Marcus Battaglia wins team roping at Watsonville rodeo

By Joe Naiman

Ramona’s Marcus Battaglia won the team roping event at the Santa Cruz Deputy Sheriff’s Charity Rodeo in Watsonville.

Battaglia, who was the team roping header, and heeler Kyle Lockett of Visalia had a time of 6.0 seconds.

“Got a fast start,” Battaglia said.

Battaglia started the weekend Oct. 1 at the San Dimas Western Days Rodeo, but he lost his rope in the Saturday afternoon performance.

“You can’t look back at that,” he said.

Lane Santos-Karney of Creston and Jordan Ketscher of Squaw Valley competed at the Watsonville rodeo on Saturday and posted a time of 6.2 seconds, which led the rodeo before Battaglia and Lockett made their run Oct. 2. The steer Battaglia and Lockett drew went to the left.

“I didn’t know what he was going to do,” Battaglia said. “It happened to work out.”

Diamond G Rodeo was the stock contractor at Watsonville.

“The steers are bigger, so everything happens a lot slower,” Battaglia said of the times.

“Steer just was good,” Battaglia said of his run. “It was nothing really fancy.”

Battaglia rode Cocky for the Santa Cruz Deputy Sheriff’s Charity Rodeo. He and Lockett each took home $1,102 for their first-place time.

Battaglia didn’t enter California’s other rodeo that weekend, the Kern County Fair Rodeo in Bakersfield, but that rodeo gave Ramona cowboy Cameron Elston his only payout of the weekend. Elston and Stan Branco of Chowchilla had identical Tie-Down Roping times of 10.7 seconds to split fourth and fifth place and earn $107 apiece.