ProRodeo Sports News 2023 Year-End Edition

WRANGLER NFR RECAP

Record-setting event

BY PRCA STAFF I It was a fitting end to an amazing season for bareback rider Keenan Hayes Saturday night. The Hayden, Colo., native became the first cowboy to win a PRCA Bareback Riding World Championship in his Resistol rookie season. Hayes secured his spot in the PRCA record book with his electric 90-point ride on J Bar J’s Straight Ringer in Round 10 of the 2023 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Teton Ridge before 17,620 spectators at the Thomas & Mack Center. The ride allowed Hayes to finish with $434,050, which is a PRCA Bareback Riding single-season earnings record. The record was $425,843 by Clayton Biglow in 2019. “It was awesome,” Hayes said. Hayes placed in five rounds and finished first in the average with 850 points on 10 head. That garnered him a $78,747 check. Jess Pope, the 2022 PRCA Bareback Riding World Champion finished second in the world standings with $315,095 and second in the average with 845.5 points on 10 head. Keenan Hayes makes PRCA history with his world title Zeke Thurston sealed the deal Dec. 16 on his fourth PRCA Saddle Bronc Riding World Championship. Thurston split sixth place in Round 10 with an 86.5-point ride on Calgary Stampede’s Dandy Delight to propel himself to the world championship and average title. The Big Valley, Alberta, cowboy now has world championships in 2016, 2019, 2022, and 2023. Thurston had yet another stellar NFR. He won four rounds – Round 1, Round 5, Round 8 and Round 9 and placed in eight of the 10 rounds. SADDLE BRONC RIDER ZEKE THURSTON WINS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP NO. 4

Bareback rider Keenan Hayes, a Re sistol Rookie, won the world and aver age titles thanks to rides like his Round 7 82.5-point trip on Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics’ Mustard PRCA ProRodeo photo by Click Thompson

Complete results/Page 80

Webb clocked a 10.9-second time in Round 10 to clinch the coveted gold buckle – the first of his career. “It hasn’t even sunk in yet. I’m just blessed to be in this situation at 20-years-old. I’m so fortunate to have this support system from my family to the horses that have made this dream come true. I’m so grateful,” said Webb, 20. Although Webb didn’t place in Round 10, he finished second in the average – 82.9 seconds on 10 head – which earned him a $63,889 check. Webb finished atop the world standings with $452,852, a single-season tie down roping record, breaking the mark of $374,737 set by Caleb Smidt in 2022.

“I really wanted to go out there tonight and put an exclamation point on the week. That horse was a little bit all over the place and it sure wasn’t a perfect ride, but we weathered it and here we are,” Thurston said. Thurston shattered his previous single-season earnings mark of $399,916 by finishing atop the 2023 world standings with $456,356. TIE-DOWN ROPER RILEY WEBB CLAIMS HIS FIRST TITLE Tie-down roper Riley Webb’s memorable season added one last memorable chapter on Dec. 16.

ProRodeo Sports News 12/22/2023

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