About: Ted

Bareback rider Cole Franks returns for the fourth time to the National Finals Rodeo, where he has found great success in his first 30 rounds of competition in Las Vegas. He finished the regular season fifth in the world standings with a shade more than $200,000. (PRCA PHOTO BY CLICK THOMPSON)   CLARENDON, Texas – Over the past month or so, Cole Franks has been transformed. He went from mild-mannered cowboy to a supporting role on a recurring television program. It’s all part of the life of being a bareback rider, which has been documented for “Hell on Wheels,” a documentary primarily about Rocker Steiner, one of Franks’ traveling partners. The broadcasts shows the behind-the-scenes life on the road for Steiner, Franks and the third member of their posse, Louisianan Waylon Bourgeois, all of whom will be competing together again during the National Finals Rodeo, set for Dec. 4-13 at Las Vegas. A bus driver and videographer joined the traveling trio helping to capture all the significant moments. “It was a little bit of a nuisance, a little challenging during the filming and stuff, and it was one more thing we’d have to worry about and work around,” said Franks, now heading to his fourth NFR in five years. “Even though it was a bit of a pain in the ass, it was a lot of fun. We’ve been watching, and it’s pretty cool to see and know what went into making that and see how it turned out. It’s better than I was expecting.” Traditionally, rodeo cowboys like Franks load up in a pickup with a camper in the bed or in an outfitted van to make it from one rodeo to another. Because of the program, The Cowboy Channel and Boot Barn brought in a bus with a wrap that featured the show’s logo and Steiner’s likeness. It provided a few more comforts of home than the traditional means of travel, but it meant having a camera on board, too. “You just get used to it,” he said. “It was pretty easy to ignore it and still act normal with it.” Life of a rodeo cowboys is anything but normal. Franks and his team can compete at 100 rodeos a year, so that means a lot of time on the road. They might be in New Mexico one night and Oregon the next. That doesn’t allow for much time at home or with loved ones, but Franks made it work. He and the former Dustie Warr were married May 28. They’re also expecting their first child; father and baby share something in common. “Feb. 27 was my due-date, too,” said Franks, 24, who celebrates his birth on Valentine’s Day. “I think this year is probably my favorite year out of them with a lot better things happening in my life this year. Knowing I’m about to be a dad is probably the biggest highlight of my year.” It’s the next phase of life for the man who was born in the Oklahoma Panhandle community of Guymon and raised in Clarendon, Texas, where his dad, Bret, is the rodeo coach at the two-year Clarendon College. Cole Franks is a two-time college champion – three if you count that he was part of the men’s team title – while at the school in 2021, winning the all-around and bareback riding titles. That same year, he tried his hand at ProRodeo and earned his first NFR qualification, handily winning the Bareback Riding Rookie of the Year award by nearly $200,000. Franks will enter the NFR fifth on the money list with $200,362. He trails Steiner, the standings leader, by $100,000, but that ground can be made up quickly in Las Vegas, where go-round winners will pocket nearly $37,000 per night for each of the 10 rounds. “Everything seemed a little easier this year,” Franks said. “Everything was balanced a little better this year. Life in general was a lot more balanced, so I feel like that translated over to rodeo and just made everything easier.” Part of that was having two home-bases. While Clarendon is his element, his bride has spent most of her time near family in northern Utah. Like the Lone Star State, Utah is packed with rodeo talent and many great events with high purses. It’s proximity to big-time rodeos also made for a nice upgrade when the schedule moved to the Northwest in August and September. “Being ‘home’ all year definitely was a big help,” said Franks, who credits a great deal of his success to his sponsors, Boot Barn, Cinch, Pete Carr Pro Rodeo, Western Legacy Co., 287 Ag, Eliason Trucking and KN Double Cone Ranch. “I was never worn out or road weary, ready to be done … well, until the last week or so of rodeo, then I was kind of over it.” The regular season is long; the campaign is actually cyclical