Round Four of the 2008 Trainer Bowl presented by Kendalls Western Hats is over. We have received an astonishing 100,000+ votes so far. We had four extremely tight races that all came down to the wire!
We have now narrowed the field to the final four. In the Jason Martin and Charlie Cole match-up, after thousands of votes were received, the winner was decided by fewer than 10 votes. The rest of the brackets were extremely close as well!
Jason Martin (51%) defeated Charlie Cole (49%)
Deanna Searles (52%) defeated Robin Griggs (48%)
Jeffrey Pait (51%) defeated Steve Ferguson (49%)
Steve Heckaman (54%) defeated Rusty Green (46%)
Click here to see RESULTS from all rounds.
ROUND THREE RECAP
Tracy Willis (50%) vs. Rusty Green (50%)
Nine votes! That was the difference in the contest between Willis and Green. Green had the advantage for the majority of round three and Willis made a big push in the final hours. But it wasn’t enough. Despite the percentages showing 50-50, Green tallied nine more votes and is declared the winner.
Steve Heckaman (51%) vs. Steve Meadows (49%)
The battle of the Steves was a great one. The race was tight down to the very end. It looked like Meadows was going to pull it off but Heckaman had enough votes waiting in the wings and he squeaked it out.
ROUND TWO RECAP
There were four match-ups that came down to the last few minutes:
Charlie Cole (50%) vs. John Briggs (50%)
This match-up received the greatest amount of total votes. Cole led most of the time but Briggs took the lead on the final day. But despite Cole driving in the truck to Florida, he was able to sneak it out. The graph showed the two were tied at 50-50 but Cole did in fact win by 107 votes which was less than 1% of the total votes cast. Cole’s next opponent: Terry Cross.
Nancy-Sue Ryan (50%) vs Robin Griggs (50)%)
Ryan received the highest number of votes in Round 1 but wasn’t able to work her magic against a tough Round 2 opponent. Even though Griggs was in the middle of moving to a new state, it didn’t keep her from calling and emailing everyone she knew. She won by just 4 votes! Griggs’ next opponent: Ryan Painter.
JT Mitchell (49%) vs. Doug Landon (51%)
Hard fought battle that went back and forth during the entire voting session. Landon squeaked it out at the end but it was very close! Landon’s next opponent: Jeffrey Pait
Karen Hornick (49%) vs. Steve Meadows (51%)
These two received the highest number of votes per competitor in the pleasure bracket but Meadows edged out Hornick by just 20 votes. Meadows received news of his close victory while in the truck escaping the bad weather in Virginia for the 80 degrees forcasted in Florida. Meadows’ next opponent: Steve Heckaman.
ROUND ONE RECAP
The voting was fast and furious, right down to the midnight central time cut off! Here are the top-10 highest scoring contestants…note that 4 of the top 10 contestants actually lost their match-ups:
1) Nancy-Sue Ryan
2) Beth Case
3) Casi Gilliam (L)
4) Charlie Cole
5) Jason Martin
6) Chris Thompson (L)
7) John Briggs
8) Dan Trein (L)
9) Doug Huls
10) Brad Kearns (L)
Some noteworthy contests:
Charlie Cole vs. Reid Thomas
Thomas took the lead early but within hours Cole built a resounding lead and never looked back. Thomas put up a strong showing and even in the losing effort, received more votes than most winning contestants. Cole was just too tough. Cole 78% vs. Thomas 22%
Doug Huls vs. Brad Kearns
Kearns led out of the shoot but Huls drew close on the last day and put Kearns away in the final hours. This match-up had a very high number of total votes between both contestants . Huls 52% vs. Kearns 48%.
Beth Case vs. Chris Thompson
Wow this was a tough one! Case led from the beginning and received the second highest total number of votes in the contest. The High Point Performance Horses hunt seat trainer won by a deciding margin even though Thompson recorded the sixth highest total number of votes overall. Case 64% vs. Thompson 36%.
Casi Gilliam vs. Nancy-Sue Ryan
This was a classic tortoise and the hare story. Underdog Gilliam shot out with a powerful lead that looked impossible to lose, but Ryan stayed the course and it wasn’t close in the end. This match-up received more combined votes than any other. Gilliam 42% vs. Ryan 58%
Ronnie Casper vs. Ted Turner
Turner may have 65 AQHA World Championships but Casper proved too tough in this online battle. It was close but we are suspecting that voting “gifts” by Casper in the form of diamonds provided by Hannah put him over the top in the end. Casper 53% vs. Tuner 47%.
Randy Jacobs vs. J.T. Mitchell
This pair received the highest number of combined votes in the halter bracket. It was back and forth all week with Mitchell pulling it out at the 11th hour. Jacobs 47% vs. Mitchell 53%.
David Dellin vs. Tracy Willis
This was the tightest fought contest with just 11 votes making the difference between the winner and loser. Willis squeaked it out at the end, but barely. Dellin 49% vs. Willis 51%.
Steve Heckaman vs. Brett Parrish
Karen Hornick vs. EH Pait
Heckaman text messaged, posted and emailed his way to a big win. Providing proof that the contest wasn’t rigged in any way, he beat Brett Parrish, brother of Brook Parrish, the owner of the presenting sponsor, Kendalls Western Hats. As further proof that the fix wasn’t on, the owner of GoHorseShow.com’s personal trainer, EH Pait, lost a tough fight to Karen Hornick. Heckaman 59% vs. Parrish 41% – Hornick 51% vs. Pait 49%.
