Matt Shiozawa and Luke Branquinho won their second consecutive go-rounds in their respective events in Wednesday's seventh go-round of the National Finals Rodeo at Thomas & Mack Center.
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Shiozawa, 26, a Las Vegas resident who graduated from Moapa Valley High School, roped his calf in 6.9 seconds, which is the best time of this year's NFR.
"It takes a little bit to get warmed up," Shiozawa said. "Tonight started the third run on the cattle. You get to know their patterns and you can study them a little bit more. That plays a big part."
The victory gives him $51,165 in the NFR and moved him to fourth in the event aggregate standings and third in the world standings with $125,735.
A year ago, the native of Chubbock, Idaho., won the seventh and eighth rounds, and tied for first in the ninth.
The dominant bulldogger of the 48th annual NFR is clearly Luke Branquinho of Los Alamos, Calif. He turfed his steer in 3.9 seconds to win for the third time in seven rounds and he shared first in another.
He took the lead in the world standings from Dean Gorsuch of Gering, Neb., with a total of $152,529 that includes $67,833 in the Finals.
Gorsuch is a perfect seven for seven and leads in the event aggregate standings, which will pay $41,088, to the NFR event winner, while Branquinho has missed one steer and is eighth in the aggregate.
• ALL-AROUND -- Runaway leader Trevor Brazile of Decatur, Texas, and heeler Rich Skelton of Llano, Texas, tied for fourth in team roping to earn $5,426. That helped Brazile gain a bit more on Joe Beaver of Huntsville, Texas, who won $2,584 in calf roping.
With three go-rounds left, Brazile has won $316,227 in all-around and leads Beaver by $116,649.
• BAREBACK RIDING -- Bobby Mote of Culver, Ore., finished in the money for the sixth time in seven nights, but this time it was first when he was scored 84.5 on Bar T Rodeo's Oakey Robin. Mote moved to third in the aggregate standings and has won $47,548 in the NFR.
"Every jump changed up, and she was electric," Mote said of his ride.
"I've been on 10 horses already because of three re-rides, which is good because I've had (more) chances."
Money leader Will Lowe tied for sixth to win $1,292 and maintain a big lead in event standings.
• TEAM ROPING -- Nick Sartain and Shannon Frascht of Alva, Okla, roped their steer in 4.1 seconds to earn their first outright go-round win of the rodeo after sharing first two nights before.
"The whole key here is to get a good start at the barrier," said Sartain, the header. "If I can knock the barrier back every night I think have a chance to get it on and that we have a chance to win some money."
Frascht added, "We went out of (contending for) the average, so we don't have anything to lose. We are just going to go as fast as we can."
Header Matt Sherwood of Queen Creek, Ariz., and heeler Walt Woodard of Stockton, Calif., placed second in the round and took over first in their respective categories in the world standings.
The duo is third in the aggregate standings and in solid position to win their first world titles.
Logandale brothers Jason and Randon Adams were snake bit again and did not post a time.
• SADDLE BRONC RIDING -- Cody DeMoss of Heflin, La., won his first go-round of the Finals after finishing second twice and reclaimed first place in the world standings from Chad Ferley of Oelrichs, S.D., who placed eighth in the go-round and out of the money.
"It doesn't mean a thing right now," DeMoss said of moving to the top spot. "I have to just focus on winning every round from here on out."
• CALF ROPING -- Cody Ohl of Hico, Texas, placed fourth to win $6,718 and maintained his lead in the aggregate standings, where he holds a 4.7-second margin over Jerome Schneeberger. Ohl's lead for the world championship moved up to $74,200 with three rounds to go.
• BARREL RACING -- Denise Adams of Lufkin, Texas, stopped Kelly Mabin's winning streak at two go-rounds when she completed the three-barrel, cloverleaf course in 13.67 seconds.
Maben, who had won four of the five previous rounds, placed sixth and holds a slim $1,500 lead over Mary Burger of Pauls Valley, Okla.
Burger, however, is four seconds ahead of Maben in the aggregate standings.
• BULL RIDING -- B.J. Schumacher of Hillsboro, Wis., won his third go-round of the Finals with a score of 84 on Sankey Rodeo's Shock-N-Awe. He has covered six of his seven bulls, while the next best performances are by four cowboys who have completed four rides apiece.
"There are weeks like this that people don't ever see," he said of earning $72,872 in seven days.
The win puts Schumacher $21,000 ahead of Matt Austin, who dropped out of the Finals after the second round with injuries.
Wesley Silcox, who placed fifth in the go-round, is closest of riders still active and trails the Schumacher by $40,000.
