Quesnel’s rodeo athletes took home some top prizes at the Clinton Rodeo last weekend (May 25-26).
Steve Hohmann finished first in Bull Riding and second in Bareback, Kira Stowell placed first in Junior Barrel Racing, Dustin Spiers was part of the first place winning Team Roping squad and Eric O’Flynn came second in Bull Riding.
Not too shabby a weekend for our town at all.
It was the third year in a row Hohmann has won the Bull Riding competition in Clinton.
“It was the first rodeo I entered this year, so it was nice to come first,” the rodeo veteran says. “I haven’t been on anything since the [BCRA] finals in Barriere.”
Lucky for him, he was able to land Jagged Edge, a bull he had some success on before.
“I won Vanderhoof off of him last spring with [a score of] of 85, and I even got a point higher this time, which was kind of nice.”
Hohmann added that he has been bucked off Jagged Edge three times in the last three years too, so it could have gone either way.
“He’s a really good bull,” he says. “He’s one you should ride but if you don’t do everything right, you’re sure not gonna last. He bucks real hard and bucks a lot of guys off.”
The contest was pretty special for Hohmann as his nephew O’Flynn finished right behind him.
“It was really cool,” he says. “We were up different days, so I rode on Saturday and he rode Sunday. I phoned him right away after I rose and told him I hope that we tie. Unfortunately I wasn’t there to watch but he called me as soon as he was done.”
O’Flynn is now leading the BCRA bull riding standings after covering two bulls early on in the season. He also placed fourth at the Williams Lake Indoor Rodeo.
“It felt amazing,” O’Flynn, younger brother to Matt O’Flynn, says. “I’m super pumped for the year.”
He rode Smoking Pistol, the same bull his uncle won on at the Clinton rodeo last year.
“He kind of kicked a little and right at the six second mark he went back to the left and then I jumped off at the buzzer and threw my helmet,” O’Flynn says.
Kira Stowell is quite pleased with her performance this weekend too.
She rode her horse Amigo to her first Barrel Racing win of the year.
“It felt pretty good,” she says. “Amigo ran really great.”
She has had him for less than a year and the pair are really clicking.
“Overall everything went well,” she says. “It was just a really good run.”
Dustin Spiers had his first big victory at the Clinton rodeo
“I’ve competed there a few times but haven’t had any luck recently,” he says. “Maybe back when I was steer riding but not with team roping.”
He was pretty pleased to get a winning trend going.
“Aboslutely, at this time of year, it’s really nice.”
Spiers says he and his partner, Riuley Isnardy from Cache Creek, were just on the same page. They have been roping off-and-on for a few years and are really finding some synergy.
The Quesnel cowboy says he will be gearing up for a world series event in Fort St. John in two weeks, which he hopes will lead to a shot to compete in Las Vegas.
The other competitors will be taking their chances at Kispiox and/or Chetwyn next weekend to try and move their way up the BCRA rankings.
READ MORE: Bull Riders dominate in Williams Lake
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