and wraps around itself. The 2026 term began Oct. 1 and won’t end until Sept. 30, but the 2025 world champions won’t be crowned until this winter at the NFR, set for Dec. 4-13 in the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. In addition, the cowboys who earned the right to be there have traveled tens of thousands of miles to simply drive along or by The Strip in Sin City. Franks has thrived in his three previous appearances – the one year he hasn’t made it was 2023, when he finished 17th, and only the top 15 on the money list at season’s end advance. In the 30 rounds he’s ridden out of the famous yellow bucking chutes, Franks has earned $453,340; that averages to more than $15,000 per night in the City of Lights. Much has changed since this first venture to the Nevada desert. He has built himself as a man and an athlete, and he’s worked hard to expand on the foundation of being a cowboy. “I feel like when I got my card my  Continue Reading »

Saddle bronc rider Weston Patterson had the best season of his young career with big-time rides at big-time rodeos, like the Calgary Stampede. He will compete at the National Finals Rodeo for the first time as the 11th-ranked man in the world standings. (PHOTO BY EMILY GETHKE/Calgary Stampede)   WAVERLY, Kan. – Growing up near the heart of the East Flint Hills, Weston Patterson envisioned himself a rodeo cowboy. He’s earned that title through grit, determination and a talent he’s working to perfect. Patterson just wrapped his third ProRodeo season with his first qualification to the National Finals Rodeo. He is the 11th-ranked saddle bronc rider in the world standings, having earned $173,735 through the regular season to grasp his place in the sport’s grand finale. There’s a caveat, though. Being a cowboy entails many things. So does being involved in rodeo. A natural all-around athlete, Patterson has done a variety of things in the arena. The fact that he’s excelled on 1,200 pounds of equine dynamite just adds to the lore. “I’ll be honest: I never would’ve seen myself being a bronc rider,” said Patterson, 24, of Waverly, a community of 570 folks about halfway between Ottawa and Emporia, just off Interstate 35. “I grew up with a rope in my hand and wrestling steers. My dad bulldogged. “My dad used to put on bulldogging jackpots what seemed like every weekend, and we had bulldogging steers all the time. All I knew was steer wrestling. I piddled around and roped, did all the junior rodeo things, and I was always really competitive.” That led to chasing as many championships as he could. The most-coveted in rodeo is champion all-around cowboy, the person who could gather the most points by competing in multiple events. He roped and wrestled and started getting on ponies with a bareback rigging. Once he got to high school, though, his focus was on roping. “My dad wouldn’t let me ride any roughstock,” Patterson said, referring to riding bucking animals. “I was too little, but all my buddies were riding roughstock. I hated not being down at the bucking chutes. By the time I was coming into my sophomore year, I convinced Dad into letting me at least ride saddle bronc horses.” His competitive and athletic nature was seen around the Flint Hills. He played baseball as a youngster and was heavily involved with basketball, even participating in travel leagues. Patterson also exceled at football, where he earned all-state honors. It carried over into rodeo, too. “I didn’t want to miss out on any of it,” he said. “My dad asked me one time if I had any interest in doing online school just for the sake of rodeo, and I like sports too much, so I said ‘No.’ ” He’s not done testing his talents across multiple lines, though. He still ropes and bulldogs, which is something that he carried with him with a rodeo scholarship to Clarendon (Texas) College. Patterson was a freshman in 2021 when he finished second in bronc riding at the College National Finals Rodeo; the Bulldogs men won the team title that year, so he has a national title to go with his reserve championship. Even though he knew little about the Clarendon program, there was something that intrigued him. He knew about some of the former athletes, which sparked the interest. The more he looked into it, he realized there was an opportunity to learn from the coach, Bret Franks, a four-time NFR qualifier. By then, two Clarendon bronc riders, Wyatt Casper and Riggin Smith, had won intercollegiate titles. “I really didn’t know what I was going to do,” said Patterson, who credits part of his success to his partners, Cinch, Serratelli Hats, Duck Wild Waterfowl, Graham School and Twin Motors Ford. “I asked my dad, ‘If you were in my shoes, what would you do?’ “He said, ‘If I was you, I’d sign that letter-of-intent to Clarendon and go down there, because that looks like a bronc rider’s boot camp.’ So, I grabbed that piece of paper, signed it and put it in the envelope, and I walked outside in the dark to put it in the mailbox. I didn’t think another thing about it. The only thing Bret told me was that he wanted me there but wasn’t going to beg. That made it pretty danged obvious what he was like, and I respected that.” It’s led to some big things, one of which is his teaming with Casper, the 2016 intercollegiate champion who made the last five NFRs and won the aggregate title a year ago by having the best cumulative score over 10 rounds. Patterson and Casper also travel with Jake Clark and Kade Bruno. While Clark and Casper missed this year’s NFR – Casper finished 16th, and only the top 15 advance – Patterson will find some solace in having Bruno in the mix at ProRodeo’s championship, set for Dec. 4-13 at Las Vegas. Bruno, the No. 5 bronc rider on the money list, is making his fourth straight appearance. “It’s been really handy having somebody in my back pocket to lean on for questions on how things work and where I need to be,” Patterson said. “He’s been really great about answering all my questions, because I don’t know how anything works there.” Every level of life is a learning opportunity. It’s something he realized as a teenager trying his hand on bucking broncs. He gained more knowledge in the Texas Panhandle, then jumped in the rig with Casper, Bruno and Clark. He finished his inaugural season 58th in the standings, then moved up to 40th last year. Patterson made an incredible leap into the NFR field in just three years. “My rookie year was terrible,” he said. “I tore my quad, and I didn’t ride good. I was fortunate to get picked up by Wyatt, and then Kade and Jake were with us. I knew then that I must have some  Continue Reading »

In his 15 years competing professionally, Kyle Irwin is a two-time national circuit titlist and the 2022 National Finals Rodeo average champion. The Cinch steer wrestler will compete at the NFR for the seventh time this December. (PHOTO BY LARA ST JACQUES)   A former average champ, Irwin excited for his return to the NFR Kyle Irwin’s 2025 venture to the National Finals Rodeo will be a bit different than his past few. He was in the building – the Thomas & Mack Center at Las Vegas – working and supporting his friends, fellow steer wrestlers who were battling for world championships. It was a business trip of sorts, because he served as his buddies’ hazer, helping line out the steers for them to make the best runs possible. But there was something missing: His family. Randa, Tripp, Ellie and Ike will be with him this time, his seventh qualification to the sport’s grand finale. He finished the regular season 10th in the world standings with $113,330 and is ready to battle for rodeo gold over the 10 nights of the NFR, set for Dec. 4-13. “I’m excited to have my family back there with me,” said Irwin, 35, originally from Robertsdale, Alabama, but now living in Westville, Florida. “I love seeing the excitement they have for getting to go back, because they see the work I put in to do this and the time away from them. I don’t like to call it a sacrifice, because our men and women in uniform truly sacrifice. “We get to do this, but my wife and kids miss out on me a lot, and I miss out on them a lot. My kids are watching me and seeing all the work and the practices every day into it, so they get to see that work ethic. Then guess what? Do they want to do that? It pays dividends.” Irwin will be one of nine Cinch cowboys in the NFR’s bulldogging field, joined by Will Lummus, Jesse Brown, Justin Shaffer, Rowdy Parrott, Tucker Allen, Tyler Waguespack, Stetson Jorgensen, Scott Guenthner and Bridger Anderson. That’s more than half the contingent of steer wrestlers, so there’s something special that happened through the season for the men wearing Cinch. This isn’t the first year for that, though. Waguespack owns five gold buckles, and he’s joined in the winner’s circle by Jacob Edler (2020), Tyler Pearson (2017) and Luke Branquinho (a five-time titlist) as recent Cinch world champions. Irwin has been close; he finished second in the 2014 world standings and third in 2022. That was the last time he ran a steer in Las Vegas, and much has changed in the three years since. Irwin had his best NFR ever, winning the coveted average championship and more than $150,000 over 10 December nights. He finished the year with $250,000, less than $20,000 behind the titlist, his Louisiana pal, Waguespack. “The biggest thing that’s happened since then is just maturity,” said Irwin, who began his career 15 years ago. “A friend of mine made a comment one time, ‘You’ve done a lot in the last 10 years.’ I made the finals for the first time in ’14, and that was 11 years ago. So, in 11 years, I’ve gotten married and had three children.” He and Randa are raising kids and molding young minds through their labors of love. Tripp’s the oldest, and he will be 9 in January. Ellie just turned 7, and Ike is 4. The family battled through COVID together when the pandemic shut down opportunities in rodeo; he earned less than $30,000 that year. He struggled again in 2021 when his good horse, Scooter, was retired – Irwin co-owned the former Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year with Pearson. Nothing deterred Irwin, though. He found solace this season in returning to the rig with Waguespack, traveling the country with the champ, Stetson Jorgensen and Cash Robb, that last of whom won the NFR aggregate a year ago. “I finally realized you’ve just got to do what you’ve got to do to get back,” Irwin said. “I’ve had great crews. I’ve been around great guys, but it just clicked this year. Maybe desperate times call for desperate measures, but it worked. I had told myself a few years ago that I was going to give myself three more years, and then I was going to be done. Well, it’s been four years. “So, I laughed and said, ‘That’s what I get for telling God what I’m going to do.’ I should know better, because He has the final say on everything.” It’s a good thing he stayed on the job. ProRodeo has seen a surge in financial rewards for contestants. More rodeos are increasing their purses, which means cowboys and cowgirls are able to make better livings now than ever before. As a testament, Irwin finished the 2014 campaign as the reserve world champion with $147,599. He enters this NFR with earnings that total just $34,369 less. That’s a big jump in a little more than a decade. In fact, 19 bulldoggers crossed the $100,000 threshold in earnings for 2025, but only 15 qualified to compete in the Nevada desert “It’s a good living, and we haven’t even gotten to our biggest event yet, the NFR,” he said. “It makes you look at stepping away, but then the rodeos are getting bigger and better. My kids love it, and they still want me to do it.” It’s the children that eventually lead Irwin to make the decision to hang up his spurs. “My kids are getting older, and we’ve got gymnastics, baseball and hopefully football, basketball and junior rodeo, so a guy does ask himself, ‘How long are you going to do it?’ ” Irwin said. “But with companies like Cinch and all my other sponsors, I’ve been able to make a dang good living. “Who would have ever thought that the one thing that just got me to college to get the  Continue Reading »

Louisiana bareback rider Waylon Bourgeois rides Calgary Stampede’s Cincy Whitney during the 2024 Horse Haven Roundup in Kennewick, Washington. Bourgeois has qualified to compete at the National Finals Rodeo for the first time this December after just missing the sport’s championship a season ago. (PHOTO BY ROSEANNA SALES)   CHURCH POINT, La. – Waylon Bourgeois had a fantastic 2024 ProRodeo season. He earned $123,000 riding bareback horses. It wasn’t that long ago when earning that kind of money meant a guaranteed spot among the top 15 cowboys in the world standings and a trip to the National Finals Rodeo. That wasn’t the case for Bourgeois. Instead, he finished 18th on the money list, three spots out of qualifying for that ever-important business venture to Las Vegas. Sure, there was a hint of discouragement, because every man and woman who competes in rodeo wants to battle for the world championship during the sport’s grand finale. “I’m not going to say I was disappointed in myself, because I gave it everything I got last year,” said Bourgeois, 26, of Church Point, a community of 4,000 souls in southern Louisiana. “I fell a little bit short, and that was it. I learned a bunch from it, so I wouldn’t trade that for anything.” It was also a motivating factor into his 2025 campaign. Instead