ProRodeo Sports News - December 16, 2022

PRORODEO HALL OF FAME

BY TRACY RENCK T he stars of ProRodeo converged when the 2022 ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductees led by Trevor Brazile, the King of PRCA cowboys with 26 world championships, were inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame on July 16 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Brazile was joined in the star-studded 2022 induction class by four-time PRCAWorld Champion Bareback Rider Bobby Mote (2002, 2007, 2009 2010), World Champion Team Roper Bobby Harris (1991), stock contractor, the late Jake Beutler, rodeo clown Rick Young, four-time PRCA Saddle Bronc Horse of the Year Frontier Rodeo’s Medicine Woman, rodeo notable Mel Potter, PRCAWorld Champion Steer Wrestler Roy Duvall’s horse Whiskey and late world champion barrel racer Ardith Bruce andWPRA notable Cindy Rosser. The rodeo committee fromNebraska’s Big Rodeo in Burwell also was also put into the Hall. The 2022 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 posthumously to John Van Cronkhite, the first general manager of the National Finals Rodeo in 1959. Brazile, ProRodeo’s only $7-million cowboy, has 26 gold buckles that include a PRCA-record 14 in all-around (2002-04, 2006-15, 2018), three in tie-down roping (2007, 2009-10) and one in team roping (2010) to go with the National Finals Steer Roping gold buckles in 2006-07, 2011, 2013-15 and 2019-20. Brazile also has won a PRCA record 74 career-round wins at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo – in tie-down roping and team roping – and steer roping. Brazile has won 36 rounds at the NFSR, second only to Guy Allen’s 48. Most PRCA cowboys today don’t compete in three events, but that’s something Brazile took great pride in during his decorated career. Bobby Mote, who retired in 2017 at the age of 41, qualified for 15 consecutive NFRs from 2001-2015 and was reserve world champion in 2001 and 2006. Bobby Harris qualified 18 times in team roping in 1981-82, 1984-95 and 1997, 1999, 2002, and 2010. He also qualified for the NFSR in 1986-91 and 1993, 2006. Harris, a team roping heeler, captured the 1991 team roping title while roping with fellow team roping Hall of Famer Tee Woolman. Lynn Beutler of Elk City, Okla., was an integral part of professional rodeo for 40 years, becoming one of the sport’s most widely known stock contractors in the family rodeo company known as Beutler Brothers. The company, started in 1929 with Lynn, Jake, and Elra Beutler, was recognized as one of the top stock contracting firms producing rodeos across the Southwest and Northwest. Jake passed away in March of 1975. He was 72. Now, Jake Beutler is a ProRodeo Hall of Fame member like family members Lynn, Elra, Jiggs, and Bennie. In 1974, Rick Young was selected to work the NFR in Oklahoma City and in 1980 he was named PRCA’s Clown of the Year. He was named Coors Man in the Can at the NFR in 1991, 1994 and 1996-97. Medicine Woman was the four-time PRCA Saddle Bronc Horse of the Year (2011, 2014-16) and the two-time saddle bronc horse of the National Finals Rodeo (2010 and 2015). She retired after competing at the 2020 Wrangler NFR at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. She passed away this past December at the age of 19. Historical Brazile heads up 2022 class

Only ProRodeo Hall of Famer Descent of Beutler Brothers and Cervi has won more saddle bronc horse of year honors than Medicine Woman. Descent won the honor six times from 1966-69, 1971-72. Roy Duvall, who won world titles in 1967, 1969 and 1972 spent nine years riding Whiskey. As for Mel Potter, back in 1951, at the age of 16, he began his journey in the Rodeo Cowboys Association, now known as the PRCA. At his peak, back in 1959, Potter competed in the inaugural National Finals Rodeo in Dallas as a tie-down roper, finishing 14th in the final standings. As recently as 2010, he qualified for the RAMGreat Lakes Circuit Finals Left to right, 2022 ProRodeo Hall of Fame class Bobby Harris, Jerry Nelson, Rick Young, Amber West, Ardith Bruce’s granddaughter, Cindy Rosser, Bennie Beutler, accepting for the late Jake Beutler, Jess Helgoth, President of Nebraska’s Big Rodeo Board of Directors, Carlis Bartholomew, owner of Whiskey, Bobby Mote, Trevor Brazile, and Mel Potter. PRCA ProRodeo photo by Amanda Dilworth

Rodeo as a team roper, and on July 17, 2013, Potter and partner Garrison Dixon won the Green County Fair ProRodeo in Monroe, Wis. Combine Potter’s longevity as a competitor with his decade of success (1964-73) as a stock contractor with Rodeos Inc., and his time served on the PRCA Board of Directors and being selected as the 2015 Legend of ProRodeo, and it adds up to him going into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. The rodeo committee fromNebraska’s Big Rodeo in Burwell was thrilled to join the prestigious ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Despite a destructive windstorm that damaged its rodeo grounds on May 12, Nebraska’s Big Rodeo still took place July 27-30. 1964WPRAWorld Champion Ardith Bruce was inducted into the WPRA Barrel Racing category, while Rosser was inducted as a WPRA notable. A larger-than-life personality, Bruce lived life to the fullest and passed away June 27. She was 90. Bruce, who was tough as nails competing in barrel racing into her 80s, passed away at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs. Bruce was inducted posthumously on July 16 at the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. Bruce joined the Girls Rodeo Association (GRA) now the Women’s

Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) in 1960 reaching the pinnacle of the sport in 1964 when she won the world title aboard a horse known as Red, registered as Shaws Kingwood Snip. That same year, Red was the AQHA Reserve World Champion Barrel Horse and in 1965 was the first GRA/ WPRA barrel horse to ever be featured in color on the cover of the Quarter Horse Journal. Cindy Rosser, like Bruce, has been a staunch supporter of the WPRA for decades and has worked every facet of the rodeo business. Born December 7, 1954, to Cotton and Linda Rosser in Yuba City, California, she grew up horseback and rodeo has remained her life’s work. She joined the GRA/WPRA in 1969 and served 20-plus years on the Board of Directors. She was the California Circuit Barrel Racing Champion in 1982. Cotton, a legendary stock contractor who was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1995. He passed away June 22 at his home in Marysville, Calif. He was 93. Rosser is only the secondWPRA notable to earn induction into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame with Florence Youree being the first.

ProRodeo Sports News 12/16/2022

ProRodeo Sports News 12/16/2022

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