Tanner Butner making the most of his time in Cheyenne

Jul. 31—CHEYENNE — The pride of Daniel and Centennial — two small towns in Wyoming — were on full display at Frontier Park on Saturday during the second semifinal performance of the 126th anniversary Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo.

Saddle bronc rider Tanner Butner hails from Daniel, located in the Green River Valley with a population of 150 in the shadows of the Wind River Range to the east and close to the Gros Ventre Range to the north.

He got on a bucking horse called Black Mesa from Centennial's Summit Pro Rodeo, a mountain hamlet nestled in the Snowy Range west of Laramie.

After advancing through the quarterfinal performance earlier in the week, the two combined for a score of 82.

"It's a really nice horse and normally can be better than that, we had a rough start," Butner said. "But I can't really expect her to do anything else and I went ahead with it, and shoot, she felt good right and it got a little tricky right there in the middle."

Then he had to watch more of the best of the best saddle bronc riders hoping his score would hold up for a chance to come back for today's championship performance. When the final ride came out of the roughstock chutes, Butner was in a three-way tie for sixth place with the top six advancing to the final round.

"It kind of sucks," Butner said about having to watch and hope. "But, shoot, you just sit there and kind of hope they do just as good as you wanted to do."

Butner, who started the month of July winning at Laramie's Jubilee Days rodeo, is sitting 15th in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's world standings. The top 15 qualify for the National Finals Rodeo, and more paychecks from Cheyenne would give him a boost. If he wins, he would be the first Wyoming rider to claim a Cheyenne Frontier Days buckle since 2005 when Kaycee's Bryce Miller won.

"This should help out a bunch," Butner said. "I just have to keep my head down, keep riding and not worry about it too much. This would be a great way to end (July), and I can't complain.

"Everybody back home gets fired up and I hear from them all the time — it's kind of fun. I grew up cowboying, and when I first got into high school I never had a lot to do with (rodeo). But we had a lot of mini ponies and my grandpa's old bareback rigging we messed around with all the time. But in high school I figured to try it, ended up loving it and kept going.

"Doing this for about 10 years or so is hard to beat — to do this all the time, see different places and meet a bunch of cool people."

One ride short

Bull rider Ky Hamilton of Mackay, Queensland, Australia, gave it his best shot to repeat as Cheyenne Frontier Days champion. He was the only former CFD winner in Saturday's semifinal.

But Stace Smith Pro Rodeos' Nightlinger had a different plan, jettisoning Hamilton high in the air and helicoptering him around with his hand stuck before a hard dismount. After his quick ride, he sat by himself in a small back room behind the chutes under the arena chilling with his thoughts.

"Not much to say, he just bucked me off and got the better of me," Hamilton said. "(My hand) was stuck in there pretty good."

Hamilton is a two-time NFR qualifier, finishing eighth in the world standings last year. No doubt winning in Cheyenne helped him get to his second NFR.

"It was definitely cool and something I always wanted to do," Hamilton said. "It's an awesome rodeo to win and was pretty exciting. It (also) can be no different than anywhere else — just stay on and do your job, that's all the matters."

Hamilton is in position to qualify for his third NFR as he was 13th in the world standings.

"(The season) has been going hot and cold," Hamilton said. "I had a few injuries and just trying to get over them. That's bull riding, though. If you don't like it, you might as well go play table tennis."

Successful transition

Steer wrestler Trell Etbauer of Goodwell, Oklahoma, advanced to the championship after placing fifth in Saturday's semifinal with a run of 8.9 seconds out of Chute 9.

Etbauer, who is No. 22 in the world standings, is a former CFD all-around champion in 2014 and could be the first in a family of bronc riders to qualify for a timed event at the NFR, and a win in Cheyenne today could be the paycheck to move him into the top 15.

Local hands

Saddle bronc rider Q Taylor, who attends Casper College, won Saturday's semifinal with an 86 on Summit Pro Rodeo's Dry Creek.

Bareback rider Ethan Mazurenko of Kaycee, who also goes to Casper College, scored an 82.5 on Stace Smith Pro Rodeos' Juice Fruit for 10th place.

Rio Nutter is a University of Wyoming rodeo team member from Rapid City, South Dakota, who competes as a header in team roping, tie-down roping and steer wrestling. He and heeler Daine McNenny of Sturgis, South Dakota, and former Central Wyoming College team member advanced to Saturday's championship. Despite a 5-second penalty for a total of 19.0, they placed sixth.

Sara Montgomery of Wheatland recorded a no-time in breakaway roping.

Former University of Wyoming steer wrestler Caden Camp of Belgrade, Montana, did not record a time after his steer slowed and he overshot the horns.