J.D. Struxness will have an opportunity to defend his steer wrestling world championship during his seventh qualification to the National Finals Rodeo. Struxness, the 2016 intercollegiate champion, heads to Las Vegas No. 6 in the world standings.
(PRCA PHOTO BY ROSEANNA SALES)

 

MILAN, Minn. – The gleam of gold will tarnish, but what that buckle represents to J.D. Struxness will stand the test of time.

He is a world champion, a title bestowed upon him 11 months ago for his accomplishments as one of the elite steer wrestlers in ProRodeo. Struxness returns to the spotlight again – his seventh qualification to the National Finals Rodeo – to defend his crown.

“That gold buckle still fits good,” said Struxness, 31, originally from Milan but now living in Perrin, Texas. “The accomplishment of that lifelong goal is a big deal, just like every year, and you get reminded that you’ve got to go back next year because it doesn’t matter what buckle you wear.

“Rodeo can be a ruthless game, and it doesn’t take long to remind you what it requires to be good.”

Struxness is good, and he’s followed the required curriculum to make that a fact. He burst onto the ProRodeo scene as the 2015 Steer Wrestling Rookie of the Year. In June 2016, he was earned the title of national champion while competing for Northwestern Oklahoma State University. A few weeks later, he won the Cheyenne (Wyoming) Frontier Days Rodeo for the first time, and all that momentum propelled him to his first NFR qualification.

He finished that season fourth in the world standings, then returned to ProRodeo’s grand finale in 2017 and ’19 and hasn’t missed one since ’22. He earned the right to battle for another title by finishing the 2025 regular season with $138,672, sixth on the money list. With that, he’ll be part of an elite field at the NFR, which features only the top 15 contestants in each event during the Dec. 4-13 finale.

“I’m looking forward to being there and being able to ride my own horses,” said Struxness, who competed last year on Ty Erickson’s Horse of the Year. “I was glad to ride Crush at the finals last year, but my horses were doing good, so I went ahead and gave them a chance. Without good horses, you don’t really have a shot at all to make it back (to the NFR).”

That’s true. Crush was critical in Struxness’ gold buckle, but there were a trio of equine partners that are giving him a chance to earn another one: bulldogging mounts Izzy and Ike and hazing horse Jenny. Izzy is the veteran, but she suffered an injury, so Ike, a 7-year-old gray gelding, got moved up to the first team. Jenny, a 6-year-old mare, will be ridden by hazing legend Matt Reeves to help keep the steers lined out.

“Ice was supposed to be the B team and get some exposure this year, but right after Calgary, Izzy got hurt and went down for the rest of the year, so Ice became the primary,” said Struxness, who credits some of his success to his sponsors, AH Inc., Purple Wave Auction, Arena Trailer Sales, Unbeetable Feeds, 4-Star Trailers, Equinity, Western Legacy and Ariat.

It wasn’t the easiest decision, because horsepower is a vital cog in the world of rodeo. Without the kind of mount that will get him into position to perform at optimum level, there isn’t much of a chance for success. That’s why he talked about it with his wife, Jayden. Together, they realized Ice was the best option.

“He was to the point where he was ready for a chance to prove that he could make it,” he said. “We had some big rodeos. We went into the (fourth week of July) where we had some big (Utah) rodeos in Salt Lake City, Spanish Fork and Ogden, and Jayden and I made a deal that if it looked like he wasn’t going to be able to handle it, we’d switch some things up. He did pretty good at the first one, and then we won Spanish Fork again.

“For the rest of the year, his confidence just kept getting higher and higher. He was performing with confidence everywhere we went. He really stepped up there and came into himself as a force in the bulldogging-horse world.”

That’s reason enough to press the accelerator on the young gelding, but there are other reasons. Struxness knows he’ll need every advantage possible when it comes to competing at the NFR, where go-round winners will pocket $37,000. Last December, he gathered $162,000 in 10 nights and needed every dime possible. He won the world title by just $1,500 over Mississippian Will Lummus, who leads the brigade into Sin City.

Struxness trails Lummus by $56,000, but magic happens inside the Thomas & Mack Center, the championship’s home since 1985. he can move into the lead in just two nights.

“It’s awesome the way the money’s gone up in rodeo,” Struxness said. “It’s not only PRCA events, but then we’ve got all these outside events where you can make a lot of money. That’s the side the people don’t even really see.”

Take his fall. He’s earned $60,000 at rodeos since the 2025 regular season ended Sept. 30, with the biggest portion coming the opening weekend of November. He cleared $36,500 at The Hondo Rodeo, which took place at Chase Field in Phoenix.

“There was a time when you maybe had your circuit finals in October or November, and that was about it before the NFR,” he said. “Now, you’ve got these other opportunities. You’re able to win some good money going into the NFR and make it to where your job stays pretty steady.”

It also helps with the momentum necessary to excel once he arrives in the City of Entertainment. It wasn’t just The Hondo that allowed the Minnesota cowboy to show off his horsepower; he also did so at the Canadian Finals Rodeo in October at Edmonton, Alberta, where he pocketed more than $22,000.

“Those horses performed well up there,” he said. “The building and the noise didn’t bother them at all, so I think that sets us up for Vegas.”

This wasn’t his first adventure to the CFR; he’s qualified several times because he spends a considerable amount of time north of the 49th Parallel after marrying an Alberta cowgirl. While the family resides in Texas, Jayden Struxness and their daughters – Everlee, 6, and Lilly, 4 – hang out with family in Canada.

“The last few years, we set up a schedule to where I can circle back to Jayden’s family’s ranch in Canada,” Struxness said. “As the girls get older, it gets tougher to be gone, because they get busier and are doing lots of fun stuff that I want to be part of. Luckily, the longest I’m gone from them is two weeks in the summer, but I try to circle back about weekly. That helps make the summer go along a lot better.”

So does winning, and that’s been a successful formula. Struxness is riding a wave of momentum, confidence and horsepower into ProRodeo’s grand finale. He owns one Montana Silversmiths gold buckle and will be in a dogfight to add another.

This is another chance to shine, and the gleam still reflects brightly on the first.