LAS VEGAS — The Central Oregon cowboys are taking over the bareback riding competition at the National Finals Rodeo.

All three local bareback competitors earned checks during the eighth round of the NFR on Thursday night, with Culver’s Bobby Mote tying for first in the go-round.

Mote, the second-to-last cowboy in the go-round, posted a score of 84.5 points on a horse named Big Easy. He tied with Clint Cannon, of Walter, Texas, the go-round’s final rider. Both men took home checks for $15,342.54.

It was the third time in four nights that Mote either won or tied for a victory in a go-round.

The two men are also battling for first place in the world standings at the NFR, which brings together the top 15 performers from the year in a variety of rodeo disciplines.

Mote is second in the world standings, just under $35,000 behind Cannon ($266,585.06 to $231,986.04) with two rounds remaining in the NFR.

But Mote is currently in the lead in the average with 672 points on eight horses. Jason Havens, of Prineville, is in second place with 659 on eight. If Mote wins the average, it would be worth more than $43,000 in the standings, which could vault him to his third world title in bareback.

Thursday night featured an “eliminator pen” of difficult horses, and Mote rode his draw to a big payday.

“I’ve had him before, but he’s never had that trip,” Mote said of Big Easy. “I’ve won a round at Salinas on him, and I’ve won a round in Fort Worth on him. He’s a good horse. He’s big, but he ain’t easy. Here, I ended up having $170,000 and being a half-year behind (Clint) still coming in here. That makes you lift your game when you’ve got competition that’s out there putting your feet to the fire. I’m really grateful he’s had the year he’s had, and it ain’t done yet. I’ve got two more chances to go and win as much as I can, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Redmond’s Steven Peebles tied for third place in bareback with a score of 81.5 on Cool Water, taking home a check for $8,707.93. Peebles, who appeared to injure himself after his ride, is now up to sixth in the average.

Havens also earned a check on Thursday, scoring 80 on Grated Coconut to place fifth and earn $4,423.08.

Redmond’s Casey McMillen earned a check in steer wrestling on Thursday night, placing in a tie for fifth with a time of 4 seconds. The performance earned him $3,593.75. Stockton Graves won the go-round with a time of 3.4.

It was McMillen’s second check in as many nights. He has moved up to seventh in the average.

Charly Crawford, of Prineville, and Russell Cardoza, of Farmington, Calif., were sixth in Thursday’s team-roping go-round, with a time of 5.6 seconds, well off the winning time of 3.8 seconds. Crawford earned $2,764.42. Their team is currently third in the average.

Terrebonne barrel racer Brenda Mays missed a check by one one-hundredth of a second for the second night in a row, finishing seventh in 14.09 seconds.