ProRodeo Sports News - July 23, 2021

Jesse Wright wins Vernal for a third time Home Cookin’ BY JOLEE JORDAN, Special to ProRodeo Sports News I t’s about the same distance from Vernal, Utah, to Milford, Utah, as it is from Vernal to Sheridan, Wyo., but Jesse Wright didn’t care. After taking home his third championship from the Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo on July 10 in Vernal, Wright pointed the rig in the opposite direction of the next rodeo – SheridanWYO Rodeo – on July 14 in order to spend a few days at home in Milford before backtracking to Sheridan. DINOSAUR ROUNDUP RODEO VERNAL, UTAH

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TOP MONEY WINNER Tuf Cooper ($4,947, tie-down roping) BAREBACK RIDING

It’s one benefit of living close to all the lucrative rodeos in the Wilderness Circuit in the summertime, the proximity to home base and a chance to sleep in your own bed for a night or two. “It’s about five and a half hours home (fromVernal),” saidWright, who enjoys the time at home with his kids. “We could have been in Sheridan in the same amount of time and just hung out around there for two days until we were up. “But it was worth it to be home. It’s been so hot, we spent most of it either at the lake or in the swimming pool.” The weather isn’t the only thing heating up – the Wright family has been on a tear, and that included Jesse’s 91.5-point trip aboard Powder River Rodeo’s Bet the Ranch. The win nettedWright $3,463 and valuable ProRodeo Tour points. “It’s been going good for us,” Wright said, noting if it wasn’t him winning, it was younger brother Spencer or nephews Rusty, Ryder or Stetson. “It’s been a happy truck for sure.” Bet the Ranch has played a good part in the Wright’s recent success. The horse also carried Spencer to a win in Delta, Utah, with 88 points. “My little brother won Delta on that horse, so I was stoked when I saw I had him drawn,” Wright said. “He’s a younger horse that’s just getting started.” “He bucks hard, so I knew I needed to hustle,” Wright continued of the fabulous trip in front of a raucous Saturday-night crowd. “I just focused on a good, strong mark-out. When he broke out there, I tried to stay back and keep reaching as high as I could in the neck. Every jump I felt like I was on the edge of my saddle. That’s what makes that horse so awesome, he wants to buck so hard and he loves bucking. He’s cool as heck.” Wright’s third title in Vernal – and second consecutive – bumped him up to 41st in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings, despite riding in fewer than two dozen rodeos in 2021. The ProRodeo Tour points also moved him in range of the Top 24 in the Tour Standings, giving the 2012 PRCAWorld Champion Saddle Bronc Rider a chance at qualifying for the ProRodeo Tour Finale to be held on the final weekend of the regular season in Salinas, Calif. That could be a game-changer for the cowboy who got a late start on the year. “I started with the spring rodeos in California and plan to keep rodeoing all the way up to the end of the season,” Wright said. He missed the first half of 2021 after undergoing right knee surgery in August 2020 after hyperextending his knee and tearing the meniscus in a buck-off. “It took longer than I thought (to return to competition),” saidWright, 32. The eight-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier seemed in position to make a late run at another Finals berth but in the end missed the rest of the 2020 season. “It was an aggravating pain ... I could walk but it didn’t feel good. “I’m glad I waited and took the extra time, as much as it was tough to sit home. It feels really good now.” Wright and company will stay busy for the rest of the season but are still planning to sneak home whenever possible. “The NFR is still the goal, but I’m just planning to go try to ride each one the best I can and let it fall out however it does,” Wright said.

Cooper

1. Tilden Hooper.......................... 88 pts. 2. Clayton Biglow............................. 87.5 3. Cooper Bennett............................ 84.5 STEER WRESTLING 1. Shane Frey............................. 3.6 sec. 2. Tyler Waguespack.......................... 3.8 (Tie) Tucker Allen........................... 3.8 TEAM ROPING 1. C. Smith/J. Corkill.................. 4.5 sec. (Tie) D. Egusquiza/T. Graves.......... 4.5 3. B. Hall/C. Tryan.............................. 4.6 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Jesse Wright. ....................... 91.5 pts. 2. Hardy Braden.................................. 89 3. Stetson Wright. .............................. 88 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Tuf Cooper............................. 7.5 sec. 2. Ryley Fontenot............................... 8.0 3. Blake Chauvin................................ 8.4 BARREL RACING 1. Emily Miller-Beisel............. 17.08 sec. 2. Hailey Kinsel.............................. 17.09 3. Jodee Miller............................... 17.10 BULL RIDING 1. Parker McCown.................... 90.5 pts. (Tie) Sage Kimzey........................ 90.5 3. Clayton Sellars................................ 87

Complete results/Page 58

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ProRodeo Sports News 7/23/2021

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