Monthly Archives: December 2022

Smidt, Waguespack, Thurston add to their world-title collections LAS VEGAS – Caleb Smidt can be quiet and unassuming, preferring to stay in the shadows until he’s called to action. Much like a special forces’ sniper, his shots are deadly. The proof shines in gold four times over. Just weeks ago, he secured his fourth National Finals Rodeo average championship, clinching his fourth Montana Silversmiths gold buckle for being the tie-down roping world titlist. “I had a great season,” said Smidt, 33, of Bellville, Texas. “I went home in August, probably the earliest I went home because I felt like I had enough won to be in contention when you get (to Las Vegas, home of the NFR).” He had earned just shy of $160,000 through the course of the regular season and sat out all of September. He entered ProRodeo’s grand championship fourth in the world standings and was definitely in position to make a move. He’d done very well in Las Vegas before, so he knew there was a chance. Boy, was he right. He placed in the first eight go-rounds, dominated the aggregate race and was one of three Cinch cowboys to leave the Nevada desert with a PRCA world championship. He is joined by steer wrestler Tyler Waguespack and saddle bronc rider Zeke Thurston in claiming rodeo’s gold. “I felt like I started off really good by winning the first two rounds,” said Smidt, who also won gold buckles in 2015, 2018 and 2021. “It just makes the week a lot smoother. We drew good calves, and my horse (Pockets) was great. He gave me a chance every night. He makes it really easy, and it’s just a blessing to accomplish what I’ve accomplished this week. “I didn’t plan on that when I came out here. I just planned to have fun and rope calves and see where it ends up.” It ended at the top. Smidt earned $225,221 in 10 December nights, pushing his 2022 salary to $374,737. He outdistanced the runner-up, New Mexican Shad Mayfield, by $105,000. “I won The American and won Calgary,” he said of his season. “It was just a blessing. I had a good Fourth of July. It was an absolute blessing to compete at a high level for the season and here. I give the glory to God. “Just what I have accomplished is beyond my imagination. “(It is) my belief in God and the horse I have, and my family pushed me to be better every day. It’s a tough sport to even do this, to leave your family in the summer to make it here is hard, and it’s a long 10 days here.” No days were longer than the final day, Dec. 10. The world championship was his to lose, so all he needed to do was take care of business. “It was one of the hardest calves I’ve run,” he said that night. “(With) the other three championships I won, I had to do good (in the 10th round). They weren’t just giving it to me. To catch one and tie it down, it was a tough pen of calves. There were four or five really good ones, and the rest were pretty tricky, and I didn’t love mine. “She went left, and she took the tie, which was the only thing I liked about her. It was just a blessing to get her caught and tied down.” With that, he put a knot on another magical year, one he won’t forget anytime soon. He is tied with legendary ropers Olin Young, Roy Cooper and Fred Whitfield for the most NFR average wins. That’s something he’ll be able to hang his cowboy hat on no matter what else happens in his career. Wageuspack packs in more gold Cinch bulldogger Tyler Waguespack was in position to make things happen on the final day of the 2022 ProRodeo campaign. He just didn’t think it was going to happen. There were two other men ahead of him who were expected to clinch their first gold buckles. When they stumbled, everything fell into Waguespack’s lap. “I feel undeserving of this world title,” said Waguespack, 32, of Gonzales, Louisiana. “That was the craziest round of steer wrestling I have ever seen.” He joins three other cowboys – Jim Bynum, Everett Bowman and Ote Berry – with four world championships; he also won ProRodeo’s gold in 2016, 2018 and 2021. Only two bulldoggers in the sport’s history own more world titles: Homer Pettigrew has six, and Luke Branquinho has five. “I grew up watching all my heroes and dreaming about having one gold buckle,” Waguespack said. “Ote Berry is one of my biggest role models and biggest supporters and helped me out so much.” He had other supporters and other helpers along the way. When things weren’t clicking with him and his horse, Casper, he reached out to fellow Louisianans Remey and Rowdy Parrott, then mounted their horse, D.C. When the final curtain fell, he had earned $145,000 in Las Vegas. He finished the season with $268,881. He edged his good friend, fellow Cinch endorsee Will Lummus, by less than $2,700. “Rowdy Parrott and Remey Parrott have done tremendous for me,” Waguespack said. “Them two boys have been like brothers to me, and Rowdy welcomed me with open arms to get on D.C. I was able to place on tree of the last four rounds I rode him; I got a go-round with him. Them two boys came in clutch.” So did Waguespack, and he has the gold to prove it. Thurston wins world title, Top Gun Zeke Thurston was simply dominant during the 10 nights of the NFR. He placed nine times and earned two round titles – he won the fourth round, then had a three-way tie in Round 10 – and had the most earnings of any of the 120 contestants at this year’s finale. He earned $265,078 in Las Vegas and pushed his season earnings to just  Continue Reading »

LAS VEGAS – There were moments during the National Finals Rodeo where bareback rider Tanner Aus was just shaking his head. He had trouble matching his bronc in the third round, then had more trouble the next night when his left foot slipped below the animal’s shoulder on the first jump out of the chute. That failed markout meant a no-score for the veteran cowboy. He didn’t keep his head down for long. Instead, he placed five nights, including an 88.5-point ride on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Night Flight to finish tied for third place in Saturday’s 10th go-round. That $14,690 pushed his Las Vegas earnings to just shy of $80,000. He finished eighth in the world standings with $206,851. “It has been good, but it has a lot to do with how I drew,” said Aus of Granite Falls, Minnesota. I’m thankful to have the chances I did. I had a couple of good chances I let slip through my fingers, too. You can see it in the average results; I’m not there. I’m thankful for everything I was able to put together this week. “There is no better place to be as a rodeo cowboy.” Even through the ups and downs, it was still a good week. Of the five nights he earned a paycheck, he earned big money three times. He also had big scores, proving his talent and the talents of the horses he was matched with. “I kind of got banged up earlier this week in that eliminator round (on Night 8),” he said. “I’ve just been playing it by ear to see if I was going to be able to continue. The last thing I wanted to do was weaken before the end. When I saw my draw for (Saturday), I knew I had a chance at the round (win). “I didn’t know how the round w as going to get. Night Flight delivered, and it was a blast. Other than winning the round, I can’t think of a better way to end the finals.” He did it, thanks to the Justin Sportsmedicine team, who took care of a big bruise on Aus’ thigh that was caused when his eighth-round horse, the Calgary Stampede’s Annual News, stopped his right leg after the qualified ride. The Minnesota cowboy reached down deep and made the decision to get on his bronc for the final night. Having Night Flight was a big reason why, but there also is something a bout completing a task. “It’s cool to see everyone finish off the week strong,” Aus said. “We are down one man because Orin Larsen is having surgery. Everyone had the tenacity and the drive to get through the week barring any major injuries. It is just good to see the guys turn up after 10 days and ride as good as everyone did (Saturday) night.”

