February 16, 2008
Murphy continues his winning ways in the Twin Cities, remains atop the standings for Toughest Cowboy Ranch

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The 2008 World’s Toughest Rodeo™ featuring Toughest Cowboy™ rode into the Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis/St. Paul for two tournament stops en route to the championship tournament in Columbus, Ohio. Eight cowboys continue to battle for playoff positions and the opportunity to grab the deed to Toughest Cowboy Ranch.

Bandy Murphy has been the cowboy to beat all year and he continued to demonstrate why during the first of two tournament stops in the Twin Cities. Murphy was coming off a big win in Tournament Five, in Philadelphia, and was looking to capture his third tournament title of the 2008 season. The Home Depot cowboy was matched against Jared Green, who is juggling his college classes at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales with the Toughest Cowboy tournaments. Murphy came out firing in the bareback riding scoring 83 points to easily capture the win over Green, who came down well before the eight-second whistle. For Green things didn’t get much better in the saddle bronc riding or bull riding competition, while Murphy continued to roll scoring an event high in the saddle bronc riding with an 82-point ride on Aces Full.

“I drew really well tonight and was given a great opportunity to collect four more wins to add to my overall total and I took advantage of that,” said Murphy of his performance in St. Paul. “Winning three of the six stops so far isn’t bad and this gets me one step closer to my ultimate goal do winning Toughest Cowboy for the second consecutive year.”

Murphy won the overall tournament with four wins and 238 total points. Finishing second to Murphy was Shane Proctor who was matched against Trey Broussard. Proctor captured the bareback riding win after edging the Dodge cowboy by 24 points. With one win under his belt, Proctor glided through the next two events to sweep the match and pickup 227 total points to finish second to Murphy in the tournament and is currently second in the overall standings for Toughest Cowboy Ranch.

Wrangler’s Erik Wolford was matched against Nelson Tsosie. Wolford took the early lead with an event best 88-point ride in the bareback riding to edge the B&W Trailer Hitches cowboy by nine points. It was a tight race in the saddle bronc riding with Wolford getting the win by a mere four points. Wolford completed the sweep in the bull riding after outdistancing Tsosie by 29 points. Wolford finished the tournament with four wins and 204 total points and is currently third in the overall standings.

In the third match-up of the night Clovis Crane faced the 2006 PRCA World Champion Bull Rider B.J. Schumacher. Despite winning the match three to one, Schumacher injured his left knee mid-way through his bull ride when the bull fell on top of him. The Hillsboro, Wis., cowboy suffered a grade two sprain of the medial collateral ligament (MCL) and as a result his quest for the Toughest Cowboy Ranch came to a crashing halt.

Tournament 6 Results
St. Paul, MN

Match 1
Jared Green, Socorro vs. Bandy Murphy – 0 wins to 4 wins; 68 points to 238 points; Green (10), Murphy (20)

Match 2
Nelson Tsosie vs. Erik Wolford – 0 wins to 4 wins; 162 points to 204 points; Tsosie (14),  Wolford (17)

Match 3
Clovis Crane vs. B.J. Schumacher – 1 win to 3 wins; 159 points to 182 points; Crane (9), Schumacher (13)

Match 4
Trey Broussard vs. Shane Proctor – 0 wins to 4 wins; 145 points to 227 points; Broussard (9),  Proctor (18)

Non-televised Alternate Match-ups
Logan Hodson vs. Danny Ward – 4 wins to 0 wins; 209 points to 78 points
Dusty Elkinton vs. Chad Eubank – 1 win to 3 wins; 174 points to 225 points

Tournament 5 winner: Bandy Murphy
Toughest Cowboy Ranch leader: Bandy Murphy

Overall standings from Tournament 6:
1. Bandy Murphy, 4 wins, 238 points; 2. Shane Proctor, 4 wins, 227 points; 3. Erik Wolford, 4 wins, 204 points; 4. B.J. Schumacher, 3 wins, 182 points; 5. Clovis Crane, 1 wins, 159 points; 6. Nelson Tsosie, 0 wins, 162 points; 7. Trey Broussard, 0 wins, 145 points; 8. Jared Green, 0 wins, 68 points.

Overall standings after Tournament 6 (standings based on wins and then total points):
1. Bandy Murphy, 20 wins, 1419 total points; 2. Shane Proctor, 18 wins, 1328 points; 3. Erik Wolford, 17 wins, 1268 total points; 4. Nelson Tsosie, 14 wins, 1101 total points; 5. B.J. Schumacher, 13 wins, 1143 total points; 6. Jared Green, 10 wins, 956 total points; 7. Trey Broussard, 9 wins, 1105 total points; 8. Clovis Crane, 8 wins, 1135 total points.