Competing for more than $50,000 in prize money in the third performance of the week, the participants kicked off the evening with the grand entry by parading around the arena on their horses, followed by a salute to our military and first responders, a prayer by announcer Greg Simas and the singing of the national anthem. Little did the crowd know that it would see something spectacular in the last event of the night — the bull riding

The competition began with the bareback bronc riding event, often referred to as the “most physically demanding event in rodeo.” Of the nine cowboys competing, five had successful rides with Matthew Smith of Lake Luzerne, New York, posting the high score of 80 points. He was followed closely by Tim Kent of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania with a 77-point ride.

The steer wrestlers had the toughest competition of the week with four of them posting times that were under six seconds, and the four were separated by only six-10s of a second. A.J. Williams of New Providence, Pennsylvania was fastest as he tossed his steer to the arena dirt in 5.0 seconds. Brayden Mahon of Lake Luzerne, New York missed a tie for first by one-10th of a second at 5.1.

One of the most exciting events was the saddle bronc riding where four cowboys posted times within six points of each other. The high score was 77 points, posted by Tyler Pruitt of Chesnee, South Carolina, on a bronc named Fire Works. Coleman Rae, who traveled from Fort Worth, Texas, was second, only one point behind.

Above, Melanie Walters, a 2015 Falconer Central School graduate now living in Erieville, N.Y., competes in the barrel racing Friday. P-J photo by Tim Frank

Perhaps the humid air interfered with their ropes, but the teams that roped the horns and hind legs of their steer had a tough night as only two of the 10 teams were successful. Waylon Cameron of Oxford, Pennsylvania and his partner, Ryan Whetham of Woodstown, New Jersey, were fastest at 6.1 seconds. Brothers Lance Hower and Brock Hower from Milton, Pennsylvania were the only other team to be successful with a time of 9.5 seconds.

The tie-down ropers also had problems as only two of the 10 cowboys were successful in tying their calves. Robbie Erck of Ft. Edward, New York, was fastest at 11.3 seconds, with Lavern King of Honey Brook, Pennsylvania, despite a 10-second penalty, posted the only other time at 22.8 seconds.

The cowgirls in the barrel racing event found their times slower than usual, probably due to the soft footing for the horses as a result of the rain from Thursday. Only one cowgirl, Jodi Colton of Afton, New York, broke the 16-second barrier while six others were between 17 and 16 seconds

The ladies also had a tough time in the breakaway roping event as only three of the 10 were successful in lassoing their calves. The three were separated by one-half second with Kelsey King of Honey Brook, Pennsylvania fastest at 3.3 seconds. Sam Vallone of Boston Spa, New York was close behind at 3.4.

“Angry again tonight” seems to be the only words to describe the bulls as there was only one successful ride. After three performances, the score stands at Bulls 42, Cowboys 5. This event, however, is providing the big story of the week as two of those successful rides were by a 19-year-old rookie phenom, Hudson Bolton from Milan, Tennessee, who made a spectacular ride last night, scoring one of the highest bull rides ever in this arena at 85 points. He is presently PBR “Rookie of the Year” and is ranked 15th in the World Standings. He earned $6,000 for his ride tonight.

Tyler Ferguson of Deer Trail, Colo., riding Ghost Story, hangs on during bareback riding at the 80th Gerry Rodeo on Friday night. P-J photo by Tim Frank

In addition to the competition, fans were brought to their feet by the skillful and dangerous moves of trick rider Courtney Schum as she raced around the arena on the backs of her two trained horses. Funnyman Robb Gann entertained throughout the performance with his humor, which ended with an explosion that shook the entire arena. Veteran announcer Greg Simas did his usual skillful job as he kept the fans informed non-stop for nearly three hours about each event while adding information about each contestant and animal involved.

The final performance of the 2025 rodeo kicks off tonight at 8 with a large chunk of the more than $50,000 prize money up for grabs in all eight of the rodeo events. The barbecue beef dinners will be served for the last time until next August starting at 5. Chef Kyle VanAkin reports that his kitchen crew served 980 dinners tonight with a total of 1,800 over the first three evenings. The midway featuring more than 20 vendors is open for the entire evening.

At 4 this afternoon, children ages 3-8 can enjoy a free rodeo where they can dress up and play rodeo-related games in the arena supervised by rodeo personnel. All will receive backtags, and a belt buckle will be given to the best-dressed cowboy and cowgirl. Registration is at 3 p.m.

Rodeo chairman Tom Atwell expresses his thanks to all the fans for supporting this event as it is the major fund raiser for the Gerry Volunteer Fire Department which answers about 350 fire and EMS calls each year. All proceeds go to the department. He also praised the approximately 150 volunteers who make the event possible.

Additional information and tickets are available at the rodeo website www.gerryrodeo.com, at the ticket gates or by phone at (716) 985-4847. The committee just reported that half the tickets for tonight are sold.