LAS VEGAS – Three-time world champion Tim O’Connell was standing at the South Point Hotel and Casino awaiting his time to go on stage and receive his ninth-round go-round buckle. His phone indicated a message, one that revealed the 10th-round draw for bareback riders. He peaked down, scrolled for a second and saw he’d been matched with Frontier Rodeo’s Gun Fire, the 2022 PRCA Bareback Horse of the Year. “I was so excited, I might have said some profanity when I got the draw,” said O’Connell, originally from Zwingle, Iowa, now living in Marshall, Missouri, with their two sons. “To see you got Gun Fire for the last horse of your 2022 season to get through this, get on 12 head, going 12 up (and) 12 down, coming off a major surgery … I couldn’t be happier with my performance. “I left it all in that arena. There wasn’t an ounce of me that held back. I owned my mistakes. When it worked, it worked.” It worked well. He and Gun Fire danced across the Thomas & Mack Center dirt for 88.5 points to finish in a tie for third place in the go-round; that was worth $14,690. He also finished sixth in the NFR aggregate standings, riding 10 horses (and two re-rides) for a cumulative score of 838.5 points. That was an additional $17,188 payday. When adding up his week and a half in the Nevada desert, it came to just shy of $105,000. He ended the 2022 campaign sixth in the world standings with $234,232. “I really had to rally these last two rounds,” he said. “I had to pull myself out of a slump of trying too hard and remember that there is a lot of money to be won out here. (Friday) night, I took advantage of that, and it set me up into this situation to draw the bucking horse of the year on the 10th night. To go out there and let it all hang out, man, she gave me everything she had tonight.” Bareback riding was spectacular on Saturday night. At most rodeos, scoring 88.5 points typically means a cowboy has won. During the 10th round in Las Vegas, it’s tied for third. Six-time world champion Kaycee Feild won with a 92, while 2019 champ Clayton Biglow was 90. “Talk about guys going out there and leaving everything on the table for eight seconds,” O’Connell said. “That’s a year’s worth of work with the very best horses in the world and the very best guys in the world. I’m glad we got to start this 10th round off with a bang.” As he celebrated his own place this season, he also celebrated with his traveling partners. Jess Pope won the NFR average for the third straight year and won his first world championship. Cole Franks finished second at the NFR and finished fourth overall. All three finished among the top 10. “(Jess) is like a little brother to me,” O’Connell said. “If I couldn’t win it and Cole couldn’t win it, I wanted him to win it. He kicked our butts all year long. He kicked our butts out here. “He deserved to have a gold buckle around his waist. It just makes me really proud. We’ve got another world champion sitting in our rig.” Yes, there is, but O’Connell owns the first one, and there’s a reason why he’ll continue to be a contender for more.

LAS VEGAS – J.D. Struxness just finished a rough and rugged 10 days at the National Finals Rodeo, but his work isn’t done. “There’s no time off,” said Struxness, originally from Milan, Minnesota, now living in Perrin, Texas, with his fiancé, Jayden, and their daughters, Everlee and Lilly. “There are some (Texas) Circuit rodeos I need to be entering in January. Without the two big horses I ride the rest of the year, I have to get my team ready to go.” He’s already started on the 2023 ProRodeo season with the 2022 campaign just hours into his rearview mirror. That’s rodeo. He finished his fourth trip to the NFR with $73,579 in earnings over 10 December nights, with nearly $13,000 coming from a bonus for finishing seventh in the average race with a cumulative time of 41.9 seconds on nine runs. He ended the campaign with $197,227 and finished seventh in the world standings. It’s all positive, but he had hoped for better. When he arrived, he was third on the money list and in contention to win a world championship. That all fell apart in the fifth go-round when he suffered a no-time. “It wasn’t the 10 days we had planned, but we made it through and walked away with some money,” he said. “Now, I’ll head back home and start over. “There was a door that opened before I ran my steer in the 10th round for me to sneak into the average some. That took a little pressure off to be sub 4.0 (seconds) on the steer I had, which was going to be hard to do. A little later on, another door opened and I moved up another spot in the average.” The rodeo season is a roller-coaster ride for cowboys who make a living in a sport. For every win like in San Antonio, there were missed steers and broken barriers. The same can be said for the NFR, which dangles the carrot of a $10.4 million purse and go-round winners earning nearly $29,000. “You can’t give up on it, because there are lots of times in bulldogging that things happen, and you can work your way back up,” Struxness said. “There are lots of years that guys can win a spot in the average even if they didn’t get a time on all 10 steers. You can’t quit and be totally stupid. “We were planning and hoping for more and hoped to be in contention and battling for (the world championship), but I think we’re happy for $74,000 for the situation we’re in.” It’s also a chance to prove himself again next season. “It’s a big motivation, because we should have been in contention, but things didn’t go our way in the beginning,” he said. “There’s improvement to be made, so you’ve got to put your head down to the grindstone. The first thing is (to) get back (to the NFR); the second thing, don’t let those mistakes happen again.” That’s Struxness’ work ethic coming out, something he learned growing up near the Lac Que Parle, a lake in southwestern Minnesota. It’s something that will likely carrying him back to Las Vegas next December.

LAS VEGAS – Cole Franks has spent the last two ProRodeo seasons traveling with three-time world champion bareback rider Tim O’Connell and Jess Pope, who clinched his first gold buckle this season. “I’ve just got to complete the trifecta and have all of us in the rig wearing gold buckles,” said Franks, 21, of Clarendon, Texas. He concluded a fantastic sophomore season with a solid run through the 2022 National Finals Rodeo. He placed in eight of 10 rounds and finished second to Pope in the average race; that, alone, is worth $60,159. He earned just shy of $147,000 in 10 December nights in the Nevada desert. “It was slow compared to what it was last year, but it was a lot more fun this year,” Franks said. “I drew a lot nicer horses. They were just on the weaker ends of the pens every time. I feel like I did what I could with what I had. Today I made a little bobble at the end that cost me a little bit, but I’m pretty happy with how it ended. He rode Pickett Pro Rodeo’s New Scarlet for 88 points, which would have won half the rounds this year. During Sunday’s 10th round, Franks finished in a tie for fifth place and added $6,063. He finished the year with $263,378 “I’ve dreamed of getting on that horse for a long time,” he said. “I watched Tim get on him at San Angelo (Texas) this year. That horse is so much fun, so much fun. He just floats right underneath himself. That’s probably one of the funnest horses I’ve been on. “That’s a lot of those Pickett horses. They are all really good to get on. That’s the first Pickett horse I’ve been on (at the NFR). I was pretty excited about it when I saw the draw last night.” Finishing so high in the aggregate race is also a blessing that came with riding well for 10 nights. He finished the NFR with 852 cumulative points, just eight behind Pope, who has won the average title for three straight years. That is a standard that proves the consistency of the top guys during the championship event. “It is awesome to be able to do that,” Franks said. “Last year I was third in the average, so moving up one spot in the average is awesome. I’m going to be plugging for next year. I’m going to have to bump Jess out of that, but that’s going to be work.” Franks isn’t afraid to work, and it’s why he’s been among the top five in the world standings each of his first two years in the PRCA.

