ProRodeo Sports News - September 1, 2023

EDITOR’S LETTER TRACY RENCK

Tracy Renck is the editor of the ProRodeo

Sports News. He previously served more than seven years as a media coordinator at the PRCA. He has three decades of experience in sports journalism with the last several consumed by ProRodeo.

Final push to make Wrangler NFR in full gear T his is the time of the year when PRCA contestants are relying on anything to help them qualify for the 2023 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Teton Ridge. Following fortune cookie philosophy isn’t a bad option like Phillip Kitts photo Resistol Rookie bareback rider Sam Petersen, above, had an 85-point ride on Dakota Rodeo’s Green Bay in February at the Cinch World’s Toughest Rodeo in St. Paul, Minn. Petersen will be in the Playoff Series Rodeo in Puyallup, Wash., as he makes a push to make the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

Cowboys like bareback riders Dean Thompson and Sam Petersen; steer wrestlers Don Payne and Tucker Allen; team ropers Marcus Theriot/ Cole Curry; saddle bronc riders Leon Fountain and Statler Wright; tie down ropers Luke Potter and Trevor Hale and bull riders Cullen Telfer and T Parker. Not only can contestants take aim at Puyallup’s cash, but doing well in Puyallup also can send contestants to an even larger payday in Sioux Falls. The contestants in Sioux Falls will include the top four finishers from each event at the Playoffs in Puyallup, and the top eight out of the standings of the Playoff Series presented by Pendleton Whisky. Last September, the PRCA, the State of South Dakota, Experience Sioux Falls and Cinch announced the Cinch Playoffs will have athletes competing for the Governor’s Cup and vying for the $1.1 million purse, Sept. 28-30, 2023, at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls. It will be the richest rodeo in South Dakota history. In terms of drama at the end of the season – this is as good as it gets. On Sept. 30, cowboys will experience the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat all wrapped into one. Some contestants will have lifelong dreams realized, while others will deal with the heartbreak of being so close – yet so far away from an NFR bid. This is must-watch TV on The Cowboy Channel and Cowboy Channel Plus App as the contestant list for the NFR unfolds.

the following saying – I didn’t come this far to only come this far. Consider from Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023, contestants have and will continue traveling across the country trying to cash checks and earn enough money to finish in the Top 15 of the PRCA | RAM World Standings. Now, it is crunch time. The PRCA regular season ends in less than a month. Time isn’t on the contestants’ side, but there are two huge paydays coming up for those contestants who qualified to compete in Puyallup, Wash. (Sept. 7-10) and then hopefully on to Sioux Falls, S.D. for the Governor’s Cup. (Sept. 28 30). In Puyallup, the top 23 contestants in the Playoff Series Standings and champions from the NFR Open in July will make up the field. That field, which had some adjustments because of injuries and things, is set. The Washington State Fair Pro Rodeo in Puyallup will pay $648,000 and is littered with world champions and NFR qualifiers in every event. There are contestants who are scratching and clawing to make their NFR debuts. They are on or near the Top 15 bubble, hoping to punch their tickets to the yellow bucking chutes in Las Vegas, Dec. 7-16 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

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ProRodeo Sports News 9/1/2023

ProRodeo.com

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