Ellensburg Rodeo -- Muncy back in the saddle

YAKIMA -- For three months, Taos Muncy had been, in his own words, "going nuts."

This is what happens when you're 21 years old, a world-class athlete at the top of your game -- he's the PRCA's reigning champion saddle-bronc rider -- and you're laid up with an injury.

Muncy was in fifth place in the PRCA's world saddle bronc standings n late April, when Muncy broke two bones in his right leg at the Red Bluff (Calif.) Roundup. It marked the first time in his young rodeo career an injury has sidelined him for a lengthy period, and it wasn't much fun.

"I was laid out forever, seems like," Muncy said Wednesday in a telephone interview from Goodwell, Okla., where he attends Oklahoma Panhandle State University. "I was on crutches for 15 weeks, couldn't do nothin'. I rode a (stationary) bike at the house, been roping a little bit at the house, been busy at school. That's about it."

Early this week, though, Muncy got some good news -- which should be big news for the Ellensburg Rodeo, which begins at 7 a.m. today with the timed-event "slack" performance and with the full rodeo schedule Friday evening. On Monday, Muncy got the OK from his doctors to return to action. On Tuesday, he climbed onto his first bucking bronc in more than three months.

"It went good. I stayed on," he said with what sounded like a grin. "It felt really good. Yesterday, before I got on, I thought maybe I'm not quite ready, but if you're gonna do it, you got to go out there and do it. I felt rusty a little bit, but it felt pretty good."

That's big news for rodeo in general and the Ellensburg rodeo in particular. In a financially difficult year that has seen some rodeo contestant fields confined to local circuit cowboys and a handful of marquee names, Muncy is a big draw -- he's one of only three cowboys (along with Ty Murray in 1989 and Matt Austin in 2005) to win the college finals and a PRCA world title in the same year.

Muncy plans to make his rodeo return Friday at Walla Walla, then ride Saturday at the Magic Valley Stampede in Filer, Idaho, and then be up at Ellensburg's Sunday matinee performance. He's not likely to turn out at any rodeos, either; in his absence, he's dropped to 26th in the world standings, some $23,000 out of the top 15 spots that qualify for the National Finals Rodeo.

For northwest rodeos like Ellensburg and Walla Walla, Muncy's return essentially offsets losing Wesley Silcox, the reigning champion bull rider who underwent surgery Sunday after fracturing the tibia and fibula of his right leg at an Xtreme Bulls Tour event in Bremerton.

As usual, though, Ellensburg will still bring in the vast majority of the PRCA's top competitors.

In bareback riding, 15 of the top 16 riders in the current world standings are on the contestant list, including leader Steven Dent and Bobby Mote, the popular reigning champ out of Oregon. The saddle bronc field includes 15 of the top 17 in the standings, including Toppenish native Bobby Griswold, ninth in the latest standings and in good position to earn his fourth NFR berth.

The top 19 steer wrestlers are all entered, as are the top 16 teams in team roping, including Ellensburg's own Brady and Riley Minor, who both rank in the top eight in their respective header and heeler standings.

If you go

What: Ellensburg Rodeo.

When: Rodeo sessions -- Slack performance, 7 a.m. today; Friday, 6:45 p.m.; Saturday, 12:45 p.m.; Sunday, 12:45 p.m.; Monday (finals), 11:45 a.m. Xtreme Bulls -- Saturday, 8 p.m. Broncs Blowout -- Sunday, 6:45 p.m.

How much: Rodeo admission prices range from $15 to $23; Xtreme Bulls, $20 to $35; Broncs Blowout, $12 general admission.

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