ProRodeo Sports News - June 28, 2019

Competitors who reach the Washington State Fair Rodeo in Puyallup will have a chance at big money by advancing to an eight-man semifinals and a four-man finals Sept. 8. Those outside the top 24 will try to make up the difference elsewhere. The ProRodeo Tour is heating up with stops in Reno, Nev., which ends June 29,

great rodeo to have in your back pocket as you get close to the end of the year. It’s a big rodeo that time of year, and it is pretty important to get to because the rodeos are winding down and there aren’t a lot of places to win that kind of money that late in the season.” Eldridge has earned a combined $27,911 at Tour stops in San Antonio ($8,759), Clovis, Calif. ($6,703), Houston ($6,000), Red Bluff, Calif. ($4,082), and Logandale, Nev. ($2,376). Tie-down roper Taylor Santos is chasing his first Wrangler NFR qualification, and the ProRodeo Tour has been vital to that becoming a possibility. Santos has earned $29,372 at Tour rodeos in San Antonio ($11,250), Red Bluff, Calif. ($5,968), Redding, Calif. ($4,293), Santa Maria, Calif. ($3,343), San Angelo, Texas ($2,500), and Houston ($2,000). Those performances at Tour rodeos have him in first place in the Tour with 1,987.74 points and have helped him climb to eighth in the June 24 world standings with $47,241. “There are a ton of Tour rodeos this year, and for the most part they are rodeos I would go to anyway,” Santos said. “To qualify for Puyallup at the end of the year is a huge deal. If you can get into Puyallup, a guy can win so much money there it is a rodeo you dang sure need to try and get into.”

“I think they (Tour rodeos) are a good deal. Your bigger rodeos are in the Tour, and if you tend to business and make sure you go to the big ones and do good at the big ones then it will give you a good reward in the end. If you can qualify for Puyallup that is a great rodeo to have in your back pocket as you get close to the end of the year.” – DAKOTA ELDRIDGE

Greeley, Colo. (June 26-July 7), Pecos, Texas (June 26-29), and Springdale, Ark. (June 26-29). The Reno Rodeo is the 18th Tour stop this season, marking the one-third point in the 2019 Tour. “I’ve looked at my win percentage as far as how many rodeos I’ve attended and how many I’ve placed at, and it’s not really where I want it,” Knowles said. “But good for me, I’ve done well at big Tour rodeos. That’s helped in a couple ways: No. 1, it has helped in the world standings because when I have won, I’ve won good amounts, and secondly, going along with that is getting some Tour points racked up. The Tour finale in Puyallup is always a great rodeo and a tremendous opportunity that time of year to make good money. If they go head to head, a Tour event and not a Tour event, I’m going to go to the Tour event and try and secure my spot in Puyallup because I understand how important that’s going to be.” Knowles has qualified for the Wrangler NFR four times – 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2018. Like Knowles, fellow steer wrestler

Dakota Eldridge believes the ProRodeo Tour is a good road map to earn a bid to the Wrangler NFR. Eldridge, who is 15th in the June 24 PRCA | RAMWorld Standings, is fifth in the Tour standings with 1,639.16 points. Eldridge won the Wrangler NFR average in 2015 and 2017, finished second in the world standings in 2015 and was third in the world in 2017. “The Tour rodeos have treated me pretty well,” said Eldridge, a five-time qualifier for the Wrangler NFR (2013-17). “I think they are a good deal. Your bigger rodeos are in the Tour, and if you tend to business and make sure you go to the big ones and do good at the big ones then it will give you a good reward in the end. If you can qualify for Puyallup that is a

Greg Westfall photo Steer wrestler Dakota Eldridge competes during the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo in February. Eldridge gave himself a boost in the PRCA | RAM World Standings and ProRodeo Tour standings by earning $8,750 in San Antonio, a stop on the ProRodeo Tour.

ProRodeo Sports News 6/28/2019

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