ProRodeo Sports News - Nov. 1, 2024

MANAGER’S MESSAGE TRACY RENCK

Tracy Renck is the Manager of Communications and Media. He previously served three years as the editor of the ProRodeo Sports News , and before that he spent seven years as a media coordinator at the

PRCA. He has three decades of experience in sports journalism.

Hailey Rae photo Bull rider Jeter Lawrence acknowledges the crowd at the Cinch Playoffs in Puyallup, Wash. Lawrence fin ished third after an 82-point ride in the finals.

Six Resistol Rookies eyeing history at NFR A s contestants prepare to compete at the 2024 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Teton Ridge there is plenty of excitement brewing. Obviously all 120 contestants have gold buckle dreams Rookies who are trying to etch their names into the PRORODEO history books. The names are bareback rider Weston Timberman; saddle bronc rider Zac Dallas; tie-down roper Cole Clemons; and bull riders Jeter Lawrence, Wacey Schalla and Cooper James.

they want to realize. One element about the NFR – which began in 1959 at the Dallas, Texas, Fairgrounds – is how few cowboys have won gold buckles in their Resistol Rookie seasons. The select list consists of Harry Charters, steer wrestling, 1959; Bill Kornell, bull riding, 1963; Roy Cooper, tie-down roping, 1976; Tee Woolman, team roping, 1980; Joe Beaver, tie-down roping, 1985; Sage Kimzey, bull riding, 2014; Haven Meged, tie-down roping, 2019; and Keenan Hayes, bareback riding, 2023. That list is in pretty rarified air since Charters, Cooper, Woolman and Beaver are in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colo. And when Kimzey retires he is a lock to join the Hall with seven PRCA Bull Riding World Championships on his resume. Meged, 26, certainly is in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame conversation, as he has one world championship and two NFR average titles in 2019 and 2023, and he has qualified for the NFR six years in row – 2019-24. As for Hayes, the sky’s the limit for this Colorado cowboy who is just dripping with skills. Narrowing the list even more happens when you dive into which Resistol Rookie PRCA World Champions also won NFR average titles during their world champion seasons. That noteworthy accomplishment in PRORODEO history belongs to Super Looper Cooper; header Tee Woolman when he partnered with Leo Camarillo, and it is rounded out by Meged and Hayes. That brings us to the 2024 Wrangler NFR and the six Resistol

There’s no question all of these Resistol Rookies have an abundance of talent. They have proven that through the grind that was the 2024 PRORODEO regular season, which ended on Sept. 30. And honestly just qualifying for the NFR as a Resistol Rookie is worthy of high praise. The King of Cowboys Trevor Brazile, who won a record 26 PRCA World Championships, didn’t even qualify for the NFR in his Resistol Rookie season in 1996. He also finished second to Shane Slack in the Resistol Rookie Tie-Down Roping race. Now, is the one-time opportunity as Resistol Rookies – for Timberman, Dallas, Clemons, Lawrence, Schalla and James to shine in the bright lights of Vegas. Sometimes cowboys melt under the pressure at the Thomas & Mack Center. This is a grand opportunity for these six Resistol Rookies to prove their doubters wrong. Show the thousands of people in attendance and the thousands more watching live on The Cowboy Channel that age is just a number and the only number these rookies care about is being No. 1 on Dec. 14. The odds of being a Resistol Rookie and a PRCA World Champion in the same year are high – but not improbable. The world championship bar has been set by a handful of Resistol Rookies in the past. Now, it is up to latest crop of six rookies to see if they can join this elite fraternity.

12 ProRodeo Sports News 11/1/2024

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