LAS VEGAS – Before the celebratory beer could flow, Jess Pope’s tears displayed just what it means to be named a world champion. “It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a little kid,” said Pope, who won his third straight National Finals Rodeo average championship and dominated the 10 days of competition in Las Vegas. “The first school I ever went to, (three-time world champion) Will Lowe was the instructor – it would have been 2007. When I first walked in there, I thought he was a kid that was getting on. “He stepped up and started the school. He had his gold buckle on, and I seen that and thought, ‘I want that,’ and now I’ve got it.” He earned it. He led the world standings through much of the season beginning in March, then got into a late-season battle with Wyoming bronc buster Cole Reiner, who entered the NFR atop the world standings. The Pope put on a show inside the Thomas & Mack Center, riding 10 horses for a cumulative score of 860 points. That was worth $74,150 and pushed his NFR earnings to more than $231,000. That’s a good living and a dominating performance. “It is a lot of work getting here,” said Pope, 24, of Waverly, Kansas, and an alumnus of the Missouri Valley College rodeo team. “We sit off October and November, and it’s the fastest two months ever to get ready for this. It doesn’t feel like a long enough time, but it is what we get. “It was worth all the work coming into this.” In a sport where dollars equal championship points, he earned $390,620 for the 2022 campaign. That was nearly $75,000 over the No. 2 man in the standings, six-time world champion Kaycee Feild. Pope was so strong over the previous nine days, the Montana Silversmiths gold buckle was his to lose before he arrived at the arena. He spent much of Saturday trying not to think about it all that was on his plate. “It was hard knowing that all I had to do was come knock out this one more, and I got what I wanted,” he said. “I get a goal I’ve wanted my whole life. It was God’s plan I showed up, and He allowed it to happen. He took all the negative thoughts away. It was perfect. It was the way it was supposed to be.” Pope had a big lead in the standings heading into the Fourth of July run, then his run was stopped in its tracks. He suffered a foot injury July 1 and didn’t return for a month. “I tore the plantar facia tendon in my right foot,” Pope said. “I had a horse roll over on me in the middle of the arena. It was hard. I didn’t know how long it would take to heal. I did everything I could, and I was fortunate to come back at Dodge City (Kansas) a month and a week later, five weeks. “It hurt for another three weeks every time I’d’ get on. I’d get off and hobble across the arena. I did it, and it paid off.” He spent as much time with his traveling partners, fellow bareback riders Cole Franks and Tim O’Connell, as he did with his family. The three of them battled through injuries and long hours behind the wheel and some of the baddest and best bucking horses in the world to compete together at the NFR. They all had a good 10 days in the Nevada desert. O’Connell placed in six rounds, finished sixth in the average and earned $104,669. Franks placed eight nights and placed second in the aggregate, eight points behind Pope, and earned $146,952. “It is an outstanding day for us,” Pope said. “I’m really thankful I get to call all them my brothers. I’m super happy they both had a great week. I’m excited to see what next year brings with them.” His next year is already filling up. He and his fiancé, Sydney Odle, are planning a May wedding. Where life and rodeo takes him after that is unclear, but he knows he has some things to take care of very soon. “(This money) is going to have to build a house,” he said. “The trailer house we live in now probably ain’t going to cut it.” No, but it will be the perfect place to temporarily display the gold buckle he earned.

LAS VEGAS – Everything about Tanner Aus’ ride on Calgary Stampede’s Annual News looked good until it didn’t. It didn’t feel good for Aus, and it only got worse. Annual News was part of Thursday’s eliminator pen of bareback horses. It was a fistfight from the time the horse left the chute until the big bay knocked Aus to the canvas just after the buzzer. “It was rough,” said Aus, who was bucked off but hung in his rigging until the powerful horse dragged the cowboy off with his hind foot. “It was just a tough ride, but I was happy to get by him. I watched the replay, and I thought it looked pretty good, and I clicked my heels at the end. “That’s how my had was in there. I was hung up into my hand until she stomped on me and pulled me out.” Aus hit the ground hard, and he was left with a long bruise down his right thigh from where Annual News attacked him. He limped out of the arena with an 85-point ride, worth $7,462, pushing his NFR earnings to $65,029. He is seventh in the world standings with $192,161. He returned to action for Friday’s ninth round and plans to compete on the final night of the 2022 season Saturday. “It wasn’t too bad,” said Aus of Granite Falls, Minnesota. “The (Justin) Sportsmedicine team got me fixed up when I got here (Friday). I knew that I just had to put it out of my mind. I’m probably not riding at 100 percent, but there’s way too much that goes into making this rodeo and the pride of being here. “I wouldn’t feel good about it if I didn’t try.” He hustled all season just to be in the mix for this year’s NFR. Only the top 15 cowboys on the money list as of Sept. 30 get to play on rodeo’s biggest stage and for their share of a $1.4 million purse. Each night, go-round winners earn nearly $29,000. It pays nearly $23,000 for second place, and Aus has finished in at least a share as runner-up twice. He’d love to pack home another big paycheck before he returns to Minnesota. “You think about the guys that have ridden in this arena banged up, and you don’t want to let an opportunity slip away,” he said. “You want to have 10 rounds up, 10 rounds down. If you need to take a break after that, you have time. We’re going to try to get through (Saturday) night and finish strong.” When his leg hurts and doubt creeps into his mind, it all changes once he arrives at the Thomas & Mack. Right there amongst all the bareback riders in the locker room is J.R. Vezain, a six-time NFR bareback rider who no longer is able to play the game he’s loved. Vezain was paralyzed in 2018 when a bucking horse fell over backward onto him and cause a spinal injury. Hearing Vezain talk is all Aus needs to be motivated for another day. “J.R. is one of a kind,” Aus said. “He is a spark plug through and through. He always has something good to say. He is a good Christian, a spiritual guy. We love having him down there, and he really appreciates being down there, too. It is really good to have him.”

LAS VEGAS – Whew! Garrett Shadbolt needed that. It’s been a rough National Finals Rodeo. He collected just his second paycheck of this year’s championship with an 87-point ride on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s William Wallace to finish third in Friday’s ninth go-round.  That was worth $17,255 and pushed his Las Vegas earnings to $47,308. He is 12th in the world standings with $151,257. “I drew the buckier ones out of the hopper (pen), and that worked out for me both times,” said Shadbolt, who also placed in the same pen of bucking horses when they were out in the fourth round. “It’s been too long since I’ve place, but that’s not going to get me down. I’ve been out there fighting for the average all week. Hopefully I get scratched in there. It’s going to be close.” That’s true. He is ninth in the aggregate race with 723 cumulative points on nine rides. He is six and a half points out of eighth place – only the top eight in the average earn a bonus when Saturday night comes to a close. If he’s able to move up one spot, he’ll collect $6,995. If he moves up to seventh, the bonus will be worth $12,592. While he’s ridden all nine broncs, he’s had some lower scores. His cumulative total is 55.5 points behind the leader, Kansan Jess Pope. “I think I have a couple of issues with my riding,” said Shadbolt, 26, of Merriman, Nebraska. “That is kind of how it is out here. This is not the place to train and improve; it is the place to show off the skills you have. I think taking a month off in the season might not have been t he best thing for me. It was the last month of the season, and then getting on two (horses) and coming here … that might have not been the best thing. “I don’t know what it is, but I have a lot of time to figure it out next year. It’s no secret I’ve had trouble this week, but at the end of the day, you shouldn’t count me out.” Some of his troubles have come from being aggressive, but he pointed out that the bareback riders that are having the most success are just riding the broncs for how they are; they aren’t trying to do too much or work too fast. “I think one of the things I want to work on is just trying to slow myself down, which is really hard for me to do,” he said. “I try so hard, I self-destruct. It’s hard to do at the NFR.  You want to go out there and light them up every night, then on the same side of the coin, I’m not doing that good in the average and I haven’t won that much. It makes me want to go out there and be 90 or nothing even more. “It’s s double-edged sword.” He is figuring out ways to improve, which is a good thing for a two-time NFR qualifier. He also has found a great deal of positives in his experience. “’I know that it is about more than just winning money and rounds out here,” Shadbolt said. “It’s about the experience. The other night, I got on Dirty Jacket. We didn’t win any money, but I got to ride that horse. That is what I’m here for. I’m here for the hair in the spur. “It’s never been about the money for me.”

