ProRodeo Sports News - Dec. 21, 2018

BULL RIDING WORLD CHAMPION

Sage Kimzey wins fifth consecutive world title

BY MATT NABER S age Kimzey

“I legitimately couldn’t lift my body out of bed in the morning. I separated my shoulder and pulled a rib out, and it made the right side of my body go into muscle spasms. “But last night (after Round 9) they got it sorted out. Justin Sportsmedicine has been unreal and got me well enough to stay on.” Despite bucking off four in a row, his position at the top of the world standings was basically untouchable until the 10th round. Chase Dougherty was the only competitor who could have caught Kimzey, and even that chance was incredibly slim. Dougherty would have had to have been the only qualified rider in the final round to collect the ground money and average money to surpass Kimzey in the world standings. “This one was just brutal,” Kimzey said. “You hear about it being the toughest 10 days of the sport. Before this year I didn’t think that was true and never had an issue beforehand. But this year, in Round 1 on through, I was fighting tooth and nail for what I could get, but today was a proverbial cherry on top.” Kimzey pulled out all the stops in the final round, nailing a 93-point ride on Beutler and Son Rodeo’s Record Rack’s Shootin’ Stars. He also won Round 5 in 2017 with an 89-point ride on Shootin’ Stars. “I knew he was the one you want to have,” Kimzey said. “He’s not that difficult to

continued to write PRCA history when he won his fifth

consecutive world title with $415,263, the first bull rider to do so since the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo started 60 years ago. Only four other bull riders have at least five world titles, and all of them are ProRodeo Hall of Famers: Smokey Snyder (1931-32, 1935-37), Harry Tompkins (1948-50, 1952, 1960), Jim Shoulders (1951, 1954-59) and Don Gay (1974-77, 1979- 81, 1984). Shoulders is the only other cowboy to win five consecutive bull riding titles, but his fifth one came in 1959, the first year of the National Finals Rodeo. “Anytime your name is by Jim Shoulders’ you are in a league you can’t put into words,” said Kimzey, 24. “He is one of the greatest cowboys of all time, and it means the world to me.” Earlier this season, Kimzey shattered the record he set in 2017 ($237,152) when he ended the 2018 regular season with $297,026, including ground money. “Sometimes I question myself why I do this, but every time I get down in the dumps, I think back to the 6-year-old me who would kill for the opportunity to be a beacon of light in the world and spread some good,” said Kimzey, who competed in 135 regular- season competitions. Despite missing six

PRCA ProRodeo photo by Phil Doyle

ride, and if you can ride him, he will be 90-plus points.” Although Kimzey placed only fifth in the average at the Wrangler NFR with 347 points on four head, his year-long efforts were the force behind his historic win. “It was a dogfight to the end this year, and that’s when you learn the most about who you are as a competitor and as a person,” Kimzey said. “It was one of those things where I had several opportunities to give up and never did, and that’s the biggest thing I took out of this week.”

weeks of competition due to a fractured pelvis in January, Kimzey entered the Wrangler NFR with the biggest lead of any event leader with $111,550 separating him from Parker Breding. “This year was tough, it was just sheer grit and determination from the start of the year,” he said. “It started with a fractured pelvis, and it was a 365-day grind. Going into here with a big lead, then getting hurt in the first round – it was a brutal 10 days, and it was hard to get out of bed.

ProRodeo Sports News 12/21/2018

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