Colby Yates, a late addition to the competition, won the Iron Cowboy Invitational II at Cowboys Stadium in front of a crowd of 38,641 Saturday night.
“No, this hasn’t sunk in yet,” Yates said afterward.
Yates didn’t receive the call to replace the injured Robson Palermo until Wednesday afternoon, and just three days later, the Fort Worth cowboy had a career night, advancing through the right side of the bracket for a shot at Super Duty and a $100,000 bonus.
As this year’s Iron Cowboy, he claimed the $50,000 first-place payout, while Austin Meier took home $25,000 for second place.
Yates, who a year ago considered retiring from the sport, initially covered bad Medicine for 86.5 points to eliminate last year’s runner-up Travis Briscoe. He then knocked out Silvano Alves and J.B. Mauney in one of the most exciting matchups of the night.
Mauney covered Chicken on a Chain for 90 points, only to watch Yates turn in a 92.25-point effort on Carrillo Cartel.
In the semifinal round, Yates challenged Valdiron de Oliveira’s buckoff time on Perfect Poison.
Yates had stayed on Voodoo Child for 3.23 seconds and Oliveira was originally clocked at 3.38, but after further review it was ruled that he lost his rope at 3.01, giving Yates the right to face Meier in the final round.
Meier had advanced in to the final round by default, when Ryan McConnel landed on his head after bucking off Stubby. McConnel was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.
In the final round, Yates stayed on I’m a Gangster longer than Meier stayed on Bushwacker, and took the title.
After making it to the bonus round Yates lasted just 2.54 seconds on Super Duty.
Because of that buckoff, the $100,000 will roll over to the Last Cowboy Standing event in Las Vegas on April 16.
— by Keith Ryan Cartwright