Team WYO Shines at Circuit Finals



Kelly Timberman

The Mountain States Circuit Finals, staged Nov. 12-13, in Denver ended with Wyoming rough-stock contestants Kelly Timberman and Clayton Savage winning their events and finishing the year with the most money earned in bareback and bull riding respectively. Timberman pocketed about $30K in Wyoming and Colorado during the 2010 season and because he won the circuit finals over the weekend and was the leading money winner in bareback riding for the year a second slot at the national circuit finals will be filled by Dave Worsfold – an Australian now living in Cody, WY. Watch for Timberman to challenge for an all-around champ’s buckle in the circuit next year as he his doing some serious on-the-job training in two timed events – team roping and steer wrestling.



Clayton Savage

 Clayton Savage is the circuit champ in bull riding giving him the buckle and a spot at the nationals. He too topped year-end standings for rodeos in Wyoming and Colorado so the second-place man gets to move on to the national circuit finals and that rider is Seth Glause of Rock Springs. Glause competes in both bull and bronc riding. He was crowned the 2010 all-around champ for the circuit Saturday night. The weekend finals event for this region ended with the closest year-end battle in the bronc riding where Glause finished second only $126 dollars below the top spot.

Casper team roper Jhett Johnson was in another tight race. He had to make up quite a bit over the weekend and did so to come out on top by about $600 to win the heeler standings for the year and move on to compete at the national circuit finals.





Jhett Johnson



Team WYO cowboys who are headed to the national circuit finals in the spring are Jhett Johnson, Seth Glause, Clayton Savage and Kelly Timberman. They’ll be joined by Riverton steer wrestler John Franzen who got there on the strength of a regular season that included winning the short-go in Cheyenne and the Central Wyoming Fair & Rodeo in Casper. Townsend Prince, a past member of Rick Smith’s rodeo program at Central Wyoming College in Riverton, made the national finals by championing the circuit finals in Denver. His dad is a doctor at the VA Hospital in Cheyenne.


Cade Burns, son of Laramie stock contractor Hal Burns, has been selected to fight bulls at the national circuit finals. The event is moving to Oklahoma City after more than two decades in Pocatello, ID.



Mountain States Circuit chief Tom Glause of Rock Springs represented Wyoming in the first national circuit finals in Idaho and he believes the change will be a good one. “There is a great rodeo history. They hosted the NFR (in Oklahoma City) for many years and I expect them to put on a first-class production,” Glause said.

He was pleased with his event in Denver this past weekend. “Our attendance was up from last year and we’ll certainly have a strong contingency from Wyoming going to the nationals,” Glause noted.

Cowboys and cowgirls at the circuit finals voted Cheyenne Frontier Days “Large Rodeo of the Year” and Rock Springs’ Red Desert Roundup as the most improved.