ProRodeo Sports News 2023 Year-End Edition

RAM NFR OPEN

BY TANNER BARTH T rey Holston has traveled from coast to coast in his young ProRodeo career, but it might be hard to forget his first trip to Colorado Springs, Colo. Over two days, Holston was the only cowboy to cover all four of his bulls at the NFR Open powered by RAM. The Fort Scott, Kan., bull rider capped off a memorable week in the Olympic City with an 89-point ride on JC Kitaif Pro Rodeo’s Rico Suave in the finals to claim his first national circuit championship. “Earlier that week, I was on a podcast talking about blissful moments and this is definitely one of them in my career,” said Holston, a 2023 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier. “I think you have a handful of them throughout your entire career, where you just kind of shut off. “I had a pretty rough month of rodeo leading up to the event, so I stayed away from a couple of rodeos for a few days, and it paid off. This win really filled up my confidence bucket and I couldn’t be happier to have made the trip to Colorado Springs.” It also helped fill his pockets with cold hard cash. Holston earned $30,734 for his four rides, which was more than any other competitor in the field. That total cleared the next highest cowboy or cowgirl by more than $6,000 for him to take home the coveted RAM Top Gun Award, which comes with a voucher for a brand-new RAM pickup. Holston said weekends like he had at the NFR Open are meant to be celebrated and he took his time to do so, but he has his sights on a bigger goal at the end of the ProRodeo season. This is only the beginning for the 24-year-old bull rider. “Just as easy as you can ride four in a row, you can buck off four. So, you really can’t get too high or too low at any point in the season,” he said. “I’m thankful for the Polaris Ranger and the (RAM) truck. You hear about the guys that come here and win almost $30,000. It’s not that you don’t think you can do it, but you have to put together a really special weekend like I did. “It’s not something that happens every day. So, I’m going to put this in my pocket, call my family and tell them I love them. Then I’ll say some things to God and just roll on. I have much larger goals still in front of me.” Other winners at the 2023 NFR Open powered by RAM were bareback rider Keenen Hayes, steer wrestler Dirk Tavenner, team ropers Nelson Wyatt/Tyler Worley, saddle bronc rider Kade Bruno, tie-down roper Garrett Jacobs, and barrel racer Jessica Routier. On Top Trey Holston highlights NFR Open Champions

Bull rider Trey Holston had an 88-point ride on JC Kitaif Pro Rodeo’s T-bone during the matinee performance on July 15 at the NFR Open powered by RAM. Later that day, Holston rode two more bulls to clinch the NFR Open Championship. Natalie McFarland photo

ProRodeo Sports News 12/22/2023

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