Saddle bronc rider Rusty Wright contemplates his 90.5-point ride on Summit Pro Rodeo’s Heavy Feathers to take the saddle bronc riding lead during Friday’s opening night of Utah’s Own Rodeo.
(PHOTO BY STEVE GRAY)
SALT LAKE CITY – There’s an old adage about world-class athletes, and most understand it well.
“You know, it’s 90 percent mental, they say, and the rest is between your ears,” said saddle bronc rider Rusty Wright, 32, a five-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Milford, Utah. “I think the biggest change in my bronc riding isn’t that I’m doing anything different practicing anymore; it’s all just in my mind.”
Whatever the case, Wright is having the best regular season of his ProRodeo career. He is the No. 1 man in the world standings with more than $250,000 in earnings. He is actually about $12,000 behind his best year ever. In 2018, he finished with $262,434 after the NFR.
He has yet to ride a bronc in Las Vegas this year, and there is still almost three weeks left on the regular season. He looks to pad his bank account even more after posting a 90.5-point ride on Summit Pro Rodeo’s Heavy Feathers to take the bronc riding lead during Friday’s first performance of Utah’s Own Rodeo.
“My goal when I started out this year wasn’t only to win the world,” said Wright, the oldest son of Cody Wright, a two-time world champion and an inductee in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. “I had a goal to beat the regular-season earnings record, so I’ve had my eye on that. It’s helped a ton.
“This year, I wanted to make sure I could have something to shoot for, because I’ve watched people get in first place, and then kind of set the cruise control I didn’t want that to happen to me this year, so I set goals so that after I got in first, I can keep going.”
Like the Energizer bunny, he’s still going. It’s good for the banker and his place in the standings. In rodeo, money not only pays the bills, but dollars also equal championship points. He owns a lead of nearly $16,000 over his younger brother, Ryder, a three-time world champion. In third place is the third of four sons and the middle of five children raised by Cody and ShaRee Wright, Stetson, a 10-time titlist.
The earnings mark? That’s $293,994 and was set last year by Ryder Wright. This is a sibling rivalry, for sure, but they’re also each other’s biggest cheerleaders. Not only do the middle boys own rodeo’s gold, but so does Statler, the youngest of the four boys and the defending world champ.
“I’ve got to watch my brothers, and it sucked not being down there (behind the chutes) with them,” said Rusty Wright, who qualified for five NFRs in a span of six years from 2015-2020 but hasn’t been in the mix since then. “I’m just glad they go their world titles, because I’m not going to let them have any more very easily.”
That’s the swagger that defines champions, but it’s not ego-driven. It’s confidence, which is a major piece of a gold buckle. Success helps with it, but he has another cog that drives his motivation in his wife, Haley, a breakaway roper who is also competing this weekend in Salt Lake City.
“My wife’s been super important for my mental game,” he said. “She never lets me get down. She lets me complain sometimes, but as soon as I’m done, she reminds me of all the things that are good and what I should be grateful for, and that’s super important.
“I’ve always had great traveling partners with my brothers, my uncles and my dad, but she’s had some things that I was missing, and I’ve had things she was missing. I feel so mentally strong. I’ve always been pretty positive, as much as I could be, but I feel unstoppable in my mental game. I feel like I can ride anything.”
That helped Friday. Heavy Feathers gave Wright everything he could handle.
“I knew that horse bucked,” he said. “I watched Brody Cress get on my, and my uncle, Jesse, got on him in Gooding, but I didn’t realize how hard that horse bucks. That horse is getting my vote for Horse of the Year this year.
“Everybody has a chance to win on him.”
Wright’s in the driver’s seat in Salt Lake City, just like he has been in the world standings. The chance to ride in front of his home state during the Utah State Fair is just a bonus.
“I love doing good anywhere, but it’s really awesome when you get to do it in Utah,” Wright said. “We’ve got lots of fans here. Nowhere is it louder for us than in Utah, so it’s super awesome to come here and get on Summit’s horses. You can’t ask for better.
“With a Utah crowd and them bucking horses, it’s just living a dream.”
Utah’s Own PRCA Rodeo
Sept. 11, 12 and 14
Salt Lake City
Bareback riding: 1. Kody Lamb, 90.5 points on Summit Pro Rodeo’s Game Trail; 2. Tim O’Connell, 88.5; 3. Connor Griffith, 85; 4. (tie) Lane McGehee and Bradlee Miller, 83.5 each; 6. Mason Yancy, 82; 7. Tristan Hansen, 79.5; 8. Tyson Hirschi, 76.
Steer wrestling: 1. Mike McGinn, 3.7 seconds; 2. Logan Kenline, 4.0; 3. Tyke Kipp, 4.3; 4. Talon Roseland, 4.7; 5. Hazen Smith, 5.3; 6. Chase Black, 6.5; no other qualified runs.
Team roping: 1. Clay Tryan/Braylon Tryan, 6.0 seconds; 2. Tadd Thomas/Brock Andrus, 6.2; 3. Travis Whitlow/Tyler Whitlow, 13.9; no other qualified runs.
Saddle bronc riding: 1. Rusty Wright, 90.5 points on Summit Pro Rodeo’s Heavy Feathers; 2. Chase Brooks, 87; 3. Bailey Small, 86; 4. Kolby Wanchuk, 84.5; 5. (tie) Christian Bolli and Tanner Butner, 76; no other qualified rides.
Tie-down roping: 1. Gary Grant, 9.7 seconds; 2. Rowdy McKee, 10.8; 3. Zaine Mikita, 11.0; no other qualified runs.
Breakaway roping: 1. Sloan Anderson, 2.4 seconds; 2. Abbea Faris, 2.8; 3. Desi Coombs, 3.5; 4. Amber Hutto, 12.1; 5. Alissa Erickson, 12.2; no other qualified runs.
Barrel racing: 1. Emma Smith, 17.21 seconds; 2. Carlee Otero, 17.25; 3. Stephanie Kunz, 17.82; 4. Shianne Shepherd, 19.52; 5. Robin Augustad, 20.61; 6. Haley Bechard, 22.55.
Bull riding: 1. Tristan Mize, 86 points on Summit Pro Rodeo’s Side Quest; 2. Dakota Adams, 72; no other qualified rides.