PRORODEO Sports News - August 5, 2026

Hayden Welsh matches Dakota Rodeo’s Badlands for a 92-point ride to finish second in Round 2 and win the average at Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days Xtreme Bulls on July 21. PRCA photo by Hailey Hurst mediately tossed his helmet and sprinted to the edge of the arena closest to the grandstand. He received a hero’s welcome as the crowd roared back at one of their own. “I don’t even know,” Welsh said when asked what he said. “I was just pumped up. Wyoming, here we come, baby. Come on.” Welsh entered the event sitting fourth in the PRCA | Bill Fick Ford World Standings. The win on Tuesday night will provide a nice boost as he hopes to become the first Resistol Rookie bull rider to win a gold buckle since Sage Kimzey accomplished the feat in 2014. “This is a dream come true. I can’t even explain it to you,” Welsh said of winning during the Daddy of ’em All. “I won (the Pendleton Whisky) Xtreme Bulls Finale (last September), and I love this one just as much.”

to take over. I always say with Jesus we have the victory because he’s already won with the shedding of his blood. “So at the end of the day, the victory is already won. I said let’s go out and have some fun, and that’s all I was focused on tonight. And man, what a bull riding.” Welsh finished the opening night as the leader with a 93.5-point ride on United Pro Rodeo’s Buck Cancer. But Andersen and Noah Lee only trailed him by a point-and-a half, and Crimber sat in third with a 91.5-point trip. In the second round, the final section brought the energy in Frontier Park to a fever pitch as bull riders continued to one-up each other with each out. Welsh was well aware of what was happening in front of him as he got ready to climb in the chute. “It just lights you up,” Welsh said of hearing the scores blare out in the arena. “They were 91, 92, 92.5. It was a bull riding. You had to come a-clacking tonight.” When Welsh completed his trip on Badlands, he im

30 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE August 5, 2026