ProRodeo Sports News - Dec. 21, 2018

BAREBACK RIDING WORLD CHAMPION

Can’t Keep This Rider Down O’Connell overcomes

BY SCOTT KANIEWSKI T imO’Connell spent the 2018 regular season proving he could battle back from whatever rodeo threw at him. He had to do the same at the 60thWrangler National Finals Rodeo. No problem. O’Connell won his third consecutive bareback riding world championship on his final ride of the 2018 season at the Wrangler NFR, winning with $319,801.

“It’s surreal,” said O’Connell, 27. “It was a battle fromDay 1. The season started slow, it picked up. It was a fight through the end of the season. It came down to me leaving it all on the line when it came down to the 10th round.” In his two prior seasons, the Zwingle,

challenging season for third straight title

Iowa, cowboy held leads of $40,668 (in 2016) and $65,259 (2017). His lead heading into the 2018Wrangler NFR was nowhere near those numbers. O’Connell’s lead before Round 1 kicked off was $14,822. He lost the lead after Round 7. It took a Round 9-winning, 90-point

ProRodeo Sports News 12/21/2018

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