Bob Feist, center, presents awards to the 2011 BFI Champions Caleb
Twisselman, left, and Colby Siddoway, right.       Photo by Kirt Steinke

Colby Siddoway and Caleb Twisselman
hit the jackpot at
34^th annual BFI in Reno

By Kendra Santos, Special To Ropers Sports News

Utah’s Colby Siddoway and California’s Caleb Twisselman took the victory lap at the Bob Feist Invitational Team Roping Classic, the world’s richest one-day open roping, by a full second today at the Reno Livestock Events Center. Siddoway, 27, and Twisselman, 30, set the pace straight out of the blocks as Team No. 1 on the 100-team roster, and took the title at the
34^th annual BFI by roping six steers in 44.63 seconds. Including a fourth-place check in the Wrangler Short Round, they earned $131,010 of the more than $630,000 in cash and prizes
for the biggest win of their careers.

“Being the very first team, I just knew I needed to get out on the first one and catch him,” said Siddoway, the Hooper, Utah native son of Cindy and Brett Siddoway, who spends most
of the year training horses in Texas, where his little boy, Carter, lives. “You have to score good and rope sharp to win here.”

“This is the biggest win of my career,” added Wrangler National Finals Rodeo heeler Twisselman, who’s the son of Rowly and Cathie Twisselman. “I threw faster than I thought
I would, and it worked, so I’m happy. I look back and wonder what I was thinking, but what
a huge relief. Everything works differently on different days. Things went my way today.”

In addition to the cash Siddoway and Twisselman hauled home, they also loaded up Running P saddles and breast collars, Gist buckles sponsored by Gist Silversmiths, Classic Ropes and Pendleton Whisky/Hood River Distillers, and Justin full-quill ostrich boots. Siddoway and Twisselman topped the 100-team field, which this year represented 21 states and Canada,
to pocket the $1,500 cash bonus sponsored by Cactus Ropes, Ram Rodeo and Coors Original.

Siddoway and Twisselman just joined forces this spring. “We started winning right off the
bat,” said Siddoway, who roped at his first BFI last year with Matt Zancanella, but didn’t
have any luck. “We placed on eight or nine of the first 10 steers we ran together at the rodeos. Caleb’s a catcher, and he likes wild handles. I give him different looks every time.
You don’t have to set steers up for Caleb. He just likes to see them turn.”

“Colby did a great job for me today,” said Twisselman, who’s roped at the BFI since he was
16. “He gave me a really good opportunity. He couldn’t have done better. Colby and I get along great, and he can rope fast or just catch, like we did today. I’ve had a blast heeling behind him.”

As for their horsepower, Siddoway rode a 9-year-old dun horse, Dunny, that he just bought last September from his friend Jory Green in Utah. “I rode him at the jackpots all winter, and
he has a lot of talent and can really run, but I hadn’t won much on him so I was going to
trade a guy for him about a month ago,” Siddoway explained. “But he backed out. Then he called me back and said he changed his mind. I said no. I’m really glad now.”

Twisselman rode Cher, the 8-year-old bay daughter of his first good heel horse, Karen, who
he rode on a couple steers at the 2001 NFR. Like Karen, he raised and trained Cher himself.
“I wouldn’t change anything about the way she worked today,” he said. “I was completely satisfied.”

Both said their big BFI win is by far the highlight of their roping careers. “This is one of the
big-money ropings that are so tough to win a check at, much less win,” said Siddoway, who used a 30-foot, extra soft Cactus Whistler. “Everything has to fall together. I barely had enough money to pay my fees and get out of this week if I didn’t win anything here today. This is huge for me. It’s the biggest win of my career by far.”

“I never counted on winning the roping until they dropped the flag on that high-team steer,” said Twisselman, whose weapon of choice was a Classic Heat 35-foot hard medium. “Because
I know how easy it is for stuff to go wrong when you run that many steers. We are all so grateful to Bob Feist for the chance to win this kind of money. This is one of the best things anyone does for the sport of team roping.”

A couple of teenagers came through in the clutch as this year’s reserve BFI champs. T.J. McCauley, a 16-year-old Reno native now making his home in Redmond, Ore., and Quinn
Kesler, 18, of Holden, Utah, stopped the clock six times in 45.6 seconds for a $95,060 payday. McCauley and Kesler switched ends this year after finishing seventh in the average last year. The reserve champs’ prize package included Coats Saddles, and Skyline Silversmiths buckles donated by Boot Barn, Ropers Sports News and Ropes to Go.

“We switched ends, because Quinn heels better than me,” said McCauley, who’ll be a high school junior in the fall, and headed this year aboard Kesler’s black head horse Hemi. “I was nervous last night. I stayed in Quinn’s trailer and watched a BFI video. I’ve never headed at
a big roping like this, so it was a question mark.”

Kesler, who’s coming off of wins in the team roping and tie-down roping at the Utah state
high school finals, rode his good sorrel horse, Hickory, 10, who’s been his main mount since
the horse was 3. “We need to keep moving up the ladder,” Kesler smiled of their climb from seventh last year to second in 2011.

