Fallon teen has sights on National Finals Rodeo qualification

A few months ago, Fallon's Jade Corkill thought he'd be easing into life on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit.
That all changed in late November when the 18-year-old Corkill, a team roping heeler, received an offer he couldn't refuse.
The offer came from Matt Tyler, an 18-time qualifier for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and one of the top team roping headers in the world. Tyler was looking for a partner for the 2006 season and asked Corkill if he'd like to team up.
So much for taking it easy.
"My original plan was just to get out here and try to get my feet wet," Corkill said. "But knowing I'll have a guy like Matt turning steers for me, it's an amazing feeling. It was just like having the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders.
"We'll be shooting for the NFR and trying to win everything we possibly can."
Corkill might be a PRCA rookie, but he's a team roping veteran.
He roped his first steer -- a wooden one in the living room of the family home -- when he was 1 and won his first paycheck at a rodeo (good for $25) when he was 6. He practiced by roping goats at the ranch owned by his parents, Bruce and Mitzi, and when he wasn't tossing a rope, he was watching tapes of roping, By the time he was 12, he was competing against -- and beating -- adults in national team roping competitions.
This past November, he teamed with Joel Bach of Weatherford, Texas to win the 2005 World Junior Team Roping Championships in Enid, Okla., winning the title over 367 other teams. Bach's father happens to be Allen Bach, a three-time PRCA world champion team roper and 24-time qualifier for the NFR.
The elder Bach set up the meeting between Corkill and Tyler and they hit it off immediately. In fact, Corkill is living in Lipan, Texas with Tyler and his family.
"He's a good guy," Corkill said. "We get along real well. We practice every day that we're not going somewhere."
Though the season is young, Tyler and Corkill have already cracked into the top 45 in the world standings, winning money at three of the five rodeos they've entered thus far.
The 41-year-old Tyler is no stranger to teaming with younger ropers. In 2003, he teamed rookie Patrick Smith and won the average at the NFR. Smith won the world championship last year with Clay Tryan.
That's where Corkill hopes to end up some day.
"I've dreamed about making the NFR forever, and this (teaming with Tyler) is the best opportunity you could ever have to make it. To have a partner like him, all I will have to do is hold up my end and do my job and things should work out."
They're already signed up for the Reno Rodeo and the Bob Feist Invitational Team Roping Classic in Reno in June.
"I'm really looking forward to that," Corkill said.
HOWARD QUALIFIES FOR POCATELLO: Fallon's David Howard will once again be heading for the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo after he won all three rounds and the average title in saddle bronc at the recent California Circuit Finals.
WNCC RODEO FUNDRAISER: Western Nevada Community College will be holding its fifth annual rodeo team fundraiser on March 25.
The silent auction, live auction, dinner and dance will be held at the Fallon Convention Center, 100 Campus Way in Fallon, starting at 6 p.m.
The event's honorary chairman is Carlin saddle bronc rider Ira Slagowski, a two-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier.

The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association plans to move its headquarters and the ProRodeo Hall of Fame facility to Albuquerque, N.M., a move that was announced by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
"For generations, rodeo has been an important part of our culture," Richardson at a Sunday press conference. "This announcement will ensure that rodeo remains a vital and exciting part of New Mexico's future as well."
The exact details of the agreement to move the PRCA to New Mexico are still being finalized. This includes the exact location of the headquarters and ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Albuquerque. However, the package will include state funding assistance to help finance the construction of a new facility within the next 18 months, and $5 million to promote the sport of ProRodeo. The package will include a public/private partnership.
PBR HEADING FOR RENO MARCH 3-5: The Professional Bull Riders will make their annual Built Ford Tough Series stop in Reno March 3-5.
The Reno-Tahoe Invitational wil be held at the downtown Reno Events Center.
Defending Reno and world champion Justin McBride will lead the all-star field of riders into town for the three-day event.