ProRodeo Sports News - October 29, 2021

County Fair and Rodeo in Logan, Utah. It locked down on all four of his fingers and fractured his left index finger and broke off the fingernail. The injury required surgery and led to Cooper missing nearly two months of rodeo action. “I wanted to come back within two weeks, but you know my finger was still not bending straight yet,” said Cooper, the 2017 PRCA All- AroundWorld Champion. “My dad (ProRodeo Hall of Famer Roy Cooper) recommended I take double the time off that the doctor recommended. With his experience in rodeo and him going through multiple injuries in his career I decided that I would follow my dad’s advice.” Cooper was sidelined for nearly two months but was able to return to tie-down roping at the end of this season on Sept. 10 at the West Texas Fair & Rodeo in Abilene. He said the injury allowed him to work on other aspects of his roping in preparation for his 13thWrangler NFR. “I got on to work on some of things that I’ve been wanting to add to my roping, that is hard to do during a full rodeo season,” Cooper said. “To say that I feel 100 percent ready to go with the stuff I’ve been working on would be a no, because I know how far my game can go, but physically I feel great and I’m ready for the opportunity the NFR provides.” One man that’s no stranger to the sport of rodeo but who will making his NFR debut this year is J.B. Mauney. But it wasn’t an easy ride to the NFR for Mauney, he had to battle through adversity to qualify for his first Finals. He suffered a lacerated kidney on Sept. 9 after a 90-point ride at the Tri-State Rodeo in Fort Madison, Iowa. The injury sidelined Mauney for six weeks, and he has yet to return to competition. But he said that time off was key if he wants to ride like himself in his first trip to Las Vegas. “I talked to a few doctors, and they mentioned you know the quickest you should probably come back would be six weeks,” said Mauney, 34. “It happened right at the end of the season, so it wasn’t like I was missing a whole lot. I decided it would be better for me to take that time off and get right.” He said it’s a decision he probably wouldn’t have made earlier in his career. “My whole career I’ve been pretty stubborn about things,” Mauney said. “I didn’t let things heal when I probably should have, but you know hindsight is 50-50. It used to be that I would never take a break no matter what even if I needed to. I just kept on rolling, kept on getting on, and now the older I’ve got it’s nice to stay at home sometimes.” Now, healthy he has sights set on Vegas as he tries to win his first PRCA bull riding world championship. “I’ll start practicing and get on bulls every day in the middle of November leading up to the NFR,” Mauney said. “Then it’s go time and I’ll be ready to go I can tell you that.”

Joe Duty photo Three-time bareback riding world champion Tim O’Connell is returning to Las Vegas for his eighth Wrangler NFR in 2021.

ProRodeo Sports News 10/29/2021

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