Team ropers Korbin Rice/Cooper Freeman win Rocky Mountain Cup

It doesn’t get much bigger than RodeoHouston or the Calgary Stampede, and that’s exactly where the No.1 team ropers in the header and heeler PRCA | Bill Fick Ford World Standings like to excel.

After winning RodeoHouston this spring, Korbin Rice and Cooper Freeman made their first trip to the Calgary Stampede and won the Rocky Mountain Cup July 8 in Calgary, Alberta.

The one day two-head format had a purse of $310,250 for 30 teams. The eight best returned for a short round. Rice and Freeman were the fastest in the short round at 4.0 seconds to make the top four showdown. There they were last to go, and after watching the other three teams miss, all they had to do was make a clean catch. They did so in 7.0 seconds to claim the $50,000 checks, a bronze and the Rocky Mountain Cup.

Although they were just coming from Casper, Wyo., the duo faced some extra horse questions at the border and rolled in just in time to compete. It was the first time to Canada for both.

“We were the last ones to get our back numbers, actually,” said Rice, who is from Hobbs, N.M.

“We were here about an hour and a half before, but this place is huge, and we had no idea where we were going,” said Freeman, who is from Carthage, Mo.

The Calgary format wasn’t totally foreign to either, but it’s not an easy one to come through with four solid runs.

“Korbin did a great job, but it’s very important to stay consistent, pay attention to where you’re at in the draw, what steer you got, and what kind of a chance you’ve got to be fast, or if you need to just catch to make it back to keep progressing” Freeman said. “So, it’s fun, and it’s, it’s different for us. We don’t get to do it all the time, so we enjoy it.”

“We really drew really well throughout the day,” Rice said.

Sometimes the hardest run to make in rodeo is the one where you just have to catch, and the Showdown run for Rice and Freeman was actually their longest time at 7.0 seconds. Where some of the teams got caught up in the wall going right, Rice let his steer get to the wider spaces in the middle of the arena, which proved to be safer.

“That was not the strategy at all,” Rice said. “Actually, I was late and panicked a little bit. The steer was good; he stayed straight the whole way. I mean, he could have come left a little bit, and Cooper did a good job hanging back, knowing that I was late, and just letting the steer go straight down the pen. If he would have gone left and cut me off, it would have probably changed the outcome a little bit, or changed the way our run laid out, for sure.”

Rice and Freeman first roped together in college rodeo, but Freeman graduated first and roped with other partners. When Rice was done with college and ready to PRORODEO, the first call he made was to Freeman. The friends have become successful partners this season, already with over $120,000 each in their rodeo bank account. And now you can add a huge chunk more.

“It’s awesome,” Rice said. “It’s hard to explain. It’s been such a great year. I hope we can just keep catching and keep winning.”

Freeman agrees, noting being No. 1 in July doesn’t guarantee they’ll be at their first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, but the Calgary winnings will help.

“I don’t think you ever feel safe, these guys are so good that are behind us, but the money is amazing,” Freeman said.

Pool B wrapped up Wednesday at the Calgary Stampede. Advancing from bareback riding are Bradlee Miller ($16,500), Roedy Farrell ($11,083) and Jesse Pope ($11,000). Coleman Shallbetter was the top saddle bronc money winner ($14,000), along with Gus Gaillard ($9,000) and Logan Hay ($8,750). Bull riders moving on are Noah Lee ($21,533), Tristen Hutchings ($21,033) and Boudreaux Campbell ($8,075).

Those heading to Sunday’s round – July 13 – from tie-down roping in Pool B are Brushton Minton ($15,291), John Douch ($14,500), and Hunter Herrin ($12,500), while the steer wrestlers moving on are Ty Erickson ($11,750), Trisyn Kalawaia ($11,000) and Gavin Soileau ($10,500). The Pool B barrel racing qualifiers are Carlee Otero ($18,416), Hayle Gibson-Stillwell ($15,750), and Gracen Harman ($9,500), along with breakaway ropers Cheyanne McCartney ($19,500), Macy Young ($10,000) and Jordi Edens-Mitchell ($9,000).

Pool C competitors begin their Calgary Stampede July 10.

-PRCA