LAS VEGAS – A big part of rodeo is the random draw on the animals with which the cowboys are matched for each night. While the steers, calves, bulls and broncs are placed in pens to make them as even as possible. Still, there are some animals that stick out as the better ones. It’s those that the contestants want when the draws occur, and it’s part of what’s changed for steer wrestler J.D. Struxness. “I’ve been drawing on the better end of the steers than I was at the beginning of the week,” said Struxness, a four-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Milan, Minnesota, who has placed five times at this year’s finale, including each of the last four nights. “I’m knowing things are going to work out. I do my job, and my hazer is going to do his, and we just meet in the middle. Then I will go take care of the rest of it from there.” It’s working. On Friday night, he knocked down his steer in 3.9 seconds to finish third in the ninth round. With that, he added $17,255 to his NFR earnings, which are just shy of $61,000. For the season, he has pocketed $184,636 and is sixth in the world standings with one night remaining on the ProRodeo season. After suffering a no-time in Round 4, he made a horse and hazer change. He enlisted the assistance of Monroe, a palomino owned by fellow bulldogger Ringo Robinson, and Matt Reeves. The combination of things is working wonders. “Matt definitely makes your confidence high in him,” said Struxness, who won the 2016 intercollegiate national title while competing at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. “He has been riding a good horse and, has hazed hundreds of steers in this arena. He is a very aggressive hazer. That fits my style here, because I’d rather be aggressive here than laid back. It has been working out so far.” An NFR qualification is a big deal for a cowboy, an even bigger deal for his family and friends. Many make the trip to Las Vegas to take in ProRodeo’s grand championship to offer support. In Struxness’ case, that includes his fiancé, Jayden, and their daughters, Everlee, 3, and Lilly, 1. “Even with the first half of the week being shaky, it has been fun,” he said. “My girls are starting to get old enough to know what this is. I’m just hanging out with them and letting them enjoy this. When they come to the rodeo, they just have a blast. “My parents have been out here all week, and that has been a lot of help.” His experiences through his first 28 years have helped him become one of the best steer wrestlers in ProRodeo. When he was younger, he was a tie-down roper, team roper and bulldogger. He also competed in other sports and excelled in football and wrestling; he was a two-time runner-up to the Minnesota state champion in the 220-pound weight class. “Football and wrestling taught me my work ethic, because you’ve got to put it all out there,” Struxness said. “With wrestling, especially, you are out there by yourself, almost similar to the rodeo arena. You’ve got your hazer helping, but you’re out there by yourself, so the only blame you’ve got is on yourself. That helps you look for the right criticism that you need to find mistakes to help you win.” He’s winning and adding to his bank account at the same time.

LAS VEGAS – With one night left in the 2022 ProRodeo campaign, Jess Pope is on the verge of his first world championship. He battled through the rigors of the regular season and entered the National Finals Rodeo second in the bareback riding world standings. He then met every challenge he’s faced over the first nine rounds, placing eight times and heading into Round 10 a lead of more than $74,000 over the No. 2 man, six-time world champion Kaycee Feild. If he’s felt any pressure by being the king of the mountain, he hasn’t shown it. He’s been focused and stoic, and he’s riding equine sticks of dynamite as well as anyone has. “There’s a little bit of pressure; there are a lot of what ifs,” said Pope, 24, of Waverly, Kansas. “Every time that comes in (to his head), I try to knock it out. I just try to clear it completely in my mind. We’ll see what happens, and then I can worry about everything.” It’s a businessman’s approach to a wild game, and he’s handled every task in front of him. He’s No. 1 in the aggregate race with 778.5 points on nine rides and owns a lead of 15.5 points over the existing running up, one of his traveling partners, Cole Franks. On Friday night, Pope rode Championship Pro Rodeo’s Vegas Confused for 85.5 points to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place. He pocketed $8,083 and pushed his NFR earnings to more than $157,000. He is the only bareback rider to place on nine horses and the only cowboy in that field of 15 who has crossed the $300,000 mark. “That was kind of what I needed,” Pope said of his ninth-round ride. “I knew that horse was going to be real solid in that pen. I came out and did what I needed to do, and I was happy to win money in the hopper pen.” The other traveling partner, Tim O’Connell, won the round, and Franks moved up a spot in the average, so all three had some positive things happen on Night 9. “It’s been really good,” Pope said. “All 14 of those guys are freaking awesome. It is a brotherhood. Everybody wants everyone else to win. There’s nobody in (the bareback riders’ locker room) getting really negative. It has been the funnest finals I’ve been to because of those guys.” After a night’s sleep, he will conclude his NFR. No matter what happens it’s been a joyous 10 days in Las Vegas. He has his routine during the day, then goes to work each night. He’s made almost $2,200 per second so far, but he’s got work to do on the final night of this year’s championship. “It is a very special night,” he said. “It’s the 10th round of the NFR; it’s a serious sport. It’s really something special.” And if he earns the Montana Silversmiths gold buckle, he’ll likely toast his comrades and celebrate all he can. It may not be champaign, though. “Keystone Light is kind of what I’m in to,” Pope said with a laugh while talking about the beer. “It is the water from God.” It doesn’t matter if it’s beer or a soft drink or water; he’s earned every last drop.

LAS VEGAS – For the first time in more than two years, bareback rider Tim O’Connell won a go-round at the National Finals Rodeo. It’s been a rarity in the career of the three-time world champion from Zwingle, Iowa. His last title came during Round 2 of the 2020 NFR in Arlington, Texas. On Friday night, he made up for it with an 88-point ride on Stace Smith’s Star Witness to claim the ninth round. “That was fun,” he said, noting that Star Witness was a re-ride after his first bronc, J Bar J Rodeo’s Soul Lunatic, didn’t perform up to par. “The first one had an off day; I just had three off days in a row, so I ain’t blaming the horse. “I just had a feeling. I didn’t really know if Star Witness was going to be enough horse, but when he rolled in there, he had a feeling about him. He was feeling his oats when he got in (the chute) today.” That was a nice change, but O’Connell and the Texas horse matched up well. During Sunday’s fifth round, O’Connell’s traveling partner, Jess Pope, rode the horse for 85.5 points. Everything came together strong for O’Connell. “When I hit my rigging with my hips, I knew I was going to do something big,” said O’Connell of Zwingle, Iowa. “Things just felt right. He had a rear out of there, and I grabbed ahold of him (with his feet) , and he had to jump through my feet for the first time. When he did that, my feet came back ans whacked that rigging handle. I heard my inner voice go, ‘If you get a chance, it is right now; just send it home.’ “My little bull rider came out in me when he turned back to the right, and I picked up his timing. I saw my left foot rolling, so I knew my right foot was rolling.” It paid off to the tune of $28,914. He pushed his NFR earnings to just shy of $72,000. He crossed the $200,000 mark in season earnings and is sixth in the aggregate race with one night left. If he stays in that position, he will add a bonus of $18,188 Saturday night. Even when he wasn’t winning money, O’Connell found a way to enjoy the experience. In the past, his tunnel-visioned approach to winning world championships seemed to take the joy away from him. He made a change. “I think it is the new Tim O’Connell,” he said. “I’m not going to sweat the small stuff. I was tired of coming to the National Finals Rodeo and having my enjoyment be based upon what four people say It was. I’ve been to eight finals, and I told my wife last year, I don’t know if I have ever enjoyed being out here. “I told myself that no matter what, control your controllables. Understand what your controllables are. If you are doing your job, that is perfect. If you make a mistake because you were trying too hard, that’s perfect, too. I can know that no matter what happens (Saturday), I didn’t leave a single thing in that arena. I gave my whole heart and soul.” That’s what defines a champion.

