He couldn’t defend his championship buckle but it was still a top-1o finish at the Junior World Finals Rodeo in Fort Worth, Texas for Vernon’s Jaret Cooper.
The reigning Junior Roughstock Association novice saddlebronc world champ finished sixth overall in a field of 26 at the Cowtown Coliseum at the Fort Worth Stockyards.
Cooper was bucked off his horse in the first go on Thursday, Dec. 3, and qualified for the final performance with a score of 70.5 aboard the horse Sweet But Psycho during the second round on Saturday, Dec. 5. That was the fifth-best score of the round.
In the final on Monday, Dec. 7 , which featured the top-10 riders from the first two rounds, Cooper was the fourth-best of only four riders who recorded a score, picking up a total of 59 points for his ride.
His total score of 129.5 was good for sixth place.
“I’m happy with sixth,” said Cooper, 17, a Grade 12 student at Vernon Secondary School. “There were lots of good riders there so that’s pretty good. The stock was great. There were no bad horses.”
Cooper qualified for the Junior World Finals based on his performances during an abbreviated B.C. High School Rodeo season due to COVID-19.
He was accompanied to Fort Worth by his dad, Tim. Both are now self-isolating at home as required.
TW Flowers of Old Glory, Texas won glory in novice saddlebronc in Fort Worth by the smallest of margins over fellow Texan Gus Gaillard of Morse.
Flowers scored 232 points over three go-rounds, edging Gaillard by just half-a point for the championship buckle, as Gaillard tallied 231.5 points.
READ MORE: Vernon cowboy hoping to defend world title
READ MORE: Vernon cowboy captures world championship buckle
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