saturday.

Bolstered by Hagen Lamb and his mount that was selected the “Top Horse” in the two-day rodeo, Crutch Ranch came into the finals with a comfortable lead and was never seriously threatened.

Crutch Ranch was in command throughout the performance, and although it missed out on a final point in the cow riding event, the visitors from Borger sprinted down the stretch, with a victory in team doctoring and second-place finishes in sorting and branding.

By finishing with a 123-96 point lead on runner-up Bradley J & Veal Ranches, Crutch picked up a $4,800 first-place check and a berth in the Working Ranch Cowboys Association national finals. It also extended the hold Texas-based ranches have on the Waurika Ranch Rodeo titles to five straight.

Bradley J & Veal of Electra, Texas and Parker and Tarrant counties, which won the championship in 2007, earned $3,600 for its second-place finish. Overall, four of the top five teams were from Texas, but Buck Creek Ranch & Lonesome Pine Ranch broke in on the Texans by finishing third with 90.5 points. The combined ranches from Kansas earned $2,400.

NT Ranch & Hunter Ranch of Knox City, Texas took fourth, picking up a check of $1,200 after scoring 87 points. That was just enough to nip the Tongue River Ranch of Dumont, Texas, which was fifth with 86.5 tallies.

The rodeo and a good-sized crowd on Saturday were able to avoid rain during the two performances, but storms that hit at other times on Friday and Saturday turned the arena into a slithery surface that had some impact on times and safety.

During the team doctoring event Saturday, Tyler Thompson of the Thompson Ranch team got stuck in the mud and broke a leg when he couldn’t avoid a falling cow.

Despite the weather, though, Chamber of Commerce President Brad Scott said, “Things went pretty well and the rodeo came off smoothly. We had a good crowd (Saturday night), with a bigger crowd the Friday.”

Among the other team finishes, the highest-placing team with an Oklahoma-flavor, was Redwine Brothers of Eufaula and Throckmorton, Texas, which took sixth with 84.5 tallies. Paced by Zac Peters, who was named the rodeo’s Top Hand, Circle Bar Ranch of Truscott, Texas was seventh with 81 points.

Stuart Ranch of Waurika was eighth with 66 points, while Milliorn L Ranch of Haskell County, Texas was ninth (59.5), Thompson Ranch of Mundy, Texas was 10th (47.5) and Blassi Cattle Co. & MR Cattle of Nowata and Ramona was 11th (44).

The combined Sooner J Ranch of Rush Springs and Kelly Ranch of Marlow was 12th (37).

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