ProRodeo Sports News - Dec. 20, 2019

PRORODEO TOUR RECAP

Winning $8,951 at Puyullap pushed bareback rider Clayton Biglow to the No. 1 spot. Billie-Jean Duff photo

Road to Riches ProRodeo Tour leads to Wrangler NFR for many

BY MATT NABER E very 2019 ProRodeo Tour champion qualified for the 2019Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, largely thanks to the Tour being composed of 54 of the biggest ProRodeo competitions of the regular season. Nearly a year’s worth of competition boiled down to the cream of the crop as the Top 24 cowboys in the ProRodeo Tour Standings qualified for a trip to Puyallup, Wash., for the ProRodeo Tour Finale, Sept. 5-8. After breaking his jaw one month before the Finale, rookie Stetson Wright returned to the chutes to set the Puyallup record in saddle bronc riding with a 93.5-point ride on Calgary Stampede’s Yesterday’s Delivery to win the ProRodeo Tour Finale. Although the youngest competing member of the Wright family leans more toward bull riding, his family roots in saddle bronc riding shined through in Puyallup. “This win means everything because I struggled so much in bronc riding,” Wright said. “When you go from the top and then break your jaw, you get humbled real fast. Then to come back and ride strong like I have, I couldn’t be happier, and I don’t want the year to end now.”

Unlike the rest of his family, Wright is more often ranked higher in the bull riding standings than he is in the saddle bronc riding standings, but in Puyallup there was no denying the family resemblance he shares with his dad – 2008 and 2010 Saddle Bronc Riding World Champion Cody Wright – and his brother – 2017 world champion Ryder Wright. StetsonWright’s Puyallup efforts were worth $10,701 and helped boost him to 18th in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings for saddle bronc riding. Meanwhile, he was also near the top of the bull riding standings and led the PRCA | Resistol Rookie Standings for both events. “I’m so happy with the way my rookie season has gone, even with the injury,” Wright said. “I feel like the luckiest 20-year-old there is.” Biglow wins bareback riding Bareback rider Clayton Biglow claimed the top spot in the world standings thanks to winning $8,951 in Puyallup. “This win getting me to No. 1 in the world and to get another one won on the list that I’d wanted to win forever has me feeling extremely blessed,” Biglow said. “I was second for a month or so and chasing Kaycee (Feild). I’m tickled to death to be right there with him.”

ProRodeo Sports News 12/20/2019

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