ProRodeo Sports News - October 14, 2022

PASADENA, TEXAS

Berry preps for NFR trip with victory Executing BY JOLEE JORDAN, Special to ProRodeo Sports News PASADENA LIVESTOCK SHOW & RODEO

E xecution has been Leighton Berry’s trademark in 2022. It seems like every plan he set out for himself has worked out just as he envisioned, right down to the final weekend of the season at the Pasadena (Texas) Livestock Show & Rodeo. Berry won the bareback riding after an 88.5-point ride on Frontier Rodeo’s Wrangler National Finals Rodeo horse Night Fist on Sept. 24, earning $2,217. “When I went to enter, no one was asking for that performance,” Berry said, admitting it was odd for a rodeo to begin on a Saturday night. “I put my name down when no one else wanted and I drew the most perfect horse I could get.” Berry knew his draw, a horse he’d ridden previously in the short go at Dodge City, Kan. “It went really good there, so I knew I had a chance to win something (in Pasadena),” he said. Despite being the only bareback rider that night, Berry rose to the challenge, posting a score that was unbeatable during the final five performances. “None of my buddies were there on the back to help me out but, 88.5 points, it worked out pretty good.” Berry has been implementing his strategy perfectly this season, entering sparingly early on with a tactic to make a big late season push. In the final month of 2022, he earned $30,016, picking up checks in every rodeo he entered save one. “It was my goal all year to watch my rodeo count and be able to enter as many as I wanted at the end,” Berry said. “There are so many good rodeos at the end that I think people forget about and I wanted to be able to enter and pick the rodeos based on the best horses I drew.” His final season sprint kicked off with a win inWalla Walla, Wash., finished with the win in Pasadena and was highlighted by the win at the Cinch Playoffs in Puyallup, Wash. He went from13th to eighth during September, finishing the season just $30,000 behind world leader Cole Reiner in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings. “I wanted to try to push through and be the standout guy at the end of the season,” he said. “It worked out awesome and was a lot of fun.” His hot streak even carried over to the 2023 season when he placed third at Rosenberg and Hempstead, Texas in the first weekend of October. “My season actually ended a week later than everyone else,” he joked. “I just wanted to get the ball rolling for 2023 and knock out a couple of rodeos for my circuit count for next year.” Berry now has a break until he travels to Red Deer, Alberta, to compete in his first Canadian Finals Rodeo, Nov. 2-6, another season plan carried out flawlessly. “I will pick up my workouts and make sure my body is rested but ready to go. I probably won’t get on many practice horses until I go to Red Deer,” he said. “I’ll go up there and get on six head of really good horses for good money and use that to knock off any rust before the Finals.” Berry has qualified for his secondWrangler NFR, the first coming in 2020 when COVID-19 forced the move from Las Vegas to Arlington, Texas. He just missed the repeat qualification last year, ending the season ranked 23rd despite missing action for seven months after suffering a major injury at the start of the winter. “My goals are still the same,” he said of rebounding and readjusting after spinal fusion surgery in January 2021. “The way I go about achieving them is the same. Just work hard and keep trying to grow.”

TOP SCORES

Egusquiza

Graves

TOP MONEY EARNER Dustin Egusquiza and Travis Graves (team roping, $4,367 each) BAREBACK RIDING 1. Leighton Berry...................... 88.5 pts. 2. Ty Breuer........................................ 86 3. Wyatt Denny................................ 84.5 STEER WRESTLING 1. J.D. Struxness .............. 6.9 sec. on 2 2. Slammer Powers........................... 8.5 3. Clayton Hass.................................. 8.7 (Tie) Cade Staton........................... 8.7 TEAM ROPING 1. Egusquiza/Graves........... 8.1 sec. on 2 2. C. Rahlmann/J. Harrison................ 9.7 3. T. Wade/D. Rich............................. 9.8 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Brody Cress............................. 87 pts. 2. Chase Brooks. ............................. 86.5 3. Tegan Smith................................. 85.5 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Connor Atkinson..................... 8.1 sec. 2. Caleb Smidt................................... 8.3 3. Cory Solomon................................ 8.6 BULL RIDING 1. Trevor Kastner ....................... 89 pts. 2. Boudreaux Campbell .................. 87.5 (Tie) J.R. Stratford ..................... 87.5

Kent Soule photo Bareback rider Leighton Berry, shown competing at the Cinch Playoffs in Puyallup, Wash., which he won, continued his momentum with a victory at the Pasadena (Texas) Livestock Show & Rodeo.

Complete results/Page 50

ProRodeo Sports News 10/14/2022

ProRodeo Sports News 10/14/2022

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