ProRodeo Sports News - August 23, 2019

YELLOWSTONE RIVER ROUND-UP BILLINGS, MONT. Anderson earns cash for school Despite going to school full time at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, Bridger Anderson has managed to squeeze in a full slate of ProRodeo and be successful at it. The North Dakota steer wrestler who lives in Alva, Okla., for school won the Yellowstone River Round- Up in Billings, Mont., Aug. 15-17, with a 3.6-second run. He earned $2,081 for the win. “I had a really good steer,” said Anderson, who turned 21 a few days after the win. “He stumbled leaving the chute. I caught up a little faster than I would have otherwise. I just had to get out of his way. It felt pretty good.” Anderson was riding Freeway, 10, Stockton Graves’ horse. Graves also hazed for Anderson. After earning $19,710 in 2018, Anderson has boosted his total in the 2019 season, earning $32,686 and breaking into the top 50 in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings. “It’s been good,” he said of his season. “You always have high hopes, but I’m pleased with how it’s gone so far. This is my best year I’ve had to date.” His success in 2019 has him 29th in the ProRodeo Tour standings, five places out of a qualifying spot for the ProRodeo Tour Finale in Puyallup, Wash. Though he’s headed back to school for his junior year, Anderson will continue to ProRodeo and is hoping to make the Finale. “At the Tour Finale you can win a lot of money,” Anderson said. “One of our main goals this year was to make the Tour finals, make the circuit finals and an effort to make the NFR. It all has to add up, and that was definitely one of our main goals, to make the Tour finals and get to Puyallup and make a bunch of money.”

Permit holder Neely nails saddle bronc riding win MOUNTAIN VALLEY STAMPEDE RODEO HEBER CITY, UTAH Amanda Dilworth photo Reed Neely, a permit holder from Sanger, Calif., won the Mountain Valley Stampede Rodeo in Heber City, Utah, with an 81-point ride on Powder River Rodeo’s Rich N Fancy.

Permit holder Reed Neely, 20, won the Mountain Valley Stampede Rodeo saddle bronc riding in Heber City, Utah, with an 81-point ride on Powder River Rodeo’s Rich N Fancy, Aug. 3. The California cowboy didn’t think his score would rank at the top, but the win has him optimistic for what the future holds in his ProRodeo career. “In the past, I knew I could win a rodeo with a bronc like that but would get so nervous that I’d mess it up,” Neely said. “But traveling with them (TimDitrich and Justin Lawrence) has helped with my mental game and staying consistent by just being confident behind

the chutes.”

Winning $3,328 in Heber City pushed him to seventh in the RAMRodeo Permit Standings for saddle bronc riding with $12,168. “It definitely makes me a lot hungrier and want to attack more rodeos,” Neely said. “Once you win one, you want to win them all.” Neely ended the 2018 season ranked 26th in the permit standings with $2,274. He went on to finish the 2018-19 college rodeo season ranked eighth in the nation with 1,035.5 points and placed 15th at the College National Finals Rodeo as part of the Fresno State University team.

ProRodeo Sports News 8/23/2019

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