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Rising rodeo star's death shocks Colusa CountyAug 03, 2012 (Colusa County Sun-Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The death of a rising professional cowboy has sent shock waves through Colusa County. Broc Cresta, 25, of Santa Rosa, died in his sleep July 28 in his trailer at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo in Wyoming. A cause of death has not been determined. Cresta was the longtime roping partner of Spencer Mitchell, formerly of Williams. Mitchell is the grandson of Sue Mitchell, who owns Mitchell Manufacturing, and son of Steve Mitchell, who runs the plant located near the old Pirelli Cable. Mitchell is the nephew of Woody and Cathy Yerxa. The funeral was Friday in Santa Rosa. Spencer Mitchell and Cresta roped their way to back-to-back state high school championships in 2003 and 2004, the last when Mitchell was a junior at Williams High. Cresta was a Santa Rosa High School graduate. The pair have been to the National Finals Rodeo once, and won a national title in one of the development circuits. According to an article in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Cresta grew up on a Sonoma County ranch, and fell in love with roping and rodeo at and early age. "Our first pair of shoes weren't shoes, they were boots," his older brother, Brent Cresta of Santa Rosa, told the newspaper. "It was just a way of life. There are people that drive race cars, people who play football. We rode horses and we roped and that's all we ever knew." Cresta and Mitchell have won a number of rodeos in California this year, including those in Redding, Livermore, Oakdale, Bakersfield and Cotton Rosser's Marysville Stampede. They also won the team roping title at an event in Eugene, Ore. ___ (c)2012 the Colusa County Sun-Herald (Colusa, Calif.) Visit the Colusa County Sun-Herald (Colusa, Calif.) at www.colusa-sun-herald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |