ProRodeo Sports News - Dec. 20, 2024

2024 YEAR IN REVIEW

BY TRACY RENCK

F EB. 24 – A gold buckle is squarely on the mind of bull rider Clayton Sellars as the 2024 PRORODEO season enters the month of March. The Wildwood, Fla., cowboy helped his cause at the 75th San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. Sellars was the top money earner at the historic rodeo, pocketing $27,083 on his way to the title on Feb. 24.

PRCA ProRodeo file photo

MARCH 17 – Brothers Ty and Joel Harris aren’t strangers to competing against each other, they’ve been doing it their entire lives being just

MARCH

four years apart in age. But no stage has equaled what the San Angelo, Texas, tie-down ropers faced at RodeoHouston on March 17. Both Ty and Joel qualified for the four-man Championship Shootout. Once all four cowboys made their runs it was the two brothers sitting tied atop the leaderboard with a pair of 8.2-second runs. The only way for the title to be decided was to run two more calves in and do it all over again. It was older Ty coming out on top with a 9.6-second effort, to outlast Joel’s time of 19.2 seconds. In total, the brothers walked out of NFR Stadium with $85,250 combined. Ty was the top money earner at the PRCA Playoff Series rodeo with a remarkable $58,000.

PRCA ProRodeo file photo

DEC. 16 – Rodeo superstar Stetson Wright, above, began his career wanting to be a championship level saddle bronc rider, the

DEC. 2023

same craft his father Cody mastered during his ProRodeo Hall of Fame tenure. It didn’t take long for him to realize that he might be just as good at bull riding. Wright has proved that every step of the way since his PRCA debut in 2018. Despite being sidelined after Round 2 of the 2023 Wrangler NFR in his two events – saddle bronc riding and bull riding – because of a right hamstring strain, Wright clinched his fifth PRCA All-Around World Championship and eighth gold buckle overall with $479,621. The emotional rollercoaster ride that was the NFR for bull rider Ky Hamilton ended with a gold buckle and average buckle and RAM Top Gun Award. Hamilton, who is a native of Mackay, Australia, is the first Australian to capture a PRCA Bull Riding World Championship. Alberta. The superstar bareback horse was a remarkable 27 years old. Grated Coconut, who was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2020, became a dominant force during his career. Of his 114 outings, 37 cowboys hit the dirt, 25 finished in first place, and 29 more finished in the money. If a cowboy was lucky enough to stay aboard for eight seconds, he usually cashed in. His prowess in the arena earned him six PRCA World Champion (2003-04 and 2006-09), tying with the great Descent. He also earned six Canadian Champion Bareback Horse titles (2003-05 and 2007-09). JANUARY JAN. 18 – The Calgary Stampede’s G-65 Grated Coconut passed away peacefully at home on the Stampede Ranch near Hanna,

APRIL 8 – Kaycee Feild, above, who set the gold standard for PRCA bareback riders, winning an event record six PRCA World Championships,

APRIL

headlines the 2024 ProRodeo Hall of Fame class announced on April 8. Feild, who won PRCA World Championships in (2011 14, 2020-21), is joined in the class by contestants – team roper Art Arnold , a 1968 RCA World Champion; bull rider, the late Blue Stone , a PRCA World Champion in 2001 and 2002; stock contractor Sammy Andrews ; bullfighter Darrell Diefenbach , who was selected to work the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo 12 times (2001-12), notable J.D. Yates , who made the NFR as a team roping header and heeler; standout bull Mr. T of Burns Rodeo Company (1986 PRCA Bull of the Year, and Bull of the NFR in 1986 and 1989); the rodeo committee from the Tri State Rodeo in Fort, Madison, Iowa; and barrel racers Marlene (Eddleman) McRae , the 1983 WPRA World Champion and Jeana Day, the 1974 WPRA World Champion. The 2024 Ken Stemler Pioneer Award, which recognizes those who have provided groundbreaking, innovative ideas and forward thinking that help the development, advancement, and success of the PRCA and or the Hall of Fame and their missions is being awarded to Bob Feist, who was a contestant, announcer at the 1979 National Finals Steer Roping and 1980 National Finals Rodeo and founder of the immensely popular Bob Feist Invitational Team Roping. They were enshrined July 13 during ceremonies at the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo.

FEB. 3 – The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo is like a second home to bareback rider Rocker Steiner. His hometown of

FEBRUARY

Weatherford, Texas, is just a half hour west of Dickies Arena. They say home is where the heart is, but for Steiner it’s where the money is. The 20-year-old made it back-to-back wins at the FWSSR on Feb. 3 in front of sold-out crowd in the finals. The win capped off a $28,000 payday for Steiner, as he won both rounds in his bracket and the semifinals.

ProRodeo Sports News 12/20/2024

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