ProRodeo Sports News - March 29, 2024

Durazo started out with team roping and fighting bulls before ultimately riding bulls. Once his father, Felipe Durazo, let him, Edgar got on his first “big bull” at the age of 15. “We raise cattle on the ranch, and I stopped one of them… the rest went from there,” Edgar said. On his path to becoming a professional, Edgar moved to Canada to work on gaining permanent residency to compete at the next level. “Being a Mexican, it has not been easy,” Edgar said. “I was trying to make a resume to prove to the government that I was good enough to make a living off this sport.” Durazo tried to gain a status for the first time when he was 18 but had little to put on a resume. “There was no way for anybody to help me, so I had to find ways,” Durazo said. In 2015, Durazo was able to get his PRCA permit, and had to learn how competing on the PRCA trail worked. With the help of friends like fellow bull rider Scottie Knapp, a 2016 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier, Durazo figured things out. “It was a little hard for me… I did not know how to enter rodeos,” Durazo said. “He (Knapp) told me where to go, he entered me, and he got me closer to God. He helped me a lot.” In 2016, Edgar was competing when his father, who was battling cancer, saw his health decline. Edgar and his family made the drive to Mexico to spend time with him. A week later, Felipe passed away. “I was close with my dad. He taught me how to work a horse, handle cattle and work a ranch; he taught me how to be a cowboy,” Edgar said. “There is not one day that I do not remember him.” Edgar’s family left Mexico and went back to Canada to get on their feet again. Between working for his residency, Edgar ended up making a name for himself in Canada. He won the 2019 Canadian Professional Rodeo Association title, and he has kept his foot on the gas pedal ever since.

Most recently in November of 2023, Durazo rode of 5-of-6 bulls at the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Red Deer, Alberta, to win his second CPRA crown. He finished the season with $82,467. “That was a dream come true,” Durazo said after winning his second CPRA championship. Durazo was able to overcome a slew of injuries and was rewarded by reaching the CPRA summit. “I could not do it without my wife (Karla), my family and God guiding me,” said Edgar, whose family lives in Carseland, Alberta. With two children, son Edgar Jr., 3, and daughter, Sophia, 1, and a baby on the way, Durazo wants to incorporate the importance of rodeo and the values his father instilled in him for his own children. “I want to teach them what is right and what is wrong,” he said. “If they want to be something different that is fine, I will support that, but if they want to rodeo, I’ll 100 percent be there in whatever they want to do.” Durazo has now gained permanent residency in Canada and is working toward his Canadian passport to travel and compete at more rodeos than ever. “It (paperwork) could be from 3 to 6 months. It just depends, but like I said, I have just got to follow my heart and follow how God has aligned it,” Durazo said. “With a big help from my Canadian family of Jim Kelts and Karry Krystal, they have proved to me that my rodeo dreams are possible.” Kelts qualified for the National Finals Rodeo in saddle bronc riding in 1974, 1976-78 and 1984. He finished a career-best third in the 1978 world standings. He went on to be a longtime pickup man for Wayne Vold Rodeo Company. Krystal is a rodeo secretary. Durazo has simple advice for aspiring bull riders and rodeo cowboys from Mexico. “Get your PRCA permit, get your Canadian permit and go from there. Figure things out and meet people,” Durazo said. “It was not possible when I started, but now it is possible. I’m hoping to rodeo a full year in the PRCA in 2025. I’ve had a taste of it, and it was very exciting.”

PRCA bull rider Edgar

Durazo shares a light

moment with his family, wife Karla, daughter Sophia, 1, and Edgar Jr., in his lap. Durazo has perservered to become a Canadian Professional Rodeo Association champion and wants to do the same in the PRCA. Photo courtesy Edgar Durazo

ProRodeo Sports News 3/29/2024

ProRodeo.com

49