ProRodeo Sports News - August 23, 2019

Summer run has bull rider aiming for the Finals IN HIS WORDS BRADY PORTENIER

T his season has actually been pretty good. I can’t complain. It’s been a fun year. I’ve been traveling with a bunch of different people. I’m not quite in the Top 15, I’ve still got work to do, but it’s been a good year. Definitely the summer has been

but bull riding was always my favorite, and I stuck it out. I probably enjoy riding more now than ever. I have a new respect for it and understand what it takes to do it. I think that makes me love it more. It’s easier said than done. I really do enjoy riding the bull, staying on something that doesn’t want you there. And I enjoy the freedom of being on the road and having all the friends I do have. And it’s not even just bull riders, everybody in ProRodeo seems to have good attitudes. They’re all willing to help each other get to where we want to go. Everybody says they don’t feel the pressure or tries not to as we get closer to the end of the regular season. I love the pressure. There are only a few times in a person’s life where you get to experience being in that type of position, and I try to let it give me fuel for the fire and thrive on it. It would mean the world to me to get to the NFR. It’s something I’ve been looking forward to ever since I realized what the NFR was. It took me a little while to realize I could actually do it or not. Now I’m just waiting for my time to nod my head there.

Brady Portenier, a 24-year- old bull rider from Caldwell, Idaho, is gunning for his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualification. He finished 20th in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings last season after coming excruciatingly close in 2017, finishing 16th in the world. As of Aug. 19, Portenier was in 21st place in the world standings with $63,008, about $16,000 out of the Top 15. Portenier was in good position to qualify for the ProRodeo Tour Finale in Puyallup, Wash., sitting in 16th in the ProRodeo Tour standings with 2,092.59 points. The Top 24 qualify for Puyallup. This season, Portenier won the Deadwood (S.D.) Days of ’76 Rodeo and tied for the win at the Pile ‘O Bones in Regina, Saskatchewan. He also earned $6,750 at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo.

really good for me. I had a pretty tough spring as far as getting money won, but the summer has picked up. I’ve been chipping at it, and it’s been good. Puyallup is a key deal. Going to these Tour rodeos and getting some points is big. To have that big stop toward the end of the year is going to be a big factor. If I can get a big piece of it there, it’ll definitely give me a big boost in the standings. I travel with Roscoe Jarboe mostly, but he’s had a tough year being in and out. So I’ve been winging it with a couple different guys. It’s awesome. It’s a blast. Everybody around rodeo seems to be a good guy, and in bull riding, everyone is willing to help everyone out. My dad rode bulls and I had an uncle that rode bulls. My mother and her side of the family all rodeoed. I worked a few different events growing up,

Not licensed to use PRCA marks

ProRodeo Sports News 8/23/2019

ProRodeo.com

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