The third-place team of Keven Daniel and Chase Tryan, who’s a cousin to NFR ropers Clay, Travis and Brady Tryan, grabbed $61,110 for their total time of 46.76 seconds, and were followed in fourth place by Erich Rogers and Kory Koontz, who roped six steers in 47.84 for $30,555. Wrangler Jeans and Shirts pumped $6,500 in bonus bucks into the Wrangler Round
in addition to BFI short-round money. Richard Eiguren and Kyle Lockett, who were the 10th high team back, were 6.67 on their last steer to drag down an additional $9,500, including
the Wrangler bonus.

The Best BFI Head and Heel Horses received Lazy “L” saddles and CSI pads. BFI officials awarded 2011 Best BFI Head Horse honors to Eiguren’s bay horse Jim, 14, whose registered name is Docs New Boots. Eiguren bought Jim as a 6-year-old, and ranched on him for six
years in remote Jordan Valley, Ore., before starting him as a head horse two years ago. Eiguren’s wife, Marcia, also ropes on Jim. “He scores good, runs hard and really uses his
butt,” Richard said. “He runs flat across the line, and is just a nice horse. I finally quit cowboying on him, because I don’t want to risk hurting him. He’s too valuable for that now. The horse makes all the difference in the world here, and this horse gives you a chance to
win on any steer you draw.” Eiguren and his partner, Kyle Lockett of Visalia, Calif., placed
sixth in the BFI average in 51.42 seconds.

This year’s Best BFI Heel Horse award went to a 9-year-old red roan horse by the name of Stranger—his registered name is Baileys Dry Doc—that Todd Hampton of Chowchilla, Calif., borrowed from David Howze, who lives in Hanford. “I sold my sorrel horse Monkey to Utah’s Derick Fleming in April, and had this roan horse there to show Derick at the same time,” Hampton explained (Fleming finished fifth in this year’s BFI average with Montana’s Britt Williams in 48.63 seconds). “When Derick bought my horse, David said to just keep his horse for a while, because he was headed to Alaska. He’s a good one. I’ve rodeoed on him a month, and have won quite a bit on him. My brother, Justin, used to head on him a little bit too.”

Classic Ropes and Boot Barn awarded Hampton and his header, fellow Californian Daniel Green, a $2,000 bonus for being the team that finished just out of the average money in seventh place. They roped six steers in 52.77 seconds. Cory Kidd of Statesville, N.C., and Adam Plyler of Pageland, S.C., won the third round in 5 flat, and are now deadlocked with Charles Pogue and Dennis Gatz for the fifth fastest time in BFI history. Kidd and Plyler cashed the $2,000
Fast Time bonus sponsored by Justin Boots, Priefert, Silver Legacy and Coors Original. This year’s Fast Time team also received Cactus Saddlery saddles. The 4.46-second BFI Fast Time record was set in 2008 by Coleman Proctor and Jake Long. Champion’s Choice buckles were again awarded in every round.

The “BFI 34 Club” remains intact. Team roping icons who haven’t missed the BFI books in
34 years include Allen Bach, who won the 1979 BFI with Brian Burrows; Denny Watkins, who won it with David Motes in 1981; Mike Beers, who won the 1987 BFI with Dee Pickett; and Walt Woodard, who topped the 2008 BFI with Clay Tryan.

The BFI is “Open to the World,” and held in conjunction with the “Wildest, Richest Rodeo in
the West,” the million-dollar Reno Rodeo, which this year runs June 16-25 Announcers Bob Tallman, Reed Flake and Dru Stewart called the BFI action, and Harry Rose and Philip Murrah flagged the roping. Steve Branco and Danny Martinez served as the line judges. Flying T
 Cattle Company of Carrisa Plains, Calif., provided the cattle, which were run over an 18-foot score and out of a 19-foot box. Flying T is the Twisselman family, and per Caleb they roped every steer and cut out 30 of them that didn’t fit in order to bring the most uniform cattle possible.

The Silver Legacy Resort Casino is the official headquarters of the BFI. Other major sponsors
of the 2011 BFI included Wrangler, Justin Boots, Boot Barn, Ram Rodeo, Priefert Ranch Equipment, Cactus Ropes, Champion’s Choice Buckles, Coors Original, Running P Ropes and Saddles, Classic Ropes, Coats Saddlery, B&W Trailer Hitches, Cactus Saddlery, Lazy “L” Saddles and Ropers Sports News. New major sponsors on board at the BFI in 2011 included Pendleton Whisky/Hood River Distillers and Ropes to Go.

Complete BFI ’11 results are posted online at bobfeistinvitational.com. In-depth coverage of this year’s BFI will be featured in the July issue of Ropers Sports News. BFI fans also were
able to listen to this year’s action live via ProRodeoLive.com. BFI 2011 DVDs can be ordered through Rodeo Video by calling 800-331-1269. BFI photos can be ordered from Kirt Steinke
at 208-739-2416.

Average Results - FINAL

 1st Go Round

 2nd Go Round

 3rd Go Round

4th Go Round

5th Go Round

Short Go Wrangler Round

Fastest Time

              Host Hotel & Major Sponsor:
                           

Bob Feist Invitational Team Roping