Six titles on line in last go-round

It's do or die tonight in the last of 10 go-rounds of the National Finals Rodeo.

Three world titles have been clinched, but the remaining six will come down to performances tonight at the Thomas & Mack Center. The round starts at 5:45.

In Friday's night's ninth go-round, Luke Branquinho of Los Alamos, Calif., held onto his lead in the steer wrestling world standings but lost his steer while trying to get it to the ground and failed to post a time.

On the next run, Dean Gorsuch of Gering, Neb., pinned his steer in 3.6 seconds to tie for first place. Gorsuch pulled within about $10,000 of Branquinho and moved up to first in the event aggregate standings while Branquinho fell to seventh. If those positions hold, the bonus money paid would give Gorsuch the championship.

"I don't really want to think about that until tomorrow," said Gorsuch, who won a world title in 2006.

In saddle bronc riding, Wade Sundell of Boxholm, Iowa, tied for second in the go-round to pull within about $600 of leader Cody Wright, whose 78.5-point ride finished out of the money.

Sundell took the event aggregate lead away from Wright, so the championship in that category will come down to eight seconds.

Team roping is nearly that close.

Clay Tryan of Billings, Mont., and Travis Graves Jay, Okla., won the ninth round in 4.2 seconds to maintain their top spots as header and heeler, respectively, and Texans Trevor Brazile and Patrick Smith were second with a time of 4.3 seconds.

Tryan and Graves are first in the world standings, about $13,000 ahead of Brazile and Smith, but Brazile and Smith are three spots ahead in the event aggregate standings, and if that pace continues tonight, the payout difference of about $21,000 would give the world title to Brazile and Smith.

■ GO-ROUND WINNERS -- Winners of the ninth go-round were Kelly Timberman (Mills, Wyo.), bareback riding; Curtis Cassidy (Donalda, Alberta) and Gorsuch, tied in steer wrestling; Cort Scheer (Elsmere, Neb.), saddle bronc riding; Ryan Jarrett (Summerville, Ga.), calf roping; Angie Meadors (Blanchard, Okla.), barrel racing; and Wesley Silcox (Santaquin, Utah), bull riding.

Contact reporter Jeff Wolf at jwolf@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0247.