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Stettler’s Davila wins bull riding, Big Valley’s Wyatt Thurston wins saddle bronc at the 14th Annual Stettler Roughstock Rodeo

The overall winners were Armando Davila for bull riding, Wyatt Thurston for saddle bronc and Strawbs Jones for bareback.
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Big Valley’s Wyatt Thurston participates in the saddle bronc event at the 14th Annual Stettler Roughstock Rodeo.

On Saturday evening, April 8, the Stettler Agriplex was the place to be as it hosted the 14th Annual Roughstock Rodeo.

The overall winners were Stettler’s Armando Davila for bull riding, Big Valley’s Wyatt Thurston for saddle bronc and Australia’s Strawbs Jones for bareback.

In the finals, the scores were as follows.

For bareback, Strawbs Jones on Major Party scored 85, Micheal Solberg on Wolfshine scored 84, Jessey Lannin on Painted Saint scored 83 and Brandon Dillman on Ginger Sky scored 77.

For saddle bronc, Wyatt Thurston on Party Code scored 85, Lane Cust on Chrome Buckle scored 78, Kolby Wanchuk on Klondike scored 78 and Justin Meston was bucked off of Mercedes.

For bull riding, all four riders were bucked off in the final round. The qualified riders split the ground money, leaving Armando Davila as the 2017 Stettler Roughstock Rodeo Bull Riding Champion.

According to Warren Weatherly, the rodeo event was started 13 years back in partnership with the Stettler Agricultural Society.

“Our initial committee was very small and included just me, my wife Heather and Lyle Smith (Smitty),” Weatherly said. “It has been a lot of hard work and team effort to bring it where it is today, but now we have a good team and once the event starts, it usually runs quite smoothly. We have a great group of guys we work with.”

Weatherly said that besides their own stock, Big Country Rodeo, they work with five other stock contractors to get the best for the event.

“We start preparing the stock three weeks before the rodeo,” Weatherly explained. “Setting up the arena and the chutes takes about a week and we have our team working tirelessly to get it done in time.”

One of the reasons why Weatherly thinks this has become one of Stettler’s mainstays is because of the timing.

“By the time April comes around, all the major winter sports are done and people want to come out and enjoy the outdoors,” Weatherly noted. “Our event is in a very small space, which gets the people quite close to the action.”

Keeping in mind the cowboys who participate, the audience who come to watch and the sponsors who make this event possible, Weatherly said it is a combination of these three factors which always ensures they are providing the best.

“We pride ourselves in being a family business, but we are very thankful to the Stettler Agricultural Society for the great support they have provided us over the years in partnership,” Weatherly added. “We would also like to thank all our sponsors and local businesses and everyone who has been a part of the event, including our spectators for whom we put on this show.”