ProRodeo Sports News - Nov. 1, 2019

WRANGLER NFR BAREBACK RIDING • Kaycee Feild, right, competed at

BY MATT NABER AND CASSIE EMERSON F or the 35th time, the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo is returning to Las Vegas – a mecca for statistics and winning big. Steer ropers also will head to the Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kan., for the Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping, Nov. 22-23. ProRodeo athletes vie for a spot in the Top 15 of the PRCA | RAM World Standings throughout the regular season and a chance to compete for a share of $10 million in Las Vegas and $425,000 in Mulvane. Cowboys who qualified for the 2019 Wrangler NFR or NFSR earned money toward the PRCA | RAM World Standings at 50% of the rodeos they competed in. The Top 15 cowboys across all events won on average, just shy of $100,000 during the regular season. Now, they’re all set for 10 of the biggest nights of ProRodeo where the top cowboy in each event can win up to $26,231 per night and potentially $329,579 (not counting ground money) if they sweep the field for all 10 rounds and claim the average. The following are some of the highlights about the 2019 batch of Top 15 cowboys for each event for the 2019 regular season. Fun Facts

fewer rodeos (27) than anyone else who qualified for the Wrangler NFR across all events. • At 92%, Orin Larsen won money at a higher percentage of rodeos he entered than anyone else at the Wrangler NFR. • Season leader Clayton Biglow claimed the No. 1 spot in September for the first time thanks to winning the ProRodeo Tour Finale in Puyallup, Wash., for nearly $9,000. • Reigning three-time world champion bareback rider Tim O’Connell missed six months of competition. When he returned to the chutes in June, he was $35,000 behind 15th in the world standings. Not only did he make up that difference, but O’Connell also heads to Las Vegas in sixth place, less than $70,000 outside the top spot. • Taylor Broussard broke the bubble by winning his final rodeo on the last day of the regular season at the Sheriff’s PRCA Rodeo in San Bernardino, Calif.

Kirt Steinke photo

Clay Guardipee photo

STEER WRESTLING • Season-leader Ty Erickson, above, had won $76,173 by mid-March largely thanks to winning The American in Arlington, Texas, which boosted his season earnings by $50,000 and helped him keep the No. 1 position for the remainder of the season. • Winning the Reno (Nev.) Rodeo at the end of June propelled J.D. Struxness 17 spots in the world standings into the Top 15. • Dakota Eldridge bounced back from missing last year’s Wrangler NFR and a portion of the 2019 season due to a knee injury at Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days in 2018. The Nevada cowboy has won the average at the Wrangler NFR two of the five times he’s qualified (2013-17), claiming the average in 2015 and 2017. BULL RIDING • Rookie Stetson Wright, right, made the highest-scored ride of the 2019 season with 93.5 points on All In Pro Rodeos’ Smoke Show in Reno, Nev. Wright also shares the second-highest score of the season at 93 points, alongside Sage Kimzey and Garrett Smith. • Rookie Trey Kimzey competed in more rodeos during the 2019 season than anyone else who qualified for the Wrangler NFR across all events with 133 rodeos. He broke the bubble at the end of the season by winning $3,952 at the Comal County Fair & Rodeo Xtreme Bulls competition in New Braunfels, Texas. • Aside from those who added $50,000 to their season earnings at The American or RodeoHouston, Trey Benton III had the biggest single payday of all Wrangler NFR qualifiers with $32,250 won in San Antonio.

Greg Westfall photo

ProRodeo Sports News 11/1/2019

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