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Tim Abbott spent a sleepless night in Cheyenne last Saturday.

The 25-year-old steer roper, who is in his first year on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association tour, kept replaying the situation he was going to face Sunday in the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo.

He was in second place of the final round, surrounded by a couple of eight-time world champions, Trevor Brazile in the lead and Roy Cooper in third place.

Abbott, who is from Midland, Texas, figured one slip could ruin it. Most of his roping this year had been done at smaller events, where he had gone against some good competition, but never like being in a position to win a prestigious rodeo like Cheyenne, which promoters like to call the Daddy of 'em All. After all, he had won only $6,586 coming into the Frontier Days.

"I kept waking up and wondering how Trevor was going to play it," he said about Saturday night. "Or what Roy was going to do."

Finally Sunday arrived, and none too soon for Abbott. He'd been sweating long enough.

He was nervous as he watched Cooper, who is 52, go into the box. He witnessed Cooper trip the steer in good time, but then he saw something he couldn't believe. Cooper was having problems in the field when the steer started to kick. The 30-second clock eventually expired, so Cooper no longer served as a threat.

Then it was Abbott's time. He drew a strong steer, which he was able to trip in good time and then tie him in 18.1 seconds.

Now there was one more competitor left – Brazile. The five-time world all-around champion easily got the steer on the ground, and it looked like this was Brazile's time to take home the championship. But while Brazile was getting ready to tie the steer's legs, the steer got up, thus disqualifying Brazile.

Abbott almost fainted.

"I couldn't believe it when the steer got up on Trevor," he said.

So Abbott was the last one standing at the head of the class, tying three steers in 49.2 seconds. He earned $15,472 and moved into sixth place in the world standings with $22,058 in earnings.

"Wake me up when all of this sinks in," he said afterward. "Winning Cheyenne. Now that's something. I would never have believed that could happen."

Earning a title at Cheyenne for a cowboy is like a golfer winning the Masters.

Another factor Abbott enjoyed about roping at Cheyenne was that it came during the regular performance of the rodeo. Most rodeo arenas aren't big enough for the event, so it is held at another venue close by.

Whitfield, Myers win: Seven-time world champion Fred Whitfield and six-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier Cash Myers highlighted the champions from the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour stop in Salt Lake City last week.

Whitfield shared the tie-down roping title with Blake Huckabee of Shreveport, La., both finishing with times of 15.8 seconds on two head.

Myers, who is searching his first NFR steer wrestling berth since 2005, won his event and moved into fifth place in the world standings, earning $7,217.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUG. 1-2 – Mesquite Championship Rodeo, Resistol Arena on I-635 at Military Parkway, Mesquite. 8 p.m. $7-$30. Parking, $5. 972-285-8777. www.mesquiterodeo.com.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY, AUG. 1-2 – Stockyards Rodeo, Cowtown Coliseum, Fort Worth. 8 p.m. Reserved seats, $20; VIP Club Section, $20; General admission, $15; Children (3-12), $10; Seniors (60 and Over), $12.50. 817-625-1025 or 888_ Cowtown. www.stockyardsrodeo.com.