LAS VEGAS – Logan Medlin has said one of the greatest aspects of roping with Coleman Proctor is the Oklahoman’s propensity to stay positive even in tough situations. The team ropers faced them two nights in a row when Proctor was unable to secure his head loop onto their steers’ during the sixth and seventh rounds of the National Finals Rodeo. Proctor’s personality shined, though, and instead of staying in the dumps, he rebounded. Proctor and Medlin stopped the clock in a Round 8 record-tying 3.5-second run to win Thursday’s eighth round, with $28,914 each. Those two no-times may have cost the tandem a shot at the world championship, but the cash keeps adding up. They have earned $77,563 over eight nights in Las Vegas. Both are fifth in their respective world standings. “It’s been a blast,” said Proctor of Pryor, Oklahoma. “It has been really fun and special for me as a guy that grew up dreaming of going to the National Finals to seeing your kids grow up in the stands of the National Finals. We brought Stella out here when she was 6 weeks old, and now she’s 5. Caymbree came along, and she’s 3. “They are starting to understand it. Stella actually told me tonight that it was time to get a victory lap and ride in the van to the South Point, because we got one of those limo vans the last time. I said, ‘Yes, baby, we will try to get it.’ It has been special having your family and friends with you. It’s even more special when your family believes in you as much as mine does.” They have reason to believe in him. It’s been about 15 years since he attended Northwestern Oklahoma State University and competed on the school’s rodeo team. He didn’t finish his degree then, but over the last year, he has taken online classes to finish what he started. Dr. David Pecha, the executive vice president at Northwestern, arrived in Las Vegas this week to take in the NFR. While here, he presented Proctor with the degree he worked so hard to finally obtain. It was a special moment for him and his family. It also served as a way to keep his mind right for the job at hand. “It’s an immense amount of pressure out here,” Proctor said. “I had a dear friend – my buddy, Justin Turner, who started hauling me when I was 13 – I texted him (Wednesday) night and sounded off my frustrations about what I thought was going on. He told me to just relax and not overthink it, just get back to doing what I do and what I did the first few rounds. “I think looking at every opportunity you have, even a setback, that is just an opportunity for a comeback.” That positivity rings, whether he’s doing the pre-show on the Purina stage each night in front of the Thomas & Mack Center or backing in the box hoping to rope nearly $29,000 a night. It’s part of his fabric, which has been woven by those around him. “It comes down to all the support you get from back home,” Proctor said. “I have the greatest fans, family and friends. Not one has sent something to knock you while you’re down. They’re all encouraging you, and they are always trying to be a light to you. I’m just really thankful for that.”

LAS VEGAS – Through 18 rounds of the National Finals Rodeo, Cole Franks has been chomping at the bit in hopes of earning his first go-round victory. He was within a whisker of it Thursday night, riding Bridwell Rodeo’s Girl Crush for 87 points to finish in a three-way tie for second place. Instead, Texan Leighton Berry took the round with an 88-point ride, but Franks came away with $17,410 for doing his part. “I was getting pretty antsy toward the end,” Franks said as he watched the action; Berry was the third-to-last bareback rider to compete. “He rode good and had a really good horse. That’s part of the game. You can’t win everything. There are always better horses, better rides somewhere.” Winning NFR go-rounds is tough business. Only the top 15 contestants in each event at the conclusion of the regular season advance to Las Vegas, and it’s difficult to beat all of them on a given night. For his part, Franks has ridden all of his horses and placed seven out of eight nights. He has pushed his NFR earnings to more than $80,000 and stands sixth in the world standings with just shy of $200,000. “You just have to take them one at a time,” he said. “You keep nodding your head, keep getting on what you’re getting on that day and don’t worry about anything else.” It’s working. He has scored 679 cumulative points on his eight rides and is in a tie with Californian R.C. Landingham for second in the aggregate race. They are 14 points behind the leader, Jess Pope, who travels the rodeo trail with Franks and Tim O’Connell. In fact, Pope and Landingham also scored 87 points to join Franks in the No. 2 position in the go-round. “That horse is kind of a sleeper in that pen,” said Franks of Clarendon, Texas. “I was a little nervous going into this. Leighton Berry was helping me and said, ‘You know, this thing feels a lot better than people think. “That horse feels really good. He is strong. He is all there, but he feels really good and is a lot of fun to get on.” With two nights of the NFR left, his place in the aggregate race is valuable. If he were to finish alone in second place, it would be worth a bonus of $60,159 when Saturday’s 10th round comes to an end. Third place pays nearly $48,000. “I’m still going for the round wins,” Franks said. “If that takes me out of the average, if I make a bobble, if I do get bucked off something, at least I know I was going for it.”

LAS VEGAS – Sometimes the best heroics in sports come with second-half rallies. Steer wrestler J.D. Struxness is having one of those experiences at the National Finals Rodeo. After collecting just one paycheck through the first five rounds, he placed for the third straight night with a 4.3-second run to finish in a tie for sixth place in Thursday’s eighth go-round. While it wasn’t worth much – third place pays $4,664, so he gets a third of that for his efforts – it did boost his NFR earnings to nearly $50,000. The biggest change came in the fifth round, when he dismounted Tyson, Curtis Cassidy’s Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year and opted for Ringo Robinson’s horse, Monroe. The move has paid great dividends, and it looks to continue through the final two nights of the 2020 ProRodeo season. After settling with a no-time in Round 4, he and Monroe stopped the clock in 5.0 seconds. It didn’t make him any money, but it was a big step forward. Not only that, but it was the first time the two had been matched together and in the middle of the biggest competition of the year. It takes a little time for two partners to mesh. Because the cowboys already riding Monroe were having success and were using veteran Matt Reeves as their hazer, Struxness sought out the eight-time NFR qualifier to help line out his steers on the yellow horse. In addition to competing inside the Thomas & Mack Center, Reeves has been one of the pre-eminent hazers in the game and has lined out hundreds of steers inside the storied home of the NFR. The combination is working. Most of Struxness’ earnings have come in the last three go-rounds. He sits seventh in the world standings with just two nights left in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – As rodeo relates to other sports, it’s hard to put a comparison for bareback riders. Sure, steer wrestlers are the linebackers of football, and tie-down ropers are akin to 3-point shooters in basketball, but bareback riders? “I think it is every sport of a major athlete combined into one,” said Pope, who rode Muddy Creek Pro Rodeo’s Pejuta Haka for 87 points to finish in a three-way tie for second place in Thursday’s eighth go-round. “Everything about this is different. It is all fast, explosive stuff. You’ve got to be flexed out while you’re trying to explode while taking shots in the back of the head like a boxer. “You have to be agile. You have to be able to keep ahold of (the horses) and track then where they are going like you’re in baseball, but then you have to be able to take a hit like a football, too. I think you combine all of them together, and that’s how you get a bareback rider.” It’s also similar to a 98-pound wrestler grappling the biggest guy on the opposing team. “I think it’s pretty comparable,” he said. “They outweigh us by four or five times.” Pope may be the lightweight in the match-ups, but he’s playing his game like a heavyweight champion. His ride Thursday netted him another $17,410 and pushed his Las Vegas earnings to nearly $150,000. He is the king of the bareback riding mountain with two nights remaining on the 2022 season. He has earned $308,387 so far and owns a lead of more than $66,000 over the No. 2 man, Texan Leighton Berry. He is also No. 1 in the NFR aggregate race with 693 cumulative points on eight rides. As a two-time average champion in his only other trips to the finale, he understands just how special that title is. In ProRodeo, it is the second-most cherished prize behind the world championship. Whatever he earns, he knows he has a great team to make it all happen. “It takes a village to be able to rodeo,” said Pope, 24, of Waverly, Kansas. “To be able to have such a big support system – it is people to talk to for encouragement and everything – it gives a guy confidence and makes you feel a hell of a lot better to know you have all those people in your corner. “It’s a long 10 days. It’s hard. It’s easy to get something put in your brain and make things look negatively, so it’s nice to be able to talk to people that are always building you up.” That support system also includes handling the chores back home. Friends help, but his younger brothers, Ty and Judd, flew back home to take care of everything before returning Thursday; a sponsor, the Graham family from Garnett, Kansas, also helped with the ranching tasks. “We’ve got cows and horses and dogs and everything else at home that need to be tended to,” he said. “Without them, it would be a heck of a lot harder to be out here.” He’s also received support from his fiancé, Sydney Odle, whom he will marry in May. She’s been a driving force behind a lot of his success this year, especially the last couple of weeks. “She’s always in my corner, and she always has something to say,” Pope said. “She is always building me up. She is really competitive. One thing I’m really thankful for is she ain’t scared to lead a prayer before I leave the hotel room, before I get on and everything else. Without her, I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today.”

