Ethen Thouvenell splits win in second NFR go-round

Ethen Thouvenell's mother lives in Fallbrook, but Thouvenell himself travels throughout the country during the year to compete in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association competition as a steer wrestler.

Thouvenell qualified for the 2010 National Finals Rodeo (NFR) as one of the 15 top earners in the event, and on Dec. 3 he shared first place in a National Finals Rodeo go-round at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Thouvenell and fellow Californian Luke Branquinho of Los Alamos each had times of 3.9 seconds on their Dec. 3 runs to split first and second place in the second NFR go-round. Each earned $15,676.08 for the go-round performance.

"It was a pretty good experience," Thouvenell said.

"Making NFR has been a dream of mine for a lot of years," Thouvenell said. "To finally be able to qualify and to win a go-round early on is a good deal."

Thouvenell entered NFR with $67,067 of Steer Wrestling earnings for the 2010 season. He placed sixth in the first go-round Dec. 2 with a run of 4.3 seconds to earn $2,824.52 for that go-round.

Thouvenell is using Lee Graves as his hazer who guides the steer. Thouvenell is also riding Graves' horse Jesse during NFR.

Oregon’s Trevor Knowles and Alberta bulldogger Cody Cassidy, whose runs of 4.0 seconds Dec. 3 split third and fourth, followed Thouvenell and Branquinho.

The go-round winners, in this case both Thouvenell and Branquinho, took a lap around the Thomas and Mack Center arena following the completion of the day's Steer Wrestling event. Later that night they received go-round victory buckles during a presentation at the South Point. "That was a pretty neat experience, too," Thouvenell said.