Chelisa Hollinger, last year’s Linn County Fair Queen, fastens the cloak around the neck of this year’s winner, Emily Shadden. (Photo by Dustin Kass)
Join our Mailing List!
Please click the link below to sign up for your community paper mailing list. Stay up to date with all the events going on in your community as well as the latest news.Sign Up Today!
Saddle Up For Fair Rodeo
Talented Field Will Put On A Show Friday, Saturday
By John Teagarden, Special to the Graphic
Rodeo contestant numbers have increased for the second year in a row at the upcoming Linn County Fair Rodeo, set for Friday and Saturday at Mound City.
“With diesel at nearly $5 per gallon, we were concerned about rodeo entry numbers this year,” said rodeo committee chairman Charley Johnson of Prescott. “Naturally, the fair board was excited when the entry books closed last week with contestants from 13 states, and we were up 20 percent compared to last year.”
Tie-down ropers lead the list with 36 contestants entered. Included in the field are Mike Johnson, Henryetta, Okla., and Blair Burk, Durant, Okla. Johnson, a 22-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier, is currently ranked third in national standings, and Burk, a 13-time NFR contestant, is 11th in the 2008 rankings.
Among the 24 bull riders entered is former Mound City winner Dusty Ast, Argonia, Kan. Two-time NFR qualifier Tana Poppino, Big Cabin, Okla., leads the list of 28 barrel racers entered.
Bareback bronc riding, with nine, has the least entries. Included is five-time NFR qualifier Chris Harris, Itasca, Texas. The current top two Prairie Circuit (Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska) bareback bronc riders, Jared Keylon, Fort Scott, and Dennis Foyil, Guthrie, Okla., are also among those entered.
Twenty-two area PRCA contestants are entered in the two-day rodeo. Heading the group is the 2007 Prairie Circuit All Around Champion, Jeff Miller, Blue Mound. Miller is second in the 2008 Prairie Circuit standings. The fifth ranked Prairie cowboy, Jason Arndt, Fort Scott, and seventh ranked Derrick Younger, Paola, will also compete.
Other area contestants and their events include saddle bronc riders Jake McKellips, Dalton Shannon and Lance Anderson, La Cygne; bareback bronc rider Luke West, Fort Scott; barrel racers Phyllis Wilson, Kincaid, Deantha Miller, Blue Mound, Cindy Belt and Alycia Morgan, Drexel, Mo., plus Margo Ransom and Megan Penny, Paola; steer wrestling Pete Owenby, Pleasanton, and Jake Morgan, Drexel; calf roping Bill Ransom, Paola; team roping David Ungeheuer, Centerville, and multiple timed-event contestants Cole Wilson, Kincaid, Luke Holland, Bucyrus, and Trenton and Tyler Johnson, Mound City.
“We will have a full slate of contestants both nights plus slack Saturday morning,” Johnson said.
States represented in addition to the above mentioned include Nebraska, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, Colorado, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa and Louisiana. Rodeo performances begin at 8 p.m.
printable version
e-mail this story
“With diesel at nearly $5 per gallon, we were concerned about rodeo entry numbers this year,” said rodeo committee chairman Charley Johnson of Prescott. “Naturally, the fair board was excited when the entry books closed last week with contestants from 13 states, and we were up 20 percent compared to last year.”
Tie-down ropers lead the list with 36 contestants entered. Included in the field are Mike Johnson, Henryetta, Okla., and Blair Burk, Durant, Okla. Johnson, a 22-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier, is currently ranked third in national standings, and Burk, a 13-time NFR contestant, is 11th in the 2008 rankings.
Among the 24 bull riders entered is former Mound City winner Dusty Ast, Argonia, Kan. Two-time NFR qualifier Tana Poppino, Big Cabin, Okla., leads the list of 28 barrel racers entered.
Bareback bronc riding, with nine, has the least entries. Included is five-time NFR qualifier Chris Harris, Itasca, Texas. The current top two Prairie Circuit (Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska) bareback bronc riders, Jared Keylon, Fort Scott, and Dennis Foyil, Guthrie, Okla., are also among those entered.
Twenty-two area PRCA contestants are entered in the two-day rodeo. Heading the group is the 2007 Prairie Circuit All Around Champion, Jeff Miller, Blue Mound. Miller is second in the 2008 Prairie Circuit standings. The fifth ranked Prairie cowboy, Jason Arndt, Fort Scott, and seventh ranked Derrick Younger, Paola, will also compete.
Other area contestants and their events include saddle bronc riders Jake McKellips, Dalton Shannon and Lance Anderson, La Cygne; bareback bronc rider Luke West, Fort Scott; barrel racers Phyllis Wilson, Kincaid, Deantha Miller, Blue Mound, Cindy Belt and Alycia Morgan, Drexel, Mo., plus Margo Ransom and Megan Penny, Paola; steer wrestling Pete Owenby, Pleasanton, and Jake Morgan, Drexel; calf roping Bill Ransom, Paola; team roping David Ungeheuer, Centerville, and multiple timed-event contestants Cole Wilson, Kincaid, Luke Holland, Bucyrus, and Trenton and Tyler Johnson, Mound City.
“We will have a full slate of contestants both nights plus slack Saturday morning,” Johnson said.
States represented in addition to the above mentioned include Nebraska, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Arkansas, Colorado, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa and Louisiana. Rodeo performances begin at 8 p.m.