ProRodeo Sports News - August 20, 2021

SIKESTON JAYCEE BOOTHEEL RODEO

Rusty Wright rediscovers magic, using his old saddle once again BY KEVIN CARMODY, Special to ProRodeo Sports News A ll along, the answer to Rusty Wright’s riding problems sat in a shed, gathering dust, as the season began to slip away for the saddle bronc rider fromMilford, Utah. Then, in late June, his phone rang. It was his dad, Cody, a two-time world champion saddle bronc rider. He had a suggestion for his 25-year-old son. “My dad called and asked me about the saddle I rode when I was in high school,” Rusty said. “I told him it was at my house. Dad said why don’t you get that and try it out. As soon as I got it set, I started winning money. It’s exactly what I needed, which is kind of frustrating since I had it for the last year and a half while I was trying these different saddles and had the one I needed the whole time.” Since his 2-year-old saddle broke at the Lawton (Okla.) Rangers Rodeo at this time last year, Wright has been a different rider. While he still qualified for his fifth National Finals Rodeo and finished fifth in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings, he was tinkering among three saddles and struggling to find any consistency in the 2021 season. With the early July reboot of his saddle that carried him to a pair of national high school championships, a state title and his first two NFRs, Wright seems back to his winning ways. With his 88-point ride aboard Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Ricky Bobby at the Sikeston (Mo.) Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo, Wright finally got that signature win in 2021, a payday worth $4,879, and a confidence boost that perhaps could carry him to a sixth NFR berth. “Thanks to my dad, I went back to the saddle I learned to ride broncs on,” Wright said. “It’s helped turn stuff around where I can go back to having fun again. It was a little rough at first, and I needed to get it adjusted and set right, but I think I’m getting close now. I kept this saddle around just in case, and I’m sure glad I did.” His Sikeston earnings pushedWright into 35th place in the world standings and firmly in contention for the upcoming ProRodeo Tour Finale in Salinas, Calif., Sept. 23-26. “I wish I was higher in the standings, but I’m not counting myself out yet,” Wright said. “There is still a lot of money to be won. It’s almost an advantage now. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. One of my goals is to make the Finals, but if not, they’ll have an NFR next year and I’ll try to make it. I expect myself to be in Vegas in December.” Wright, joined by little brother Ryder and uncles Spencer and Jesse, nearly never got the chance to ride in Sikeston. The foursome drove 22 hours straight from Logan, Utah, and after encountering a slowdown from a nasty car crash near St. Louis and heavy traffic on the Sikeston rodeo grounds, finally arrived after the saddle bronc riding competition had already started. The Sikeston committee moved the four Wrights to the end of the lineup with little time to prepare. “That was nice, actually,” Wright said. “I didn’t have time to sit there and overthink it. I was 91 on that horse in the short round in Denver in 2019. He got injured at The American earlier this year, and this was his first trip since then. I knew he was going to be fresh and was going to buck. I just had to do my part. It was definitely a photo finish. If we had been five minutes later, we would have missed it.” Wright did his job and didn’t mind the cleanup after being ditched in a puddle of mud, thanks to heavy rain before the third performance that left the rodeo arena in standing water. “That horse circled around to the left, and as soon as the whistle blew, he bucked me off right into the deepest puddle out there in the arena,” Wright said. “I didn’t care one bit about having to clean the mud off.” Back Saddle IN THE

TOP SCORES

TOP MONEY WINNER Zack Jongbloed ($5,889, steer wrestling and tie- down roping) BAREBACK RIDING

Jongbloed

1. Kaycee Feild.......................... 88.5 pts. 2. Three tied at .................................. 87 STEER WRESTLING 1. Tucker Allen....................8.3 sec. on 2 (Tie) Laramie Warren..................... 8.3 3. Zack Jongbloed. ............................ 8.4 TEAM ROPING 1. C. Masters/J. Harrison......... 11.9 on 2 2. C. Summers/R. Ashford............... 12.2 3. Two team tied at . ....................... 13.0 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Rusty Wright. .......................... 88 pts. 2. Brody Cress.................................... 87 3. Colt Gordon................................. 86.5 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Blake Ash......................19.6 sec. on 2 2. Blair Burk..................................... 20.0 3. Tatum Miller................................. 21.3 BARREL RACING 1. Molly Otto...........................16.16 sec. 2. JJ Baldwin................................. 16.26 3. Nicole Love................................ 16.30 BULL RIDING 1. Dustin Bouquet..................... 88.5 pts. 2. Daylon Swearingen......................... 85 3. Jack Gilmore................................ 81.5

Complete results/Page 60

ProRodeo Sports News 8/20/2021

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