ProRodeo Sports News - April 3, 2020

Nogueira, who was the PRCA | Resistol Team Roping Heeler Rookie of the Year in 2014, said he and Driggers are still good friends. “We just decided to do something different,” Nogueira said. “We are good buddies. I’m kind of different than everybody, people take this as a business, and I understand. A lot of (guys) get mad, but I respect everybody’s decision. I don’t hold anything back, and (Kaleb) and I are still friends.” Nogueira reflected on roping with Driggers. “We did great for so long,” he said. “We roped (together) for almost five years. We won just about everything except (team roping) world championships. We were one of the best teams out there for years. The only thing we didn’t win was the gold buckle, but we did pretty good everywhere we went and had great Finals. It was cool that he helped me win the all-around gold buckle.” Driggers and Nogueira tied the team roping world record with a 3.3-second run in Round 9 of the 2017 NFR. That tied them with Chad Masters and Jade Corkill, who set the record in Round 9 of the 2009 NFR, and Brock Hanson and Ryan Motes, who tied it in 2012 in Nacogdoches, Texas. Driggers and Nogueira won a total of six rounds at the Finals since 2017 – Rounds 1 and 9 in 2017, Round 8 in 2018, and and Rounds 8 (split the win), 9 and 10 in 2019. With PRCA rodeos on hold due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, Nogueira is spending more time with his wife, Jaqueline, and their daughter, Isabella GasparimNogueira, who was born Feb. 13. They live in Lipan, Texas. “I’m very happy and so blessed,” Nogueira said. “We just had our little girl, and I’m just enjoying time being home. I really want to go and do great, but I want to have time to stay home and enjoy my family. It’s cool to get to help my wife and be with my baby daughter. “I ran my third steer in San Antonio and drove straight to the hospital in Fort Worth (Texas). I barely got there in time to see her birth. I’ve always loved kids, but until your own child, you don’t really know what love means. You see life the other way, and it is awesome.”

PRCA ProRodeo file photos Above, team roping header Kaleb Driggers celebrates during the 2017 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Below, team roping heeler Cory Petska, pictured competing at the 2018 Wrangler NFR, will compete with Driggers for the remainder of the 2020 season.

ProRodeo Sports News 4/3/2020

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