LAS VEGAS – When one is raised by a rodeo legend, it’s really hard to not follow in his footsteps. Rod Hay competed in ProRodeo for more than two decades. The 1989 Resistol Rookie of the Year, he qualified for the National Finals Rodeo 20 times, the last coming in 2010. In his native Alberta, and across much of North America, he is a true legend. Logan Hay is the oldest of three sons, and he’s competing at the NFR for the first time. He’s not only riding broncs in Las Vegas, he’s riding them well. He’s ridden all seven broncs so far and has placed five times; that includes three straight go-round victories on Nights 5, 6 and 7. “I never expected my first NFR to go like this,” said Logan Hay, 25, of Wildwood, Alberta. “I go from winning my first round to three in a row. It is unbelievable.” His third straight trip to the South Point Hotel and Casino to pick up his go-round buckle came after a 90-point ride on Hi Lo Pro Rodeo’s Garden City Gal. He was 87.5 to win Round 6 on Frontier Rodeo’s Yellowstone, and he scored 89 points to win the fifth round on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Larry Culpepper. Through all that, he has earned nearly $122,000 riding bucking horses for eight seconds at a time. “I’m drawing really great horses, and I’m riding good, too,” said Hay, whose younger brother, Dawson, is also in the mix at the NFR. “I just want to keep doing everything like I have been and just taking it one horse at a time. I’m not going to look at anything else, just at the horse that I have that day.” He’s building on something, and it may pay off rather well at the end. While his father had a story career, Rod Hay never won a world championship. He earned eight Canadian titles and won the prestigious Calgary Stampede four times. Logan Hay earned his first this past summer, and he’s maintaining that momentum over 10 December nights. He is second in the average race with 603.5 points on seven rides and has pushed his season earnings to more than $260,000.   “It just breeds confidence and definitely helps to get on a roll like that,” Logan Hay said. “When you get on a roll in bronc riding, you feel very confident when you’re getting on, and that is a huge thing. It’s such a mental game. You are only out there for eight seconds, no mistakes to make, so when you’re getting on confident, you’re riding really good at that time. That is the best thing in the world.”

LAS VEGAS – Cinch cowboy Tristen Hutchings new there was something special coming into the 2022 ProRodeo season. He reeled off some big wins and earned his first qualification to the National Finals Rodeo. His first night competing inside the storied Thomas & Mack Center proved to be magical, and it looked like there was no end to the potential he possesses. But rodeo doesn’t work like that, especially in bull riding. There are more ups and downs that are part of the game than just the bulls that buck. He was knocked to the ground the next three nights, and there were thoughts that fate might have a different path than what he had hoped. “I was actually sick the first couple of rounds,” said Hutchings, 22, of Monteview, Idaho. “I’m really having a lot more fun now that I’m healthy. I’m really able to enjoy it.” His joy returned on Round 5, when he rode Frontier Rodeo’s County Jail for 90.5 points to win the night. Two qualified rides; two round wins. Things were starting to look up again. He made it three-for-three by scoring 88 points on Rocky Mountain Rodeo’s Caddyshack to win Tuesday’s sixth round. It provided the proof to everyone else that he was here to stay and was making a big impact in Sin City. “It just keeps getting better,” said Hutchings, who has earned just shy of $100,000 in seven nights of competition at ProRodeo’s grand championship, pushing his season earnings to $227,756. “I’ve prepared for it, and it is nice to come in here and excel and doing my job well and drawing well. “Of the bulls I have rode, the stock contractors are really good friends to me, so I’m glad we can all go to the South Point and hang out and have fun.” Each night, the South Point Hotel and Casino hosts the Montana Silversmiths Go-Round Buckle Presentation, where winners are introduced to fans and are celebrated for their achievements. They also receive their round buckles and other prizes. Hutchings proved his promise a year and a half ago when he won the intercollegiate national championship while riding at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, a community of nearly 6,000 people in southwest Texas, not far from the Mexico border. He followed up his title by finishing second this past June at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming. Both those feats were amazing accomplishments, but competing at the NFR for the first time is always a dream come true. “Getting out here and being treated like a professional athlete and paid like one, too, sure makes the grinding all year long and going through long days all worth it,” he said. “You just come in here and win as much money as you can. I was behind all year and made a good strive for it at the end (of the regular season).” He has made a big move in Las Vegas, but the bull riding title likely will have to go through Utahan Stetson Wright, who has a commanding lead over the field with four nights left on the season. “I plan to hit it hard next year and give Stetson a ride for his money,” Hutchings said.

Cinch cowgirl, her horse have two go-round wins so far at this NFR LAS VEGAS – Familiarity breeds content, and Emily Beisel’s main mount Chongo is sassy and happy at the National Finals Rodeo. Despite knocking over three barrels over the course of the first six go-rounds, the two have sped their way to $82,051 in Las Vegas earnings, with a big boost coming from their Round 4 victory Sunday night and sharing the Round 6 title Tuesday. Tipped barrels mean five-second penalties for each, so Beisel has had to adjust her game plan now that the average bonus is out of the question. “I haven’t had to make much adjustments on his end,” the Cinch barrel racer said of the 12-year-old gray gelding. “He’s felt great all week. He wants to do things right. He’s super honest. He’s trying hard to do right by me. “The biggest thing to change is me. I was trying too hard to be fast, and when you have a horse like Chongo, most of the time smooth is fast. You can’t outrun a five-second penalty. I should have learned that after Round 2, but I didn’t. Even if it costs me a 10th (of a second) on the clock, I’ve got to get him around the barrels and avoid the penalties.” They did that Sunday, rounding the cloverleaf pattern in 13.60 seconds to win $28,914 and proved that the NFR atmosphere is the perfect fit for them. Beisel has earned more than $480,000 in her 36 go-rounds. They were 13.57 Tuesday to share the go-round with two-time world champion Brittany Pozzi-Tonozzi. “When a horse likes an arena, it’s awesome, and Chongo really likes the Thomas & Mack,” said Beisel of Weatherford, Oklahoma. “There is nothing more reassuring than that. When your horse is loving it, all you have to do is your job; you don’t have to worry about theirs. “As he’s matured and gotten a little older, he’s just being really honest; I’m not having to help him quite as much. I’m having to ride through my turn more. In 2019, you guys saw me pulling a lot more on him. I had a lot different headgear setup on him, (and) I did have to help him finish. His third barrel has been incredible all week long, and that used to be the worst barrel we had together. He’s handling these situations better.” Now in their fourth trip to the finale, they’ve matured together. “That experience here makes a world of difference,” she said. It also helps the jockey’s mental approach to the richest rodeo in the sport. Legendary cowboy Joe Beaver offered Beisel advice years ago about how to handle the highs and lows of rodeo: One must have a short memory; make the appropriate adjustments and move forward. “You can’t have a horse working like Chongo is working and not get a win at the Thomas & Mack,” Beisel said. “He’s been amazing this week. I just needed to make sure I did my part. He feels as good as he’s ever felt out here, and that’s really important.”

