By finishing in a three-way tie for fifth place in Wednesday’s seventh round of the National Finals Rodeo, J.D. Struxness remains in the hunt to defend his world championship.
(PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)

 

LAS VEGAS – J.D. Struxness is stalking his prey.

He’s sixth in the steer wrestling world standings with $206,631, but he’s in position to pounce. He produced a solid run of 4.4 seconds to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place during Wednesday’s seventh round of the National Finals Rodeo, adding $5,126 to his pockets and increasing his Las Vegas earnings to $67,959.

He’s fourth in the aggregate standings with a seven-run cumulative time of 48.5 seconds, and that includes two runs in which he was saddled with 10-second penalties, so there’s room to grow.

“That’s just a little bit of premature situation stuff just to see where we’re at and know what we need to game plan for as we go into the rest of the week,” said Struxness, 31, of Milan, Minnesota. “It’s just been a weird NFR with the steers and the guys and everything else. I don’t know what it is, but with two broken barriers, we’re still facing an average check.

“Something funky is going on out there.”

Louisianan Rowdy Parrott won the round Wednesday with a 4.0-second run. The night before, Montanan Ty Erickson won with a 3.5. This isn’t the typical NFR, where fast times rule the roost.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been out here and seen 4.0 win a round as many times as it has this year,” said Struxness, the 2016 intercollegiate champion at Northwestern Oklahoma State University and a seven-time NFR qualifier. “Thes steers just aren’t as snappy as usually, but it definitely keeps you on your toes.”

A year ago, the Minnesota cowboy parlayed a fantastic 10-day run in Las Vegas to his first world championship. He’s ready to make some things happen over the final three nights of the season to see if he can defend that gold buckle.

“From a show basis, (producers of the NFR) want us to be fast, but it doesn’t matter as long as guys are placing in the right order on the steers they draw,” he said.

Struxness is sixth in the world standings and trails the leader, Will Lummus, by nearly $85,000. Alas, go-round winners will pocket almost $37,000 per night, and there are three remaining at this NFR. There is also the aggregate to consider, where the top eight cumulative times through 10 rounds will receive a bonus; the winner will pocket $94,000. If Struxness maintains his place in the average, fourth will earn $44,000.

“We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing and hope we draw some of those top steers each night and see what happens,” he said.