Canadian Chad Beesplug claims Calgary Stampede’s bull-riding title on final day

CALGARY – It wasn’t until the signature event that a Canadian won the top prize of $100,000 at the 100th Calgary Stampede rodeo.

On the final ride of Sunday’s bull-riding competition, Chad Besplug of Claresholm, Alta., scored 87 points atop Kish This in front of an appreciative crowd that braved rainy conditions to watch the final round of the 10-day event.

“They were unbelievable,” said Besplug, who edged out fellow Canadian cowboy Aaron Roy of Yellow Grass, Sask., by just one point. “This being the 100th year, I remember thinking driving in (that) this is pretty special.

“Thinking about all the cowboys that have been here before … I got goosebumps driving in here thinking about that.”

Besplug said becoming the bull-riding champion during the Stampede’s centennial year is “worth more than the $100,000.”

Besplug’s sister Jill is a two-time champion of the ladies’ barrel-racing event, winning at the Stampede in 2001 and ’02.

Besplug, Roy and defending champion Shane Proctor of Mooresville, N.C., were the only three to qualify for the championship round. On their first rides, all three were bucked off, so they had to do it all over again to decide the 2012 winner.

After Proctor barely held on for eight seconds and a score of 66.5, Roy posted an 86-point ride atop Riskey Remedy to guarantee a Canadian winner.

“I’m always rooting for Canadians,” said Besplug, who went on to edge out Roy for the title. “Everybody knows that.”

Cory Solomon needed a rope-off against fellow Texan Fred Whitfield to capture the $100,000 top prize, after both men posted times of 8.1 seconds in the final round. Solomon then laid down a time of 7.7 seconds in the extra session to beat his boyhood idol by 0.7 seconds.

Kaycee Feild of Elk Ridge, Utah, needed a buck-off to beat Dusty LaValley of Bezanson, Alta., in the bareback championship showdown. LaValley actually used a re-ride to match Feild’s score of 89. Feild then scored 90 points atop Nelly Kelly to narrowly edge past LaValley, who had an 88-point ride on Raggedy Ann.

In rainy and muddy conditions during the steer wrestling finals, American Trevor Knowles recorded the top time of 3.4 seconds, which was just 0.1 seconds from tying the arena record set by Curtis Cassidy of Donalda, Alta., in 2009.

2010 saddle bronc winner Wade Sundell of Boxholm, Iowa, added a second Stampede title to his collection with an 88.5-point ride atop Get Smart in the finals.

After qualifying for the championship round by finishing second out of 12 competitors on Wildcard Sunday, Sue Smith of Blackfoot, Idaho went one better on Saturday. She won the ladies’ barrel-racing event with an impressive time of 17.53 seconds on her horse Claimer in wet and muddy conditions.