ProRodeo Sports News - July 7, 2023

CODY STAMPEDE

CODY, WYO.

Tie-down roper finding his groove BY ALEX RILEY, Special to ProRodeo Sports News K ing Pickett spent a lot of time doing the math. season. Pickett saw the impact that number could have first-hand in 2022. Ultimately, that’s all rodeo is – a numbers game. The best times and scores win the most money. But there are other numbers within that equation, like how many rodeos a cowboy can compete at throughout the course of the “A lot of my buddies last year, they got to the end of the year, and they were out of rodeos,” Pickett said. Competitors are restricted to competing at a maximum of 80 rodeos per season. “They needed rodeos to make the Finals and they finished like 17th and 18th. I just said I didn’t want to be in that same predicament.” Thanks to enough success last year, Pickett was qualified for a majority of the big ticket winter rodeos, which allowed him an opportunity to focus on competing for larger prizes earlier in the season. After some winter success, including checks at RodeoHouston, San Antonio and San Angelo, Pickett slowed the pace. The result – no money earned through the months of May and June. For some people, that might be worrisome. For Pickett, it was all part of the plan. Thanks to a 7.4-second run at the Cody (Wyo.) Stampede, the Weatherford, Texas, tie-down roper collected his biggest payday of the year, earning $8,531 for the win. Along with some round and aggregate money from the World’s Oldest Rodeo in Prescott, Ariz., the Fourth of July weekend was worth almost $10,000, helping Pickett restart his season. “I know a lot of guys that are Top 15 right now and they’ve been to 45-plus rodeos,” Pickett said. “I’m close to top 25 after that Cody win and I’ve only been to 20 rodeos. I get to just enter up and go until they stop rodeoing now to get into (the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo).” Last season was Pickett’s best since turning pro in 2018, as he finished top 35 in the PRCA | RAM World Standings, earning more than $57,000. That success was enough to, as Pickett termed it, “get him in the buildings.” Many of the indoor winter rodeos have requirements to compete, including previous success. With his place secured in the winter field, Pickett’s plan to slow things down before July took shape. “So, my strategy this year is to keep them low at the beginning, nothing but big ones and then be able to go all year long. I’m at a pretty low rodeo count, but I did have a pretty slow start to the Fourth, up until Cody,” Pickett said. “It wasn’t looking that good. Going into the Fourth of July run, I had a couple bobbles and hiccups. I ended up placing at Prescott (Ariz.), but that Cody win made my Fourth of July go from looking slow to looking like I had a good Fourth.” Thanks to the victory, Pickett has some new money credited to his name and a championship he has long coveted. He lists Cody as one of the two rodeos he has wanted to win for as long as he can remember. It was a dream finish, with one catch – the only thing that didn’t go right over the weekend was the physical prize he didn’t take home. “The only thing I’m mad at is they didn’t give a buckle,” Pickett said with a laugh. “I wanted a Cody buckle. I hope they give one next year.”

Pickett’s Charge

Complete results/Page 94

Jason Koperski photo

COWBOY CHRISTMAS Tie-down roper King Pickett won the Cody (Wyo.) Stampede with a 7.4-second run, for his biggest payday of the year, earning $8,531.

BAREBACK RIDING 1. Tim O’Connell ............ 89 pts. 2. Keenan Hayes ............... 88.5 3. Waylon Bourgeois ......... 86.5

STEER WRESTLING 1. Blake Knowles ......... 3.9 sec. 2. Aaron Vosler ................... 4.2 3. Two at ............................. 4.3

TEAM ROPING 1. T. Tomlinson/P. Smith ...... 4.6 sec. 2. T. Arnold/K. Profili ................... 4.7 3. Two at ..................................... 4.9

SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Sage Newman ........... 89 pts. 2. Wyatt Casper ................. 88.5 3. Brody Cress ................... 87.5

TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. King Pickett .............. 7.4 sec. 2. Jake Pratt ........................ 8.0 3. Hagen Houck ................... 8.1

BARREL RACING 1. Paige Jones ......... 17.20 sec. 2. Hailey Kinsel ................ 17.34 3. Sydney Graham ........... 17.36

BULL RIDING 1. Stetson Wright .......... 90 pts. 2. Tristen Hutchings ............. 89 3. Tyler Bingham ............... 87.5

TOP MONEY EARNER Stetson Wright ($10,011, bull riding)

TOP

SCORES

ProRodeo Sports News 7/7/2023

ProRodeo Sports News 7/7/2023

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