Micah Smith, of Crawford, Texas, and B.J. Thompson, of Deridder, Louisiana, teamed up in the regular #14.5 WSTR (opens in a new tab) Qualifier at the Rose Palace in San Antonio (opens in a new tab), Texas, as a warm-up run to the #14.5 Mega-Qualifier after Thompson’s former college roommate, and one of Smith’s regular partners, Brandon Phillips, put them in touch.
“I didn’t even know who he was before today,” said Smith, who had roped with Phillips enough to take his advice on entering with the Louisianan.
The duo didn’t have any luck when Thompson came up short on their first steer, but it gave the heeler a good idea of what to expect in the next roping, and he was ready.
“He hooked it on that first steer and turned and I was late,” Thompson admitted. “I decided right there, I have to get down the arena and to the inside.”
After three quick runs, Smith and Thompson came back high call in the short round of the Mega-Qualifier. They finished with a time of 28.65 seconds on four to take home $14,930.
“I just listened to what we had to be,” Smith said. “There were two or three teams of us that were 21’s. I knew we had to be high 7’s and knew if I could just get a good start, we would be good. Honestly, I didn’t care if I won first or fourth.”
Smith, who owns and operates Gutter Edge, a seamless gutter company, had originally planned to go to Las Vegas (opens in a new tab), and it would have been his first trip to the Ariat WSTR Finale (opens in a new tab) in several years.
“I was geared up for Vegas,” Smith said, “but when they canceled the NFR (opens in a new tab), I kind of decided I would stay home.”
The San Antonio Mega-Qualifier, produced by Mathews Land & Cattle, gave ropers like Smith the perfect opportunity to stay closer to home and still rope for big money.
“I’m planning to go out to Decatur next week, too,” Smith added. “I told B.J., anytime you come up from Louisiana, call me up.”
The San Antonio Mega-Qualifier is the first of three Ariat WSTR Mega-Qualifiers set to take place in the first two weeks of December. The second will take place in Decatur, Texas, at the NRS (opens in a new tab) Arena, Dec. 9–13, with a third at Rancho Rio (opens in a new tab) in Wickenburg, Arizona, Dec. 7–12.
#14.5 WSTR Mega-Qualifier
San Antonio, Texas
Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020
Mathews Land & Cattle
1st in Avg. – 28.65 seconds on 4, Micah Smith & B.J. Thompson $14,930
2nd in Avg. – 28.79 seconds on 4, Kody Tredway & Andy Smallwood $11,200
3rd in Avg. – $7,460 seconds on 4, Kyla Stamps (opens in a new tab) & Seth Smithson $7,460
4th in Avg. – $3,730 seconds on 4, Kenna Francis (opens in a new tab) & Troy Luevanos $3,730
Fast Time SGO
1st – 5.89 seconds, Cameron Grady & Shiloh Seale $600
