Top-ranked competitors saddle up for Dopps Rodeo

To qualify for a share of the cash prizes at this year's rodeo, cowboys had to hang on until the horn went off while the broncs did everything they could to throw the riders.

Top-ranked competitors from across the western United States earned more than $30,000 in cash prizes during the 8th Annual Daniel Dopps Memorial Rodeo.

Held at Optimist Park on Friday and Saturday, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association event included two days of saddle bronc riding, bull riding, bareback riding, barrel racing, steer wrestling, calf roping and team roping.

The event is named in honor of Daniel Dopps, a champion bull rider from Mountain Home that died in a rodeo in southeastern Idaho in 2005. Memorial rodeo representatives remain proud to host this event in Mountain Home as a way to carry on his legacy.

Before the main rodeo events began Friday and Saturday, younger rodeo enthusiasts had a chance to win prizes during the calf scramble.

"This rodeo is not a memorial but a celebration of what people love doing," said his mother, Ramona Dopps.

In fact, her son would've been "over the moon" if he knew that Mountain Home would one day host a yearly rodeo involving the nation's finest PRCA competitors, she said.

"This community has truly embraced this event," Dopps added.

A cowboy goes airborne during Friday's opening round of competition.

The scorching heat remained on the minds of those attending this year's event with most rodeo fans seeking shelter under trees, tents or any patch of shade they could find. The temperatures were similar to the sweltering conditions recorded eight years ago during the rodeo's debut here, said Todd McCurry, president of Mountain Home Auto Ranch and a representative with this year's rodeo.

However, the weather didn't deter competitors from coming to Mountain Home. The rodeo had a near-record number of riders, ropers and steer wrestlers, according to Daniel Dopps Memorial Rodeo President John Bideganeta.

"The number of bareback riders is the most that we've seen in years," Bideganeta said. "We also have 35 bull riders, which is huge."

"We have the best lineup of contestants and livestock," McCurry added. In fact, six of this year's competitors were nationally ranked by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

Among this year's competitors was Brad Dyck, who came to Mountain Home from his current home in Twin Falls.

"I always wanted to do this since I was young," Dyck said regarding his rodeo aspirations.

He learned finer points of the sport four years ago at a school based in his hometown of Manitoba, Canada. He continued to pursue his dreams after he joined a rodeo team through the College of Southern Idaho.

Others like Levi Berry were drawn to the sport while they was still in high school. A saddle bronc rider, the Morgan, Utah, native continued to compete during his college years.

"Like other sports, you have to focus on what you're doing and to be mentally and physically ready to compete," said Berry, who finished second during this year's saddle bronc competition at the Dopps rodeo. "You can be in really good shape, but if you're not focused, you are not going to do well."

While each competitor had their own personal reasons for joining the rodeo profession, bull rider Wyatt Mecham admitted that it's the adrenaline rush that he enjoys the most.

Marking his ninth year of rodeo competition, the Heber, Utah, native feels that adrenaline as soon as the bulls enter the chutes. That feeling doesn't subside until he's finished riding, regardless of how well he does.

"It's just what I do," he said.

Mecham came to Mountain Home just one week after he competed at a PRCA event in Reno, Nev. He drew a bull named Pain Maker, which lived up to its reputation, he said.

Despite the bull's best efforts to throw him off, Mecham managed to hang on all eight seconds.

It's that exhilaration of succeeding that makes the sport even more satisfying, he said.

Top riders during this year's Daniel Dopps Memorial Rodeo included Olin Hannum, who was named all-around cowboy during this year's memorial rodeo, earning him $1,212 in prize money.

Returning champion George Gillespie IV earned his second consecutive bareback riding title during this year's rodeo. He walked away with $1,083 in prize money after he earned 78 points for his ride on Rawhide. In 2012, he won the event with a 77-point ride on a horse known simply as X191.

Hannum won his first award of this year's rodeo during the steer wrestling competition with an official time of 3.9 seconds. His winning ways continued during the tie-down roping event.

Meanwhile, Jesse Wright picked up 82 points to top the saddle bronc riders for his ride on Vegas Lights while Cheyne Olney was named the top bull rider after he earned 85 points while riding a bull fittingly named Angry Elf.

The team of Jake Stanley and Jake Minor picked up more than $1,500 in total winnings in the team roping event, posting an official time of 5.3 seconds.

A portion of the proceeds from the Mountain Home event will benefit several nonprofit organizations in Elmore County and support a variety of educational scholarships for Idaho high school students. Among the charities that will benefit from the rodeo is Scooters for Hooters -- an organization that raises funds to provide free mammograms for local women.