Douch ropes in crown
Eight-time world champion Joe Beaver, who hails from Huntsville, ruled at RodeoHouston in the 1990s and 2000s, winning three all-around and one tiedown title.
Now it’s his protégé’s time to shine.
Huntsville High graduate John Douch, who’s roped with Beaver since middle school, claimed the RodeoHouston tie-down roping championship with a time of 7.7 seconds in the $50,000 Shootout round Saturday at NRG Stadium.
“It’s pretty cool to have a buckle like his,” Douch, 24, said.
Douch, who secured $57,250, also won in the 10man Championship round with a 7.7 in a sizzling finish to his first full run here. He completed two rounds before the rodeo was cancelled due to COVID-19 in 2019.
“It felt like it took forever to get back, but better late than never,” Douch said.
Five-time world champion Stetson Wright left Houston with the most money after making the Championship Shootout in saddle bronc and bull riding. After finishing third in saddle bronc and first in bull riding, he earned $73,500.
“It dang sure was a successful trip,” Wright said. “I’m pumped up about it, and super happy, healthy, and ready to go to the next one.”
Wright won the bull riding title with the highest score of the rodeo — a 93 on Yellowstone.
He joins dad Cody Wright and uncle Jesse Wright, who won saddle bronc titles in 2012 and 2019, respectively, as Houston winners. Even sweeter, in a family full of champs, he found a way to distinguish himself.
“They won it in the saddle bronc riding, and I won it in bull riding, so I did something nobody in my family’s ever done before,” he said. “But I’ll dang sure be back next year trying to win in it bronc riding, so I can put my name by theirs.”
This year’s saddle bronc title went to first-time Houston qualifier Sage Newman.
The Montana cowboy posted an 87 in the Championship round, but his horse stumbled out of the chute, so he was given the option for a re-ride, and fortunately for him, he took it. He ended up with an 88 on Shamus, and the 87, after the dust settled, would have left him just shy of the short round on a tiebreaker.
Newman won the Shootout with a rodeo-best 93 on Billie, earning him $57,500.
“It’s a dream come true,” Newman said.
Erin Johnson would say the same — if she’d ever dared to dream of winning here.
The Colorado native claimed the first Houston breakaway roping championship in 2.7 seconds. Breakaway has been a professional rodeo event for years, and Johnson’s been doing it for 20, but it’s only now joining rodeo’s grandest competitions, like the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, and now RodeoHouston.
“Breakaway ropers have been roping our whole lives, not even dreaming that we would have a chance to rope at a rodeo this prestigious, and compete for this kind of money,” she said. “It’s truly unbelievable.”
Johnson exited with $53,750 — and a title no one can take away.
“That’s the most exciting part,” she said. “There’s only one first-time champion.”
Two-time world champion Hunter Cure first competed here in 2007. Fifteen years later, he’s finally a RodeoHouston champ.
Cure, 38, captured the steer wrestling title in 4 seconds, earning him $57,000.
“Being able to win it is even sweeter than I imagined,” said Cure, who hails from Holliday.
Bareback rider Jess Pope ($60,500), barrel racer Jordon Briggs ($60,000), and team ropers Clay Tryan and Jake Long ($109,000) rounded out the 2022 champions.