Ryan Brennecke / The Bulletin

SISTERS — The Sisters Rodeo has always been good to Sean Santucci.

The Prineville cowboy won the steer wrestling title at the rodeo in 2012 and has finished in the money here each of the past three years.

Santucci’s love affair with the Sisters Rodeo continued Saturday afternoon as the 27-year-old bulldogger posted the third-fastest steer wrestling time in the rodeo’s 74-year history, turning in a time of 3.8 seconds. The 2005 Crook County High School graduate has been on a hot streak of late, having won the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show in Union last weekend. He also took home a check from the Rocky Pro Rodeo in Rocky House, Alberta, last week.

“I’m just trying to put the pedal down and go to a lot of rodeos,” said Santucci, who entered the weekend ranked 18th in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association steer wrestling world standings. “I’ve got a young horse. We’re winning some and losing some.”

Santucci has just missed out on qualifying for the National Finals Rodeo the past two seasons, finishing 19th in the world standings — the top 15 advance to the NFR — in both 2012 and 2013. He will be in Central Oregon for the next few days, helping run cattle for the family ranch before hitting the rodeo circuit hard for the remainder of the summer.

“That’s huge to have a couple days off,” said Santucci, a four-time College National Finals Rodeo qualifier who has won six rodeos since turning pro in 2008.

Next he will continue his push for a top-15 spot on the winnings list with an eye on the NFR in Las Vegas in early December.

“We’re hitting it hard,” Santucci said about his upcoming rodeo schedule. “You’ve got to get to a lot of rodeos and hit that groove.

“There’s a limit of how many rodeos you can do in a season,” he added. “You’ve just got to grind it out.”

Santucci’s win Saturday afternoon was especially impressive, as others in the field included fellow Oregonian Trevor Knowles, of Mt. Vernon, who is No. 2 on the 2014 PRCA steer wrestling money list, and three-time NFR qualifier Billy Bugenig, of Ferndale, Calif.

In bareback riding, Montana cowboy Chase Erickson recorded an 81-point ride Saturday afternoon to put him in a tie for first place. Wyoming’s Seth Hardwick posted an 81 on Friday night.

“I’d seen this horse last year and he bucked the kid good,” Erickson said. “And then a couple of weeks ago (Texas cowboy) Chris Harris won a round on him in Canada. I figured he was good enough that I drove 12 hours (from Helena, Mont.) to ride him.”

Erickson, who placed 22nd in the bareback world standings last year, has had a relatively quiet spring. He and his wife celebrated the birth of their first child, a son, six months ago.

“That’s been pretty much the highlight of my year,” Erickson said about becoming a father. “I didn’t really rodeo much this spring.”

Livermore, Calif., cowboy Nick Laduke registered the top saddle bronc score Saturday afternoon, registering a 78, which tied him for second place in the overall standings. Tom Richards, of Humboldt, Ariz., and partner Monty Joe Peska, of Turlock, Calif., turned in the top team roping time of the second round, a 5.2-second mark. And cowgirl Ann Scott, of Canyon Country, Calif., took the lead in barrel racing after posting a mark of 17.5 seconds.

The Sisters Rodeo, which also hosted a Saturday night performance, wraps up with the fourth and final performance today starting at 1 p.m.

—Reporter: 541-383-0305, 
beastes@bendbulletin.com.