There are eight world champions in this year’s Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo field, and that’s a huge indication of what a wonderful championship this weekend’s festivities will be. Below is information I provided for a special section that ran earlier this week. Enjoy.
If 2011 was any indication, Kaycee Feild is following quite well in his famous father’s footsteps. Feild, the son of five-time world champion Lewis Feild, clinched the first of what should be many bareback riding gold buckles during a magnificent run at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo this past December.
Kaycee Feild dominated the competition, winning six of 10 go-rounds, setting the average record with a cumulative total of 860.5 points and smashing the NFR and single-season earnings mark for bareback riders – the Utah cowboy won $179,327 in Las Vegas and finished the season with $319,986.
Now he’s chasing another prestigious buckle as the winner of ProRodeo’s National Championship during the four days of competition at the Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo, which takes place in historic Jim Norick Arena, the NFR’s first home during it’s 20-year run in Oklahoma City from 1965-1984.
Feild is one of eight contestants representing 17 world champions who will be part of this year’s race for the national championship.
Tie-down roper Tuf Cooper
Like Feild, Cooper also comes from world champion stock. His father, Roy Cooper, is an eight-time world champion. But Tuf Cooper is doing just fine making a name for himself. He’s just 22 years old and won the 2011 world title in just his fourth trip to the NFR.
Bareback rider Will Lowe
He was just 20 years old the first time he qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in 2002, and he won the world title just a year later. Since then, he hasn’t missed the NFR and has added gold buckles in 2005 and 2006.
Steer wrestler Luke Branquinho
He’s qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo 10 times since 2001, and the one time he missed was because of an injury. He’s clinched three world titles, 2004, ’08 and last season.
Saddle bronc rider Cody Wright
He has been a fixture in Las Vegas since 2003. In that time, he has won the 2008 and 2010 world championships in saddle bronc riding. This season marks the seventh time he’s qualified for the RNCFR.
Saddle bronc rider Taos Muncy
Taos Muncy was just 20 years old when he won his first world title in 2007, the same year he won the college saddle bronc riding championship. He clinched his second gold buckle last season.
Barrel racer Brittany Pozzi
Brittany Pozzi is a veteran, an eight-time qualifier to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and a two-time world champion (2007-2009). Oh, and she’s just 28 years old. But she’s got a barn full of great horses to help.
Barrel racer Sherry Cervi
She owns the all-time earnings record in the WPRA; of course, that comes with the territory of 14 NFR qualifications and three world championships, the last of which she won by dominating the 2010 ProRodeo season.