Brazile Lays Claim to 15th World Championship

November 14, 2011– Call it ?The Trevor Slam.?

Trevor Brazile won his third steer roping world championship Nov. 12 at the Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping and the 15th world title of his illustrious career, finishing the year with $96,700 and holding off Rocky Patterson, who kept things interesting until the 10th and final round.

The gold buckle is the fourth Brazile has won in a span of 11 months and a day, going back to the three world championships (all-around, team roping heading and tie-down roping) he won at the 2010 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

Brazile placed in four rounds at the Lazy E Arena and finished with a time of 121.5 seconds on nine head, which was good for third place in the average and $9,231.

That average money turned out to be crucial, as Brazile actually found himself in second place in the world standings for the first time since January, trailing Patterson entering Round 10. However, due to some hard luck on the first night of the Finals, Patterson was out of the average race.

Although he won $19,538, the fourth-best total of the 15 cowboys in the field, Brazile said his effort wasn?t as good as it could have been. Nonetheless, it was effective, and he did what he came to Guthrie to do.

?A little bit too conservative, but in the end, it’s all about the ?W,?? Brazile said. ?You?ve got to do what you?ve got to do (to win). There are times of year when it pays to be reckless, and this was not one of those times.

?It’s hard knowing that you’re losing ground. It’s hard not to listen to that, but you can’t get caught up in that. You go to battle in the go-rounds with guys that aren?t in the average.?

With total earnings of $259,043, Brazile has a lead of $140,019 over second-place Shane Proctor in the all-around race entering the Dec. 1-10 Wrangler NFR. Brazile is aiming to clinch his record-extending ninth all-around gold buckle and 16th overall, which would tie him with Jim Shoulders for second on the all-time list. Steer roper Guy Allen holds the record with 18 gold buckles.

Patterson started hot Nov. 12, placing in Rounds 6 and 7 before winning Round 9 to briefly take the lead in the world standings. Ultimately, his trouble from the first night caught up with him. Two steers got up after he had tied them down, resulting in no-times and dropping him out of the average race.

While Brazile and Patterson duked it out at the top, another world champion, Scott Snedecor, battled all weekend, finishing as the only cowboy to rope all 10 steers and winning his second career NFSR average title.

Snedecor didn’t place in a single round on his way to finishing with a time of 172.8 seconds on 10 head, and his weekend may have been best summed up in his final, average-clinching round. The two-time world champ had to lay on his steer twice to prevent him from getting up, finishing the run in 26.1 seconds.

?Man, it was a good (check) to get,? Snedecor said, ?(although) it wasn?t much fun getting it. I think this was the first time in 11 years that I?ve never won a check in a round. That’s awful hard to pace myself and do that. I had some really tough steers over the two-day period, but I had to fight and I ground on through it.?

Snedecor has become such a dynamic roper at the Finals that the way he won the average was certainly striking. It was the first time since his very first appearance in 2001 that he had not won a round at the Finals, let alone placed.

The final night of steer roping?s 2011 season was ignited by Chet Herren, who won the first two rounds of the night in 10.3 and an event-best 9.5 seconds, respectively. Traveling partner Cody Scheck split first place in the eighth round (with Vin Fisher Jr.) and won the 10th round, marking another strong performance for the truck that features Herren, Scheck and Patterson.

The high-money winner of the Finals was Chance Kelton, who collected $28,615 to jump from 13th to sixth in the final world standings. Kelton finished second in the average with a time of 116.5 seconds.

Eight men finished with season earnings of more than $50,000, a first in the event?s history.

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