Four rookies post victories on first night of NFR

Not much is expected from rookies on opening night of the National Finals Rodeo, but someone forgot to tell that to Joe Gunderson, Bill Bugenig, Colby Lovell and Clif Cooper.

The four first-timers each won $17,512 after placing first in their events in the first go-round of the world’s richest rodeo Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

“This whole year has been a dream come true for me, and I’ve been fortunate with the way everything’s gone,” said Gunderson, of Agar, S.D., who won the bareback round after starting the night with an 88-point ride on Brookman Rodeo’s Good Times. “I don’t have anything to complain about, and the way the Finals have started, it can’t get any better than that.”

Bugenig, of Ferndale, Calif., won steer wrestling with a time of 3.4 seconds with assistance from hazer Ken Lewis.

“I was a little nervous before, but when you back into the box, you focus in on the steer and everything feels better,” Bugenig said.

Although it was the first NFR for Lovell, of Madisonville, Texas, his heeling partner, Kory Koontz of Sudan, Texas, is competing in his 17th Finals. Their winning time was 4.1 seconds.

“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Lovell said. “Last night, I was in my room thinking about it, and I was hoping it would go well because I’ve had so many Facebook messages, so many texts, so many calls, so many people from back home are backing me. This was the first year I tried to make the NFR and the first year I headed at any pro rodeos, so I was hoping I could start out with a bang and show everybody that I do belong here.”

Cooper, one of Hall of Fame roper Roy Cooper’s three sons who are competing at the NFR, won calf roping with a run of 7.9 seconds.

Other winners in the first go-round were Jesse Kruse (Great Falls, Mont.), saddle bronc riding; Lisa Lockhart (Oelrichs, S.D.), barrel racing; and D.J. Domangue (Houma, La.), bull riding.

■ ALL-AROUND — Trevor Brazile placed third in team roping with heeler Patrick Smith to win $10,451 and extend his lead in the all-around standings to $169,401 over steer wrestler Curtis Cassidy, who finished out of the money.

Brazile, who is competing in two events but did not earn a check in calf roping Thursday, could clinch the all-round world title — his fifth in a row and eighth total — in tonight’s go-round.