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Flundra wins third bronc title at Daines (video)

It was Dustin Flundra’s very first Father’s Day, and he spent it doing what he does best.
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Craig Guthrie of Ponoka gets a little dirty as he puts up a time of 7.1 seconds during the steer wrestling event at the 51st Annual Daines Ranch Professional Rodeo on the final day of competition on Sunday.


It was Dustin Flundra’s very first Father’s Day, and he spent it doing what he does best.

The Canadian champion saddle bronc rider added one more Innisfail buckle and bronze to his collection, after turning in a sparkling 85.5 point ride Sunday afternoon at the Daines Ranch, much to the delight of his wife Niki and three-month-old son, Ridge.

“This would probably have to be my favorite rodeo,” said Flundra after receiving his hardware from Jack and Duane Daines.

“There’s always ones that a guy seems to have success at more often than others. Innisfail has treated me awesome. I’ve won it three times in the open now, and once in the novice, and there were a whole bunch of other cheques in between, so I love coming to Innisfail every time, rain or shine.”

There was a bit of both during the final performance. But the sun was shining when Flundra nodded his head for the Calgary Stampede bronc Mata Fact.

“I was pretty tickled to have that horse,” he said.

“He’s a little bit harder to ride than some of the other ones, but I’ve had him before and had decent success on him.”

“Things were a little western right out of the gate here. He kind of came around a little tighter around the post than what he normally does, and tried rubbing me off a little bit. He made me work for the first jump or two, and then he just happened to jump back underneath me and give me that split-second to get back under things. When he did, I was there to pick it back up and go on from there, and it felt good.”

Flundra is just back in the saddle after spending four months away from the rodeo scene healing a broken elbow and a knee repair.

“I’ve never really had that much time off. I think I’ve been on three horses between the NFR (last December) and the May long weekend. I broke my elbow the first part of February, and had a forced layoff but it was nice because I got to be there for Ridge’s first day. I got to see that, and it was good to sit back and re-evaluate everything.”

The win earned Flundra $5,910, a much needed boost to a season where he’d only won $2,615 in Canada before the weekend, as he hopes to make both the Canadian and National Finals Rodeos this fall.

“There’s plenty of time to make up for lost ground. I’m definitely getting a little bit later start than what I’d like to have. The fourth of July is what’s made my year (in the past), so I’m not counting myself out of it by a long ways.”

Probably the fan favorite event in the soupy arena was the steer wrestling, where there was no way a competitor could come out clean if they got off their horses.

But that didn’t slow down Trevor Knowles. The Oregon cowboy slid his steer over in 4.5 seconds, and that was fastest of the bunch, so he won $8,425.

“In these conditions, it’s a little bit of luck,” admitted Knowles, as he scraped mud from his face and hands. “My steer wasn’t real snappy on the ground but I caught up and just rolled him over. Nothing can handle real fluid in this stuff, it’s just kind of grunting through it.”

“I got a really good start, and I could hear those guys holler, and then I looked and my steer’s just out there with his head in the air, and I kind of caught him with his pants down, I think. I wasn’t sure if I could win first today but I was just trying to win something, and get him down as fast as I could.”

Knowles was thrilled with the $8,400 payday.

“That’s a ton of money for anybody,” stated Knowles. “I’ve been at home fixing fences and branding calves for free, so I get to come up here in the mud and win $8,400, that’s a pretty good lick. A guy can afford to get your clothes cleaned!”

The fast team roping time of the rodeo came Thursday night from Dustin Round of Lacombe and Trevor Jones of Ponoka, at 6.0 seconds, worth $3,328 apiece.

“It was the first rodeo we entered together,” explained Jones. “My regular partner Mark Flynn couldn’t make it.”

“The steer we had was a little weaker than the rest, and didn’t run as hard. I put a catch on him and got him turned, and then saw Dustin had two feet. We were just hoping for a cheque. We thought for sure we’d get bumped.”

“It worked out good, I guess. Every win is exciting, but I’m pretty pumped.”

Eighty seven proved to be the top mark in both bull riding and bareback riding. Cochrane cowboy Steven Turner won the bulls last year at Innisfail, and came back to share this year’s honor with Edson’s Craig McPhee, both earning $5,400. Dustin McPhee of Hanley, Saskatchewan took bareback riding with that mark on Jay Bar Nine, for $5,397. The 6.8 second run turned in during the slack Wednesday night by Jake Hannum of Utah proved unbeatable in the tie-down roping, so he claims the buckle and $6706, while Nebraskan Trula Churchill’s run that same evening in 16.57 seconds earned the whopping $10,427 payoff in the ladies barrel racing.

For the second weekend in a row, Innisfail’s Ryan Shuckburgh won a boys steer riding event, with Ky Marshall of Bowden taking novice bareback, and novice bronc riding shared by Brendan Dillman and Kale McKenzie, both of Rocky. Steven Turner also won the All-Around trophy at the Daines Ranch, while Baillie Milan was thrilled to take the High Point honor.

“It’s the first time I’ve done good here,” commented the Cochrane hand. By winning a share of third in the tie-down roping, and a split of fourth in steer wrestling, he picked up nearly $9,500.

“It’s still not near enough for what I’m owing right now. I had to borrow $600 from my Mom to pay my fees here, so rodeo has not been very good to Baillie lately. I’m hoping this keeps going.”

Dianne Finstad is a regular contributor of the Red Deer Advocate and is the agriculture/rodeo director for Newcap Radio/CKGY/CIZZ FM in Red Deer