LAS VEGAS (AP) Steven Peebles won his second consecutive bareback round Saturday night in the National Finals Rodeo, scoring 86.5 points on Cool Water.
Peebles, from Redmond, Oregon, has jumped from 14th to third in the standings in the first three rounds with a season total of $151,960. He leads the NFR aggregate standings with 252 points and tops all NFR competitors with $71,875.
''I feel awesome mentally and physically,'' Peebles said. ''After riding through pain all season and barely making it into the finals, to be able to do all of this has me speechless. I'm trying not to overthink it and don't want to change a thing. I want to keep spurring every horse jump-for-jump until this is over.''
Four-time champion Kaycee Feild of Spanish Fork, Utah, leads with $158,290. He failed to earn a check Saturday with a 72.5 on Red Gold.
''People asked me before I got here if I thought I had a chance coming in 14th,'' Peebles said. ''I really wanted to come in here the first few rounds and be able to win and get caught up to Kaycee. I wanted to be caught up by the middle of the rodeo and have a clean slate, so this feels great.''
In team roping, header Aaron Tsinigine of Tuba City, Arizona, and heeler Ryan Motes of Weatherford, Texas, claimed their second round victory in 4.0 seconds. Tsinigine and Motes are each second in the standings, with $146,230 for Tsinigine and $145,098 for Motes.
''Two out of three rounds is everything I've always dreamed of,'' Tsinigine said. ''Winning two of the first three rounds blows the roof off for me. It's what I was pretending to do when I was a little kid roping the dummy; I was roping at the NFR and I was winning rounds. This is fun, and so far so good. But the main thing is I'm going to try and catch 10 head here.''
Header Clay Tryan of Billings, Montana, and heeler Jade Corkill, of Fallon, Nevada, tied for sixth in 9.3 to remain atop the standings with $153,612 each.
In bull riding, defending champion Sage Kimzey of Strong City, Oklahoma, increased his lead by finishing second with an 84.5 on Mellow Yellow. Kimzey has earned $205,331. Cody Teel of Kountze, Texas, won the round with an 86.5 on Lineman.
In steer wrestling, Clayton Hass of Terrell, Texas, won with a 3.6 and moved into third place with $131,411. Ty Erickson of Helena, Montana, second in 3.8, regained the lead with $142,934. Clayton Hass of Terrell, Texas, won with a 3.6.
In saddle bronc riding, Cody DeMoss of Heflin, Louisiana, retook the lead by winning with an 84 on Big Fork. DeMoss has earned $167,897.
In tie-down roping, Timber Moore of Aubrey, Texas, took over the lead by tying for third with a 7.7. Moore has earned $149,452. Caleb Smidt of Bellville, Texas, and Tyson Durfey of Savannah, Missouri, tied for first at 7.5.
In barrel racing, Lisa Lockhart of Oelrichs, South Dakota, remained the leader by finishing sixth in 13.94. She has earned $197,482. Taylor Jacob of Carmine, Texas, was second in 13.77.
In all-around, Trevor Brazile of Decatur, Texas, leads with $328,473 in earnings in steer roping, tie-down roping and team roping. JoJo LeMond of Andrews, Texas, was second with $160,377.
