GRAVES CLAIMS SECOND WORLD TITLE
December 14 , 2009

After the 51st Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) wrapped up in Las Vegas this weekend, one Canadian headed home a World champion.

Calgary’s Lee Graves won the 2009 World Steer Wrestling Championship after a 10-round tug-of-war for the title with Luke Branquinho of Los Alamos, Calif. that lasted until the final round.

Heading into Saturday’s final round at the Thomas & Mack Center, Graves was leading the World standings with $196,849, with Branquinho right behind with $196,029.

Graves was quicker in the 10th round, running his steer in 3.5, placing third in that round. Branquinho failed to post a time on his final steer, paving the way for Graves to collect his second world championship. The Calgary cowboy also won the NFR average with 45.1 seconds on 10 head, and earned another $43,954 for the accomplishment.

“I feel bad about Luke today,” Graves said in a PRCA press release shortly after his victory. “He had some bad luck, but he opened the door for me and I capitalized on it. It actually put more pressure on me to go catch my steer and throw him down than actually do something.”

Overall, Graves finished the season with 2009 earnings of $251,031, a new Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association  (PRCA) single season earnings record. The $130,458 he earned in Las Vegas over the last week was also an NFR event-best, the PRCA reported.

Fellow bulldogging Albertan Curtis Cassidy finished up his PRCA season fourth overall in the World standings $162,835, and was second in the NFR average.

The barrel racing race also came down to the wire for 2008 World Champion Lindsay Sears of Nanton, Alta. and 2007 World Champion Brittany Pozzi of Victoria, Texas.

Pozzi, who spent some time rodeoing north of the border throughout the 2009 season and qualified for her first Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR), placed third with a 13.81-second run. Sears, who was just $8,750 behind Pozzi heading into that final round, navigated the cloverleaf in 13.94. The fifth place cheque of $4,423 wasn’t enough to catch Pozzi, who claimed the gold buckle. Sears placed second in the NFR average and wrapped up her season in second place in the World standings with total earnings of $272,344.

Pincher Creek, Alta. bronc rider Dustin Flundra picked up another NFR cheque after splitting second in the ninth round with an 85 on Frontier Rodeo’s Ace of Spades. He added $11,887 to his bank account and finished up the season in 13th place in the World standings with $91,692.