GUY CLIFTON - RODEO

The best of the best in professional team roping converged on Tucson, Ariz., last week for the Mike Cervi Jr. Memorial Team Roping and a pair of Nevada cowboys came out on top of 102 other teams.

Brothers Jason and Randon Adams of Logandale won the five-round aggregate title and took home $26,040 for their efforts. They edged the team of Matt Tyler (Dennis, Texas) and Korey Koontz (Sudan, Texas) by just more than a tenth of a second to win the title.

While the money doesn’t count in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association World Standings, it will help the brothers cover the costs of going down the road on the PRCA circuit — and it gives them a world of confidence as they head into the second half of the winter season.

“That’s just what we needed, that’s for sure,” said 19-year-old Jason, the 2003 Resistol Rookie of the Year as a team roping header. “Things are starting to come together for us.”

This is the second year on the PRCA circuit for Jason, while 21-year-old Randon, the 2002 team roping heeler rookie of the year, is starting his third season. This is the first year the brothers have roped as a team — at least since their days in the Nevada High School Rodeo Association.

“That was a big win for us,” Jason Adams said. “We’re roping good and we’re getting along better than we ever have. That’s a big roping. There’s a lot of good guys and it felt real good to come out on top. That gives us a lot of confidence.”

The brothers have been to five rodeos this winter, including four events on the Wrangler ProRodeo Winter Tour, and haven’t done particularly well. They plan to attend the remaining six events on the Winter Tour and, with some good fortune, qualify for the Pace Picante ProRodeo Chute-Out in May.

The Chute-Out, which runs May 13-15 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, is the culminating event of the Winter Tour.

“We’re going to hit it hard and all we can do is try to get some tour points and get to the tour finale,” Jason Adams said.

One of the Winter Tour rodeos the brothers are looking forward to is the Clark County Fair and Rodeo in their home town of Logandale, April 8-11.

“We’re real excited about that, and about all the outdoor rodeos, really,” Jason Adams said.

Go-round winners of the Mike Cervi Jr. Memorial Team Roping were:

Round 1: Shane Sproul (Arlee, Mont.) and Kinney Harrell, (Brady, Texas).

Round 2: Tyler and Koontz.

Round 3: Speed Williams )Amarillo, Texas) and Rich Skelton (Llano, Texas).

Round 4: Justin Lovell (Grapeland, Texas) and Patrick Smith (Midland,Texas).

Round 5 (short-go): Nelson Linares (Plant City, Fla.) and Walt Woodard (Stockton, Calif.)

Each team collected $1,400 for winning the go-rounds.

The aggregate payoff was as follows:

1, Jason Adams and Randon Adams, $26,040; 2, Tyler and Koontz, $19,530; 3, Linares and Woodard, $13,020; 4, Williams and Skelton, $6,500.

The roping was dedicated to PRCA roper Mike Cervi, Jr., who died in a private plane crash in September 2001.

Cervi’s widow, two-time barrel racing world champion Sherry Cervi (Marana, Ariz.), and her father Mel Potter organized the event with PRCA roper George Aros.

RHYTHM & RAWHIDE II: Tickets and sponsor packages are on sale for the second annual Rhythm & Rawhide Concert featuring the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra, cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell and cowboy singer Don Edwards.

The event, a fund-raiser for the Reno Philharmonic and the Reno Rodeo Foundation (the charitable arm of the Reno Rodeo Association), will be held May 8 at the Reno Hilton Theater.

Along with the music and cowboy poetry, both a live and silent auction will be held featuring such items as western art, trips and travel opportunities.

Individual tickets are $125 for the dinner and concert or $250 for the dinner, concert and pre-event hosted VIP reception.

Several levels of sponsorship are also available ranging from the $1,500 Silver Lariat package to the $10,000 Silver Baron package.

For tickets, call Main Event at 323-2810. For sponsorship information, call the Reno Rodeo Foundation at 851-3505.

AROUND THE ARENA: The Reno Rodeo Association is accepting applicants for Miss Reno Rodeo 2004. Participants must be horsewomen, ages 18 to 22 as of January 1, 2004. Applications are available at the Reno Rodeo office or online at www.renorodeo.com. They can also be requested by telephone at 329-3877. … A Miss Reno Rodeo Pageant clinic will be held this Saturday. For details, call Lynn Jasmine at 848-7332 or Bindee Eberle at 853-9393. … Carlin saddle bronc rider Ira Slagowski is the only Nevada cowboy in the top 15 of the Jack Daniel’s World Standings this week. He is in 15th place. … Rodeo returns to the Outdoor Life Network on Sunday with highlights from the championship round of the National Western Stock Show in Denver. It will be repeated on Mondays and Thursdays. Check your cable listings for the times. … Louisiana cowboy Cory Melton edged Ross Coleman and Adriano Moreas to win the Philadelphia Invitational, the latest stop on the Professional Bull Riders’ Built Ford Tough Series. Reno’s Tony Mendes returned to action after missing several weeks with a hamstring injury. He was bucked off his only bull of the event.

Guy Clifton covers rodeo for the Reno Gazette-Journal. He can be reached at (775)788-6337 or gclifton@rgj.com.