ProRodeo Sports News - Nov.20, 2020

FIRST-TIMERS AT NFR

DEBUTS Of the 105 NFR spots occupied by PRCA cowboys, 25 will be taken up by first-time NFR qualifiers: Bridger Anderson, SW Paden Bray, TR-2 Leighton Berry, BB Jesse Brown, SW Wyatt Casper, SB Jacob Edler, SW Jeff Flenniken, TR-1 Colten Fritzlan (R), BR Denton Fugate, BR Shorty Garrett, SB Ky Hamilton (R), BR Lefty Holman, SB Jamie Howlett, BB Westyn Hughes, TD Caddo Lewallen, TD Levi Lord, TR-2 Parker McCown, (R), BR Logan Medlin, TR-2 Jace Melvin, SW Jess Pope, BB Brady Portenier, BR Cole Reiner (R), BB Chad Rutherford, BB Andrew Ward, TR-1 Nelson Wyatt, TR-1

Finally In Fugate, Bray among debuting cowboys Heeler Paden Bray, seen here in St. Paul, Ore., in 2019, will make his Wrangler NFR debut this season. Roseanna Sales photo

BY SCOTT KANIEWSKI D enton Fugate didn’t know he would make his Wrangler National Finals Rodeo debut until the last days of the regular season. Paden Bray rode a Cowboy Christmas to remember to his first Finals berth. Both will make their Finals debuts Dec. 3 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Fugate had seen his lead dwindle over the last couple months of the 2020 season. Early on, before the coronavirus pandemic, Fugate had cruised – winning the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo and posting a 93-point ride at RodeoHouston. But by mid-September, Fugate was near the bubble, threatening to fall out of the Top 15 and again missing out on a Wrangler NFR qualification. But a check for $1,055 at the Gold Buckle Beer ProRodeo Tour Finale in Rapid City, S.D., gave him the boost he needed to finish 15th in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings. “The last month, month and a half was the most stressful part of bull riding I’ve ever been a part of,” said Fugate, who’d never finished higher than

34th. Bray was on the outside looking in a season ago. He finished 17th in the world standings, about $4,000 away from the Finals. He also had to watch as his heading partner, Erich Rogers, headed off to Las Vegas to compete in the Finals. “It dang sure was the best thing to happen to me,” Bray said. “But it was tough, it was a hard pill to swallow. It made me take a step back and I never took a day off. When I went home, I finished up the college rodeo season, then went to a family friend’s house and went straight to my roping. During the Christmas break, I kept practicing. I didn’t want to feel that ever again.” Bray and Rogers aren’t worrying about that this year. They’ll be roping together under the bright lights of Globe Life Field. “That just fueled our fire for next year,” Bray said. “He was happy to make it, but he wanted me to get in too; it hurt him little bit. I think we did a good job about that.” Fugate is looking forward to climbing aboard that first bull in Texas. “It’s going to be historic,” Fugate said. “It’s the first time ever it’s going to be there. It’s going to be a cool feeling. I kind of wish it was in Vegas, but this one is going to go down in the history books as the first one at this place. It’s going to be pretty cool there.”

ProRodeo Sports News 11/20/2020

WRANGLER NATIONAL FINALS RODEO

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