LAS VEGAS – Athletes understand they can’t attack each opponent the same way. If a pitcher knows a batter is a fast-ball hitter, the pitcher will throw more off-speed and try to hit a target directionally. The same can be said in rodeo. For bareback rider Tanner Aus, he tries to make his spur ride the same on ever horse, but he understands that there are differences he needs to make depending on the horse. Such was the case in Wednesday, when Aus rode Bridwell Pro Rodeo’s Meat Sweats for 81.5 points to finish sixth in the seventh go-round of the National Finals Rodeo. It was a much different ride than the 88-point marking he had Tuesday on J Bar J Rodeo’s Straight Stick. “It could have went a little better, but the last time I got on that horse was the first round of 2019, and I took myself out of the average last night,” Aus said of how he played it a little closer to the vest and didn’t expose himself to as much danger. “I had a little bit of a vendetta for that horse, and it went better than it did last time … not by a lot, but still by a lot.” It was more than that: He was 81.5 points better than three seasons ago. While it was the bottom payout of the placing scale at the NFR, it was still worth $4,664, which pushed his Las Vegas earnings to nearly $58,000. He has collected $184,700 this season and is sixth in the world standings with three nights remaining. It’s all about taking a fundamental approach to his game. “The good rides that I made all go back to the stuff I learned with I was 13, 14 years old,” said Aus of Granite Falls, Minnesota. “From my dad and going to Wayne Herman’s school a couple of times at the Anchor K with the Korkows’, it’s just the fundamentals. It is what carries me through. “If that’s the key to success here, I don’t know, but I sure feel like I ride a lot better when I focus on those things. It’s just one rodeo every night for 10 days. If I can get in the money amidst this crowd of competition, which is as tough as it’s ever been, then that’s great.” Wednesday’s round served as a warmup for Round 8, which will feature the eliminator pen of bareback horses. Aus admitted there is a different feeling when the cowboys know they’re about to strap themselves to the hardest-to-ride broncs in rodeo. “I still get a little nervous; it gives you butterflies,” he said. There are some (horses) in there that darn sure strike fear in the hearts of man. They are the best of the best when it comes to bucking horses and what a bucking horse. “You think if you can ride a semi-eliminator that with a little more try, you can ride an eliminator, too. It is a part of rodeo. It is a fun night to get through, a fun night to have over with.” One thing Tanner Aus knows is that he’ll make the most of every opportunity he has to earn Las Vegas dollars while he’s here.

LAS VEGAS – He’s a bit soft-spoken, but Cole Franks has no problem hiding the joy he is experiencing during his second trip to the National Finals Rodeo. He’s a bareback rider, and he makes a living riding bucking horses. This is the best chance he has to really cash in on his season, so he’s making the most of every opportunity. On Wednesday night, he rode Powder River Rodeo’s All Eyes on A & K for 84.5 points to finish fifth in the seventh round. It marked the sixth time in seven nights that he’s earned a paycheck in the Nevada desert. “It’s always fun,” said Franks, 21, of Clarendon, Texas. “If it wasn’t fun, I don’t think I’d be able to do it. I like having fun. I like challenges. It has been challenging, for sure, but it has been a blast being here. I love it.” The NFR is 10 rounds of the best rodeo has to offer. Only the top 15 contestants in each event qualify, and the bareback riders select the top 100 horses to be part of the sport’s richest rodeo. All Eyes on A & K fits into that category. “That’s just a really nice horse and has been nice all year,” Franks said. “I was pretty excited to have her.” He should have been. By finishing fifth, he added $7,462 to his bankroll and pushed his NFR earnings to $63,319. He is eighth in the world with nearly $180,000 collected this season. He’s also in line to add more to his pocketbook. Franks is tied for third in the average race with 592 points on seven rides. If he stays in that position when Saturday’s final round ends, he will add more than $41,000.   All this happened after he got off to a rocky start. Bareback riders use a rigging that is supposed to be strapped tightly to the bronc’s chest. They wear specially made gloves that have binds in them, then put their hands into the handhold of the rigging to lock themselves onto the horse. If the equipment is set up right, then the rest is muscle memory. “I didn’t really pull my rigging very good,” Franks said, indicating that it was a bit looser on his horse than it should have been. “We started pulling (the cinches) a little early. (Arena director) Tom (Neuens) started us a little early, and I didn’t think about finishing it off. “I chased my rigging most of the time.” It served as a lesson learned for the young bronc buster. He’s gained a lot of those over his first two years in ProRodeo. He’s earned a lot of money in a short time, but much of that came toward the bottom end of the round payouts. He’d love to win a round and earn almost $29,000, but he’ll wait it out and see what the future holds over the next three nights. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” he said. “Everything is moving up, and that’s the only way it’s going to hopefully go.”

LAS VEGAS – A night after the lights went out at the National Finals Rodeo, steer wrestler J.D. Struxness flipped a switch. He placed in just one go-round over the first five nights, but he has gone back to the pay window in the opening two rounds of the second half of ProRodeo’s grand finale. On Wednesday night, he tossed his steer down in 3.9 seconds to finish third in the seventh round, which was worth $17,255. He more than doubled his previous go-round income inn one night. “That felt way better,” said Struxness of Milan, Minnesota. “With the (horse) switch, we are getting settled in again. Stuff is starting to go our way. We are getting on the better half of the steers. That felt good tonight, so hopefully we can just keep rolling.” With his NFR-qualification bonus of $10,000, he has pocketed $42,178 during his stay in Las Vegas. He has also pushed his season earnings to nearly $166,000 and sits seventh on the steer wrestling money list. He made the horse switch a couple of rounds ago, and it’s paying off. He got on Ringo Robinson’s palomino, Monroe, and it’s paying dividends. “I’ve never rode that horse before the fifth round out here,” he said. “I just needed to change something. I looked at videos of who was doing the best. That horse, with Matt (Reeves) hazing, was the best combo that I saw, so I got on. “Riding a bunch of different horses throughout the years and just riding horses helps a ton. You learn to not to let it bother you.” He hasn’t let a lot bother him this year in Las Vegas. He had hoped for a better start, but every contestant competing in Sin City has had high hopes. The ultimate goal is to win a world championship, and to do that, each cowboy must try to make the most of every situation. That’s where Struxness is now.   “When the first half didn’t go good, we took a day there and stepped back and just had to let it go,” Struxness said. “For the second half, me and my fiancé talked about it and talked about getting on a roll. Matt is hazing, and I have a lot of confidence in him. With this horse, I’m getting a lot of confidence in her now after riding her. “We’ve got to get the ball rolling, and I finally went out there and made a nice run like we usually do, so now we will just keep it rolling.”

