ProRodeo sporst News - October 15, 2021

IN THEIR WORDS PADEN BRAY

Team roping heeler ready for second NFR debut T eam roping heeler Paden Bray made his

didn’t really quite get in Arlington,” Bray said. “The Grand Entry in Arlington didn’t take your breath away, but I think Vegas will be the place that takes my breath away. All the guys who have been to the NFR in Vegas before who I’ve talked to have been telling me just wait to you go to Vegas. It is different.” After such a strong performance at Globe Life Field in 2020, Bray has even higher expectations himself at theThomas &Mack. “I have been very blessed,” Bray said. “Things have been going great for me the past 10 to 12 months. It has been nothing short of amazing.” Rogers, who won the 2017 Team Roping Header World Championship teamed with Cory Petska, has been a great partner for Bray. “I’m getting really comfortable roping with Erich,” Bray said. “He does an amazing job. He knows what I do and I’m getting a real good feel for what he does. A lot of it is reaction and feel for what your partner does. He does a great job and I’m getting confident in doing a better job myself.” Bray said he and Rogers haven’t talked much about the setup at theThomas &Mack. “He’s pretty simple,” Bray said. “He always says we will just go make a run and he’s right. As soon as you back in the box, you can feel prepared, but all that’s going to go out the window. It’s going to be all you can want. It is going to be full contact. It’s going to be the bright lights, probably everything I ever imagined.”

Team roping heeler Paden Bray has been on the fast track to success in the PRCA. In 2019, he was the Resistol Rookie of the Year and just missed qualifying for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, finishing 17th in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings. Teaming with header Erich Rogers they won the average at the 2020 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Come December, Bray with Rogers as his partner are taking aim at gold buckles.

Wrangler National Finals Rodeo debut in 2020 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. It was memorable debut for Bray as he teamed with Erich Rogers to win the average as they each earned $122,962 at the NFR. Bray also finished second in the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $175,503 and Rogers was third with the same amount. “Obviously it was nothing short of amazing to get to go to the NFR and it was a dream come true,” said Bray, 22. Now, Bray gets to make his NFR debut again in 2021. Confused? Don’t be. Bray will compete at the NFR at theThomas &Mack Center in Las Vegas for the first time Dec. 2-11. TheThomas &Mack Center has been home to the NFR since 1985, but was moved to Arlington, Texas, last year because of COVID-19 restrictions in Las Vegas. Bray will be joined by bareback riders Jess Pope and Cole Reiner, steer wrestler Jesse Brown, team roping header Andrew Ward and team roping heeler Logan Medlin, tie-down roper Westyn Hughes and bull rider Ky Hamilton, who are making back-to-back NFR debuts fromArlington to Vegas. Bray, who calls Stephenville, Texas, home, is thrilled to make his second NFR debut. He will enter Vegas third in the world standings with $116,937. He trails leader Junior Nogueira by $16,779. “The intensity everybody talks about that Vegas has we

ProRodeo Sports News 10/15/2021

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