Rodeo

LAS VEGAS — Luke Branquinho won his third world steer wrestling championship and third Wrangler National Finals Rodeo aggregate title Saturday night, finishing sixth in the 10th and final round with a 4.7-second run.

Branquinho, from Los Alamos, Calif., entered the final round in a three-way fight for the world and aggregate crowns with Jason Miller, of Lance Creek, Wyo., and Shawn Greenfield, of Lakeview, Ore. But Miller and Greenfield broke the barrier and received 10-second penalties.

Branquinho made $234,518 this season. In women’s barrel racing, Lindsay Sears, of Nanton, Alberta, won her second world championship with $238,064 by securing the $45,865 bonus that goes to the WNFR aggregate champion.

LAS VEGAS -- Kaycee Feild wrapped up his first bareback world championship Friday night in the National Finals Rodeo, finishing fourth in the ninth round with an 83-point ride on Hypnotic.

Feild, from Payson, has won five NFR rounds and has earned $256,236 this season. Second-place Will Lowe of Canyon, Texas, has $193,307 with one round left.

LAS VEGAS -- Jason Miller made up ground on steer wrestling world leader Luke Branquinho by winning the eighth round of the National Finals Rodeo in 3.9 seconds Thursday night.

Miller, from Lance Creek, Wyo., is second in the season race with $161,879. Branquinho, from Los Alamos, Calif., has made $171,538, but failed to earn a check Thursday with a 6.8-second run.

At the NFR, Branquinho leads with $83,798 and Miller is next with $78,173. But Branquinho lost the NFR aggregate standings lead to Miller during round eight. Miller, with a time of 32.4 for eight rounds, pulled ahead of second-place Greenfield, at 32.6 for eight rounds, and third-place Branquinho, at 33.6 for eight.

LAS VEGAS -- Wrangler National Finals Rodeo rookie steer wrestler Olin Hannum won his first check of the week -- $17,885 -- for his 3.8-second run to win Round 7 on Wednesday in action at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Hannum, a Plain City native now living in Malad, Idaho, topped Todd Suhn by just one-tenth of a second for the victory.

GRETNA, Fla. -- After Dixie Wonder Bugs circled three barrels and crossed the finish line a half second ahead of Jack's Eliminator on Thursday, Brenda Wolfran jumped up off the metal bleachers with her ticket and headed to the betting window.

"I'm going to be rich!" said Wolfran, 63, of Kinard, with more than a hint of exaggeration. She'd put $10 down on the horse and rider Dallas Dewees. The bet paid $15. As she walked back to the bleachers, she yelled to her friends, "I can't carry it all!"

LAS VEGAS — Luke Branquinho moved into first place in the steer wrestling world standings with a second-place finish Friday night in the second round of the National Finals Rodeo.

Trevor Knowles of Mount Vernon, Ore., who tied Jason Miller of Lance Creek, Wyo., for first in the opening round, won in 3.3 seconds. Branquinho, from Los Alamos, Calif., followed in 3.4 to push his season earnings total to $110,261. Knowles is second with $107,139, and Miller third with $105,773.

Previous Standings leader Dean Gorsuch of Gering, Neb., didn’t record a time and was unable to place among the top six for his second consecutive round. He dropped to fourth with $100,511.