Opportunistic night leads to world titles
for Bates, Conway

LAS VEGAS, Nev.

It was an opportunistic kind of night for a small handful of cowboys and cowgirls on Saturday night at the Indian National Finals Rodeo.

Like in any sport, the cliché “anything can happen” was surely evident in the finale at the South Point Equestrian Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

One of those cowgirls that benefitted in a big way was Bailey Bates.

After missing her first-round draw, Bates reckoned she was out of contention for a world title. But on a strange night, Bates moved up four spots to claim her third INFR world crown as the three high-call-back cowgirls, who had roped their first three draws, missed their short round calves.

Oklahoma cowgirl Mollie Bassett was the first to miss, followed by Diné cowgirls Kassidy Dennison and Taniah Nez.

“I ear-topped my first calf in the first round, and I was thinking with three heads I’m out of it,” said Bates, who roped three of four draws in 7.4 seconds

The Mexican Springs, N.M., cowgirl acknowledged that she was rooting for either Dennison or Nez to win the world title, but unfortunately, things went awry for the two competitive ropers.

“I was really cheering for them,” Bates said. “This win is bittersweet because I was really cheering for my good friends. The only thing that I can think of is it was God’s plan.”

Montana cowboy Nolan Conway conceded defeat when he was assessed a 10-second penalty on Saturday night. His run of 13.66 seconds gave high-call bulldogger Joe Wilson nearly 15 seconds to play with.

Unfortunately, the South Dakota cowboy was late off the barrier and when he caught his steer three-quarters down the arena he was out of position to throw his draw. His steer eventually wiggled away from his grasp as he posted a no-time, giving Conway, the men’s all-around champion, the steer wrestling world title with a 28.63 aggregate.

“I honestly didn’t think I was gonna win it,” said Conway, who captured his third INFR championship.

“Oh man, I just kind of blooper out there,” the Blackfeet native said when describing his short round run. “I should have seen a little more of that steer, but, yeah, I mean the cattle were good. They were a little tricky to catch at first because they were a little catty, but my horse worked well, and I drew good and that is how I won.”

Although there were no mishaps for the two high-call-back teams in the team roping competition, there was still plenty of drama that unfolded on Saturday night between a pair of Diné teams.

The roping combo of Dwight Sells and Cody Lansing set the scene with a 4.57 run that earned them a four-head aggregate of 21.31 seconds.

The final team of Erich Rogers and Aaron Tsinigine didn’t quite match that mark, but they were pretty close. Instead, they recorded a 4.82-second run which was enough for the pair to clinch their second world title together.

With that clincher, they roped four draws in 21.25 seconds, as they won the world title by the slimmest margin of 0.06 seconds.

“The steer was pretty good, they won the third round on him,” Rogers said. “I set him up pretty good, but I kind of wanted to get out a little faster than normal, but Tsinigine did a good job.”

“Rogers is one of the best in the world,” Tsinigine added. “I tell him that all the time. And you know, we like to motivate each other.

“He’s one of the top five headers out there, and I knew he was going to do his job,” Tsinigine added. “He’s got one of the best horses, and he’s one of the best headers and I knew he was gonna give me a chance to win.”

In the women’s all-around, Beshbetoh, Arizona, cowgirl Jareth Curley captured her first world crown in said race as she beat out Danielle Lowman and JC Hawk for the title.

“Well, I’m very excited,” Curley said. “This is my first year that I qualified in two events, and that was the goal at the beginning of the year.”

The 2018 INFR breakaway world champ credited her barrel racing horse True Grit as well as veteran cowboy Victor Begay for mounting on his roping horse.

“I have a good barrel racing horse that I got to run all year,” Curley said. “And I have a good cheii, Victor Begay. He always lets me ride his breakaway horse. With the two horses under me, and they did most of the work, I got to qualify here.

“Coming in, I had a lot of confidence in my practice,” she added. “I feel like that is what you have to have, you know, going into any rodeo, even the finals. You have to feel 100% at home.”

Other winners of the 2024 INFR include Jacob Lees (bareback), Jackson Ford (saddle bronc), Teigan Gray (bull riding), and Quinton Inman (tie-down).

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