LAS VEGAS – It may have been an inside joke, but it’s turned into the tune of magic being made at the National Finals Rodeo. After he made an 89-point, seventh round-winning ride on Big Stone Rodeo’s Mayhem, bareback rider Jess Pope danced a little jig right there in the dirt. When sound director Benje Bendele turned up the “Macarena,” Pope made the appropriate moves that went along with the song that debuted in 1996. That was two years before he was born, but Pope’s moves to the music were just part of his celebration of a second go-round victory and his sixth night of placing through seven go-rounds of the National Finals Rodeo. “This year at Caldwell (Idaho), me and Tim (O’Connell) didn’t have anywhere to be the next day, so we were just hanging out,” Pope said. “The announcer was Randy Corley, and we were trying to distract Randy as much as possible. Him and Benje started messing with us back, and they played the ‘Macarena.’ “Then Randy asked over the (loud speaker) for a Cowboy Channel representative to come behind the bucking chutes. There we were stuck having to do the ‘Macarena’ on national TV. I’m probably the worst dancer in the world, but when they play it, I’ve got to do it.” He’s dancing his way to a Montana Silversmiths gold buckle. The $28,914 he earned Wednesday night pushed his NFR earnings to $131,717 and his season salary to $290,976. He is also first in the all-important average race with a cumulative score of 606 points on seven rides. His closest competitor in the average is six-time world champion Kaycee Feild, who is 11.5 points behind. Field is also the No. 2 man in the world standings, and Pope owns a lead of nearly $74,000 heading into the final three nights of the ProRodeo campaign. “I’ve had a blast this whole week,” said Pope, a two-time NFR average champion who finished second in the world standings last year and third the year before. “Things have been going good for me so far. We’ve got three more, so we’re going to see what happens.” It’s been a building process for the cowboy from Waverly, Kansas, who came into the NFR in second place after a tight race for the lead in the world standings with Cole Reiner. Both knew the world title would come down to what happened in Las Vegas. Pope’s ride on Mayhem was just another bit of evidence to the type of week he is having. “There are a lot of guys that have troubles with him, and there are a lot of guys who really get along with him,” he said of the bronc. “You have to be doing everything right to make it work. “My confidence is the same as when I got here. All 15 of us have the same kind of confidence. We all know that we are good, because if we weren’t good, we wouldn’t be here. With success, you build off it. It makes it more exciting and makes you want to come back for more.” Pope is coming back for more. This is his second go-round buckle of this NFR, and he has more buckles he hopes to take away from Las Vegas by the time this week is complete.

LAS VEGAS – Steer wrestler J.D. Struxness didn’t let a bad night ruin the rest of the week, and it very well could have. He came into his fourth National Finals Rodeo in strong contention to win a world championship, but a steer escaped his grasp Sunday night. That no-time was costly, but he didn’t sulk about it and he didn’t let it bother him long. In rodeo, there will be down times, and the next opportunity is not far away. In his case, it came during Tuesday’s sixth go-round, when he stopped the clock in 4.0 seconds to finish fifth and pocket $7,462. He pushed his Las Vegas earnings to just shy of $25,000. “That should help for the final five nights,” said Struxness of Milan, Minnesota. “Going into tonight, I told myself it is a fresh five. The second half of the finals is here, and there are still five steers to go and a lot of money left to be won.” Because of his trouble, Struxness has fallen a bit in the aggregate race for the bonus dollars that go to the top eight cowboys with the best cumulative score on 10 runs. He’s not letting it bother him any. “There is still a lot of stuff that could happen average-wise,” he said. “As far as that part goes for me, we’ve got a fresh start tonight and placed, so hopefully it’s just a good start for the second five (nights).” It’s been a bit of tough luck for the steer wrestlers since the NFR began last Thursday. Only seven of the 15 cowboys in the mix have qualified times on all six nights. That offers a different dimension to the world-championship race “It has been a tough year in the bulldogging,” Struxness said. “I really don’t know what it is, whether the steers are running harder or what’s going on. It has been tough, and guys have been missing. Hopefully to my advantage, we get the momentum rolling and keep taking advantage of the situation. Maybe we can slip on in there in the end for an average check, too.” He also made an adjustment. He began the NFR riding Curtis Cassidy’s horse, Tyson, but things weren’t working out well. He switched to Ringo Robinson’s palomino, Monroe, and now has Matt Reeves hazing. He plans to keep that team together for the final four nights of the 2022 season. “I rode Tyson all year, and it was a great year and we won lots of money,” Struxness said. “He was working good here, but there kept being little things that happened, my mistakes or being on the wrong steers or whatever. It was time to change. We needed to change something, so we decided to change the horse and see if that will shake it up.” It did, and now the dice are rolling in his direction.

LAS VEGAS – He looks a bit battered, but if asked, Garrett Smith doesn’t seem to mind. “I’ve had some bumps and bruises (since the third round),” said Smith, of Rexburg, Idaho, competing at his fourth National Finals Rodeo. “I feel pretty good. We are sore, but when we ride bulls for a living, we’re going to be sore. I had a few stitches, but it’s not a big deal.” Ah, the life of a bull rider. After sharing the third-round win, Smith returned to the pay window after an 84-point ride on New Frontier Rodeo’s Mad Money for a fifth-place finish during Round 6 on Tuesday. It was worth $7,462 and pushed his Las Vegas earnings to $43,344. It was an eventful night for him. His first bull, Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Punchline, didn’t cooperate. The bull was having trouble in the chute, and Smith was unable to get on and try his hand at the athletic bovine. The judges provided Smith with a re-ride opportunity and a chance at Mad Money, and he took it. “That first bull wasn’t very happy at all in the chute,” he said of Punchline. “Once he got mad, he didn’t stop at all.” It was Mad Money to the rescue. Oklahoman Trey Kimzey rode him for 86 points to also place fifth in the opening round of the NFR. “I didn’t know much about that re-ride bull,” Smith said. “They said he went left, and I really liked that. I was pretty happy about it.” Sometimes unfamiliarity with a bull can pay dividends. Bull riders train on using muscle memory and reaction to make an eight-second ride. If an animal has a tendency to do something and a cowboy prepares for it, things may be washed away in one jump. “A lot of not knowing it is great, because they are animals,” he said. “They have their own brains. There are a lot of times they are not going to do what they are supposed to do. It’s kind of like little kids: They are not going to do what they’re supposed to do. You take them jump for jump and go at them.” It’s been a rough stretch for Smith to kickstart. He’s ridden three bulls but placed twice. He is seventh in the aggregate race, so he stands a chance to collect a bonus when the NFR ends Saturday night. How does he handle the disappointment when things don’t go his way? “Usually by the time we get back to the hotel, I’m over it,” said Smith, who has enlisted his father, Lynn, to help get him around Las Vegas. “We’ll talk about it a little bit, but once we get back to the room, it’s over with and done. You’ve got to be moving on. If you only remember the last thing you did wrong, it’s going to stick in your brain; it’s going to be in your subconscious. “Figure out what you did right, what you did wrong, forget about it and move on.” He’s got four more nights in the 2022 season to collect his bright spots and more money. “This is the healthiest I’ve ever been at this point of making the National Finals,” Smith said. “I’m so excited. I’ve always made it this far, but some things have been broken. This year has been really good.”