ProRodeo Sports News - 2021 Year End Edition

FINALE WINNERS BAREBACK RIDING Richmond Champion STEER WRESTLING Riley Duvall TEAM ROPING Colby Lovell/Paul Eaves SADDLE BRONC RIDING Layton Green TIE-DOWN ROPING Marcos Costa BARREL RACING Nellie Miller

BULL RIDING Clayton Sellars

Tie-down roper Marcos Costa clocked an 11.2-second time to win the final round. Costa headed back to the Wrangler NFR for the first time since 2017. Stu Hagen photo

Costa caps comeback season with Tour Finale victory

Marcos Costa’s return to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is complete after having his career sabotaged by knee injuries the last several seasons. Costa, the first Brazilian to win a PRCA Tie-down Roping World Championship in 2017, returned to the NFR for the first time in four years, thanks to his performance at the ProRodeo Tour Finale. Costa won the four-man sudden-death round with an 11.2-second time. He entered Salinas eighth in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings but left town with another $17,327. TEAM ROPERS LOVELL, EAVES SNARE TOP HONORS Colby Lovell and Paul Eaves, the reigning PRCA Team Roping Heading and Heeling World Champions, had to win at Salinas to have any hope of making the NFR. Lovell and Eaves made a clean run, clocking an 11.6-second run to win the finals. Lovell and Eaves came to Salinas 27th and 29th in their respective world standings. They earned $18,549 in Salinas, including $13,749 after winning the semifinals and finals. GREEN PUNCHES NFR TICKET WITH TOUR FINALE WIN It’s been a long journey for Layton Green to get back into a position to qualify for the Wrangler NFR. His last trip was 2017, but the wait was over. He all but punched his ticket to Las Vegas this December by winning his first ProRodeo Tour Finale in Salinas, Calif., Sept. 26. He clinched the title with a 91-point ride on Bridwell Pro Rodeos’ Indian Burn in the four-man finals. It’s a horse that had been ridden just three times headed into the matchup. Green’s ride was the highest-scored trip of them all with a Tour title on the line. It’s one of the first seasons Green remembers ending the year on a healthy

note. He earned $18,790 during the Tour Finale. His performance at the event bumped him up to fifth in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings. CHAMPION ON TOP IN SALINAS Richmond Champion is used to performing under the brightest of lights on ProRodeo’s biggest stages. The bareback rider shined even brighter at the ProRodeo Tour Finale in Salinas. Champion covered the eight seconds in the finals on his way to an 87-point ride on Bridwell Pro Rodeos’ Mary. It was the way he wanted to end the 2021 regular season. The meeting between Champion and Mary in the finals was a rematch fromKennewick, Wash., about a month ago. Champion was looking forward to climbing back aboard her in California with big money on the line. Champion earned $16,911 at the ProRodeo Tour Finale. He headed into his seventhWrangler NFR in the top 10 of the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings. STEER WRESTLER DUVAL GETS CRUCIAL VICTORY Steer wrestler Riley Duvall needed a huge performance at the ProRodeo Tour Finale at California Rodeo Salinas to have any hope of qualifying for the Wrangler NFR. Duvall entered the week $9,357 out of the No. 15 spot in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings with the PRCA regular season ending Sept. 30. Duvall, however, made his fourth trip to the NFR after earning $16,249 at the ProRodeo Tour Finale. Duvall earned $10,000 of that by winning the final-four sudden-death round with a 5.6-second run. Duvall earned $2,500 in the first two rounds and then added $3,749 when he won the eight-man semifinals with a 6.0-second run. That set the stage for Duvall’s run in the finals when he was the last cowboy out.

ProRodeo Sports News 12/17/2021

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