ProRodeo Sports News 2023 Year-End Edition

TEAM ROPING AVERAGE WINNERS

Team roping partners header Derrick Begay and heeler Colter Todd take part in the Grand Entry prior to Round 3 of the 2023 Wrangler NFR. The duo completed an amazing season by winning the NFR average. PRCA ProRodeo photo by Clay Guardipee

On Top

Begay/Todd cement legacy with NFR Average title

BY TANNER BARTH W hen Derrick Begay/Colter Todd set out for their 2023 ProRodeo season there were no expectations, no plans, just two friends with a passion for rodeo and roping. The duo boasted 12 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifications among them, and it didn’t take long for them to see that a return trip to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl of Rodeo was in the cards. Just months later, the veteran team was putting on a show for the sold-out crowds inside the Thomas & Mack Center. Through 10 rounds of competition, Begay/Todd were the only team to catch every steer on the way to capturing the first NFR Average titles of their careers with 69 seconds on 10 head. Their approach was a simple one. “When you come here, it’s just one steer every day, you can’t get ahead of yourself,” said Begay, 40. “It’s the only one you worry about and the only one you have to try and do good on. We were the only team to catch all 10, luckily enough someone else didn’t.” Begay/Todd placed in four out of the 10 rounds, highlighted by splitting

the Round 7 win a 4.0-second run. In total, the duo earned $131,010 each for their nine days of work in Las Vegas. It’s an NFR performance that will forever stick with Todd, with his last trip coming in 2008. “Having this buckle in my hands is something that will always stick out (about this NFR),” said Todd, a four-time Wrangler NFR qualifier. “I wish I would’ve roped a little better this past week and caught them all by two feet, but you know what, I’m still super grateful for everything that came our way this past week.” They wrapped up the 2023 ProRodeo season fourth and third, respectively in the PRCA | RAM World Standings. Todd said he’s unsure what the future will hold, right now they’re focused on enjoying the present. “We just got done with this season and have a lot to be thankful for,” Todd said. “I was just happy to get through this year and have a good time. We will worry about next year, next year.” And this is season is one Begay will cherish as well. “Fun is fun, but this is a different kind of fun,” Begay said. “There was no pressure, no harm, no foul. Some friends like to hunt together, some like to golf together, we just happen to like to rope together, I guess.”

ProRodeo Sports News 12/22/2023

ProRodeo.com

42