Ruby Valley man qualifies for National Finals Rodeo
Thursday November 28, 2002ELKO, Nev. (AP) Ruby Valley cowboy Charley Gardner is one of two Nevada cowboys to qualify for this year's National Finals Rodeo.
Gardner, 32, finished first in saddle bronc class of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Wilderness Circuit, with earnings of $17,613.
The only other Nevadan to qualify for this year's finals was Randon Adams, a team-roping heeler from Logandale.
Gardner's win at the Cheyenne Frontier Days was this year's highlight of competition. He also won the all-around title in Innisfail, Canada, in 1999.
His parents, Cliff and Bertha Gardner, said Charley was raised in Ruby Valley where riding and ``helping with the cow work'' was a big part of his life from the time he could set a horse by himself.
He dreamed of making it to the National Finals Rodeo since his grammar school days but did not begin competing until the age of 22.
The National Finals Rodeo will be held Dec. 6-15 in Las Vegas.
(