PRORODEO Sports News March 2026 Digital Edition

BRAXTON WHITESELL PICKS UP CAREER-HIGH WIN AT BRIGHTON FIELD DAYS FESTIVAL XTREME BULLS By Tierney Myers, Special to PRORODEO Sports News

A mong NFR qualifiers and some of the top 18-year-old Resistol Rookie Braxton Whitesell came out on top of the Brighton Field Days Festival Xtreme Bulls with a 91.5-point ride on 5 Star Rodeo’s Bucknasty. Whitesell cashed out for more than $13,000 at the Rank 45 Xtreme Bulls Tour event in Okeechobee, Fla. He won an additional $7,000 from a boun ty placed on Bucknasty. When there’s a bounty of that quantity on a bull, stock contractors are bound to keep a closer eye on the cowboy who drew it. Paul Bowers, the co-owner of 5 Star Rodeo, said he got a call from the people who placed the bounty when the draw came out. “They asked me, ‘Can he ride him?’” Bowers said. “I had to tell them, ‘Honestly, I don’t know this kid.’” Whitesell is sure to be known now after an electric ride and a big payday. Bowers added that Whitesell was fully confi dent when he learned he was matched up with Bucknas ty. Bowers and his wife told Braxton he’d win $7,000 if he managed to cover the bull. “Good,” Whitesell said. “That’s just what I want.” bull riders in the world,

the ropes and help him get his PRORODEO career rolling. “It helps when you’re with a good group of guys,” Whitesell said. “Iron sharpens iron.” Boquet also finished with a solid after he finished sixth with an 83.5-point ride on Silver Spurs Club’s Wild Bill. This win marks the biggest of Whitesell’s young career. Earli er in February, he dominated at the Fort Worth Rookie Rally and earned a spot in the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, the first PRORODEO Playoff Series rodeo of his career. Whitesell shined in the tour nament-style rodeo, winning his bracket with an 84.5-point ride on Rafter G Rodeo’s Peaky Blinders. He made a run to the champi onship round and while he was bucked off, the earnings in Fort Worth put him inside the Top 15 of the PRCA | Bill Fick Ford World Standings for the first time in his career. Currently 13th in the standings, his win in Okeechobee marked another pivotal moment in his career as he takes a small step toward his goal of qualifying for the NFR. “It feels great to be in the Top 15,” Whitesell said. “I started a little slow this winter, then Fort Worth turned things around. I just want to make the NFR and make those gold buckle dreams come true.” Whitesell’s 91.5-point ride wasn’t just a victory for him. Bucknasty had a rough out in Las

Whitesell said he wasn’t ner vous when he climbed aboard the National Finals Rodeo bull, but his hauling partner, Dustin Boquet, cut in. “Don’t lie,” Boquet said with a laugh, “you were as ner vous as all get out.” Boquet, a fellow Louisianan and four-time NFR quali fier, started hauling with Whitesell this year to show him

Resistol Rookie Braxton Whitesell shined in Okeechobee, Fla., taking the win at the Brighton Field Days Festival Xtreme Bulls, part of the Rank 45 Xtreme Bulls Tour. (PRCA photo by Darlena Roberts)

Vegas in December, which was crushing to 5 Star Rodeo. “He hipped himself at the finals, and I almost cried,” Bowers said. “Watching [Bucknasty] today was awesome. Glory to God he really blessed us.”

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