ProRodeo Sports News - December 16, 2022

BULL RIDING AVERAGE WINNER

Stetson Wright looks up at the scoreboard prior to competing in Round 10 of the NFR. He almost made $1 million in his record-setting 2022 season. PRCA ProRodeo photo by Clay Guardipee

Consistency

Wright wins first NFR average title in bull riding

BY TANNER BARTH S tetsonWright has accomplished just about everything you can in the sport of rodeo in a four-year span, but somehow the young man fromMilford, Utah, found something else to check off his bucket list this season at the 2022Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Teton Ridge.

PRCAWorld Champion. “From that point on I feel like I was going out there to be 90 on every single ride and not worrying about staying in the average. It’s funny how having that mindset ended up working out for me in the average when it was all said and done.” Winning the bull riding average title added $74,150 to his season earnings and helped propel

Wright to his second (2020, 2022) PRCA Bull Riding World Championship. He said confidence was key for his success this year and he feels like there isn’t an animal in the world that should buck him off right now. “With the confidence that I have, I don’t feel like there’s a bull or horse that should buck me off,” he said. “I know it happened a couple times during the Finals, but I’m just as confident as ever in my riding right now.” The start to his ProRodeo career is something evenWright never imagined going quite as good as it has. “I didn’t hardly think that it was possible. I feel like I’ve shocked myself a lot this year,” Wright said. “It just came with patience and trusting that everything was going to be all right. That’s what the whole year seemed like.”

Over the course of 10 nights, Wright made the eight-second whistle on eight out of the 10 bulls he climbed on inside theThomas &Mack Center in Las Vegas. It wasn’t just that he covered eight bulls. He placed inside the top six and earned money on every single one, which tied an NFR record. His 684.5 point on eight head clinched the first NFR average title of his career. Wright edged out Josh Frost for the top honor, who finished with 589.5 points on seven head. He said while he’s never been a guy who rides for the average, it was nice to find consistency inside the yellow bucking chutes in 2022. “I have never been an average rider and I feel like me getting bucked off earlier in the rodeo reminded me of that,” saidWright, now a seven-time

ProRodeo Sports News 12/16/2022

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