Laughery goes back-to-back

Recent Carter County High School graduate Cardell Laughery is the Montana high school rodeo saddle bronc champion for a second straight year.

Laughery defended his title at the Montana High School Rodeo Association Finals in Great Falls last weekend. He told the Eagle on Tuesday that it wasn't easy to repeat as champion, but a 62-point ride in the short-go at the finals gave him just enough points to finish the season ahead of his closest competitor. In fact, he finished in first by exactly one point.

Last year, a rider's top seven rides counted for points during the MHSRA season, and at 10 points for a winning ride, the maximum amount of points possible for the season was 70. This year, however, Laughery said that changes were made with MHSRA, and a rider's top fifteen rides for the season counted, making the maximum amount of points possible on the year 150.

That equated to a lot more rodeoing for Laughery, both in the fall and this spring.

"I'd have to do some math quick, but I think I won six rodeos in a row last fall. Then I won six more this spring and had a few ninth place finishes. One of them was a tie. Anyway, I went to Great Falls with 146.5 out of a possible 150 points. I'd guess I had about 30 rides total for the year."

Even with all the riding throughout the season, Laughery was only six points ahead on the first day in Great Falls.

The first day at state Laughery said he drew a weak horse and scored 58 points. He was given the option of a re-ride but double-grabbed at about six seconds so came away with zero points on day one. On day two he drew the same horse that he had for his re-ride on day one and scored 52 points, good enough for third in the round.

Laughery finished second in the short-go with a 62 point ride. That second place finish gave him just enough points to earn the saddle in Great Falls for a second straight year. He finished third in the average.

With a pair of state champion saddles, Laughery is next eyeing a top finish at the National High School Rodeo Association Finals in Gillette, Wyoming. The finals will take place from July 16th through July 22nd. He is also planning on participating in some Slope Circuit and SDRA rodeos this summer.

In the fall, Laughery will head to Odessa, Texas to attend Odessa College where he will ride saddle bronc for the rodeo team and study electrical fabrication.

Cardell Laughery is the son of Carl and Camille Laughery.