ProRodeo Sports News - June 23, 2022

SHORT ROUND Seven-time World Champ Sage Kimzey sidelined with shoulder injury Out for the Year

S age Kimzey, a seven-time PRCA Bull Riding World since high school, and the injury came to a head when he was bucked off Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Severe Weather at the Parker County Sheriff’s Posse Frontier Days and PRCA Rodeo, June 10 in Weatherford, Texas. “I have been riding with hurt shoulder for a real long time,” said Kimzey, 27. Kimzey saw Dr. Tandy Freeman in Dallas on June 14 and learned that season-ending surgery would be required on his shoulder. “I have multiple tears in my labrum, and I have got a totally torn supraspinatus (which is one of the rotator cuff muscles),” Kimzey said. “I have a displaced bicep tendon and a broken collarbone. I also have some other rotator cuff damage. It is a culmination over the years. I think most of it probably happened during the wrecks when I was in high school. “I never had surgery. I just took time off and it was always good enough to ride.” Kimzey is third in the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $115,633 and qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo eight consecutive years. Kimzey also has won five of the past seven PRCA Division 1 Xtreme Bulls Tour titles, including last year. Despite the setback, Kimzey was able to keep things in perspective. “I feel extremely blessed that I made it 10 years because Champion, including in 2021, is out for the remainder of the 2022 season with a left shoulder injury. Kimzey had been bothered by a left shoulder injury

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most guys don’t make it eight years with a bum shoulder,” Kimzey said. “It has been an incredible ride with my messed-up shoulder, but I’m definitely ready to have it fixed. It will not be too long, and I will back in the arena. “I’m just going to enjoy the time at home right now, especially with my little man (Steele, who is 4½ months) being born this year. This will give me time at home with my wife (Alexis) and son. That will be different, but really good. I’m just really going to enjoy that time and focus on all the good that comes out of this.”

2022 National Finals Steer Roping at Kansas Star For the ninth year in a row, the National Finals Steer Roping will take place at the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kan. The Kansas Star, a favorite of steer ropers and NSFR fans, offers an electric atmosphere for the Legacy steer roping event, prior to the final five rounds of the NFSR on Nov. 5.

The 2022 edition takes place Nov. 4-5 and pits the Top 15 steer ropers in the PRCA vying for a world championship and a share of the record $500,000 purse. “We are thrilled to be back at the Kansas Star for the Nationals Finals Steer Roping and to be able to increase the prize money at the NFSR to $500,000,” said PRCA CEO Tom Glause. “This is an opportunity for the Top 15 steer ropers in the PRCA to rope for the most money ever at the NFSR.”

“The steer ropers love that place (the Kansas Star), and it is great,” said J.P. Wickett, the steer roping representative on PRCA’s Contestant Executive Council. The NFSR purse has more than doubled since 2014. A year ago, Cole Patterson won his first PRCA Steer Roping World Championship, finishing atop the standings with $190,242, a single-season steer roping earnings record.

ProRodeo Sports News 6/24/2022

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