PRORODEO Sports News - July 2, 2026

PLAYOFF SERIES

FROM INJURY TO PECOS CHAMP BY TED HARBIN, SPECIAL TO PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS F ive months ago, Cole Franks was in a recovery room coming out of anesthesia. He’s just had a successful hip surgery to repair a torn labrum, a necessary part of his job as a bareback rider. He returned to the game in mid-May and has been on a tear ever since. He’s ridden 10 horses over that stretch and placed among the top five seven times. He stayed on that roll during the final performance of the West of the Pecos Rodeo June 27, riding Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Scarlet Dunn It for 90 points to win the bareback riding title for the second straight year. “Other than the heat, I love this rodeo,” said Franks, a four-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Clarendon, Texas. Temperatures have been in the triple digits all week, but the rodeo action has matched the heat. Take Franks’ ride. He’d never been on the horse with an exceptional pedigree, but he understood the background. Scar let Dunn It was sired by Korczak, a stallion that has bucked at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. The dam was Scarlet’s Web, a champion bareback horse that bucked at the NFR 17 years in a row. “I had seen that horse a couple times just off video, but it looked like it was going to be a lot of fun and may be a little bit of a handful,” Franks said of the dun bronc. “That horse had a very, very good day, and it was a lot of fun.” It also added to the momentum the Texas cowboy is gain ing. He’s still building steam from those four months on the shelf. After competing at his fourth NFR in five years, the 2021 Resistol Rookie of the Year knew he needed to get his hip repaired. He competed at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo and won a round, then underwent surgery. Not only was the labrum torn; he also had a 2-cm bone spur that had cut blood flow to the socket joint. Rest and rehabilitation were part of doctors’ orders. While out of ser vice, he and his wife, Dustie, welcomed their first child, a son they named Blaise. Now, it’s time for Dad to make a living on bucking horses.

38 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE July 2, 2026