ProRodeo Sports News - Sept. 4, 2020

PRORODEO SEASON

Dan Lesovsky photo Bull rider Ruger Piva competes at the Kern County Rodeo in Bakersfield, Calif., last year. Piva just missed making his Wrangler NFR debut in 2019, finishing 17th in the PRCA | RAM World Standings. He’s again battling to make the NFR this season.

September Remember TO

Cowboys scrambling for Wrangler NFR bids

BY TRACY RENCK H overing around the No. 15 spot in the 2020 PRCA | RAM World Standings late in the season can be a roller-coaster ride for cowboys. With the PRCA regular season concluding Sept. 30, countless cowboys are making one last mad dash to get into the Top 15 to qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. “I hate to say this, but COVID helped my rodeo season this year,” bull rider Ruger Piva said. “If it wasn’t for COVID, I wouldn’t be anywhere close to the NFR because I had (right) hip surgery April 1 and I was sidelined for 3½months.” Piva returned for the Spanish Fork (Utah) Fiesta Days Xtreme Bulls, July 20. Piva was 15th in the world standings with $43,795 as of Aug. 31. September will provide chances to make up ground or to solidify a spot in the Finals. Among the rodeos in the final month of the regular season are ProRodeo Tour stops at the Magic Valley Stampede in Filer,

Idaho, the RAMNational Circuit Finals Rodeo in Greeley, Colo., and the Gooding (Idaho) Pro Rodeo. And the ProRodeo Tour Finale will cap the month on the final weekend of September, providing a payout in excess of $300,000. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make the NFR,” Piva said. “It sucked last year being right on that bubble and not quite making it.” Piva finished a career-best 17th in the 2019 world standings with $95,032. Trey Kimzey finished 15th in the 2019 regular-season standings with $108,160. “I’m going to go to as many rodeos as I can before the season ends,” Piva said. “This year is a little bit different than anything I’ve experienced. You have a $3,000 added rodeo and everybody who could possibly make the NFR this year is going to it. If you’re under 80 points don’t plan on making any dang money. You have to make everything count and ride as good as you can. I think I will be there (at the NFR), I really do.” Fellow bull rider Dallee Mason has a similar approach to Piva. Mason is 18th in the standings. “I want to go to as many rodeos as I can get to and stay on my bulls,”

ProRodeo Sports News 9/4/2020

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