of letting it defeat him, Bourgeois used that experience to drive harder and build his mind and body better. “It just made me hungrier for this year,” he said. “I learned so much from coming that close and falling short, but life isn’t fair. You can’t dwell on it. You can just make yourself better.” He has and will compete at his first NFR as the No. 12-ranked bareback rider in the standings with $137,864. He will also join his traveling partners, Texans Rocker Steiner and Cole Franks, in Las Vegas. It’s a chance for the band of bronc-bustin’ brothers to gather again, this time at the world’s richest rodeo, which features a purse of $13.5 million. Go-round winners in each event will pocket almost $37,000 for each of the 10 nights of competition in the Nevada desert, so it’s an incredible financial opportunity. “It took a lot more to make the NFR than I ever thought it was going to take,” said Bourgeois, who credits part of his success to his sponsors, Cinch, Boot Barn, Parish Rice and Burgess Brothers Bucking Horses. “I never thought about the work and the dedication that you had to put into it to get to this point. I just thought you rode good, and it was easy to make the NFR. “What I found out is you’ve got to grind it out all freaking year and just bust your ass.” It worked, and the rewards can be substantial. Rodeo’s a different type of professional sport, though. There is no guaranteed income; cowboys only earn money when they beat most of the field at any event. There are expenses, from paying for all travel costs to issuing a fee in order to compete at each stop. While the payoffs are getting better, the chance for real profit comes in Las Vegas. That’s why it’s such an important step for the Louisiana man to earn his spot in the NFR’s exclusive field. “I’m just taking it in and enjoying it,” he said. “Whenever it’s time to go to work, we’re going to work. I’ve got some goals set. I definitely want to get some round wins. Going after that average title is a big deal, but I think the big thing is taking it in, enjoying it and making memories.” This is the kind of event that is made for memories, but that’s been Bourgeois’ year in a nutshell. It’s been a whirlwind, from traveling the country by any means necessary to securing his first trip to ProRodeo’s premier championship to being part of a nationally televised documentary to marrying the love of his life. There’s more on the TV show, but the nuptials take precedence. He married his longtime girlfriend, the former Chloe Frey, on Oct. 17 in Eunice, Louisiana, not too far from where he was raised in the state’s coastal plains, some 65 miles north of the gulf coast. “Me and Chloe have been through a lot together,” Bourgeois said. “We met when I was a sophomore in high school and she was a junior. We dated for nine years, and we finally got married. Her family only lives about 15 minutes from me in a little town called Mowata, Louisiana. She comes from a rodeo background.” Yes, she does. In fact, her father, Winston Frey, qualified for the NFR in steer wrestling, and her uncle, Shawn Frey, was an NFR bareback rider. Now, she’ll be in Las Vegas as a newlywed with her husband, who has his own rodeo legacy on which to build. “My dad and his brothers all competed in the bareback riding,” Bourgeois said. “Some went further in their rodeo career than others. My dad competed in college and went to a couple ProRodeos here and there. He was a pickup man at a lot of rodeos. We lived in the country. I don’t know remember how many head we had, but we had cows.” Jeff Bourgeois spends most of his days as a tax assessor, and Eloise Bourgeois is a nurse. Together, they raised three boys on faith and family, and rodeo was always in the picture. Gavin was the first to come along, and Hayden followed two years later. Waylon was the baby, weighing in at more than 9 pounds at birth. The boys did what Southern boys do. Sports were a big part of their lives. Gavin played intercollegiate baseball; Hayden was a college football player; and Waylon went to McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on a rodeo scholarship after being involved in multiple sports growing up. “We were super busy as kids,” Waylon Bourgeois said. “I remember going to these  Continue Reading »

Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo committee members, from left, Carson Kane, Bailey Kane, Sherry Stonecipher and Ken Stonecipher pose with Miss Rodeo Oklahoma Cassidy Heskett after receiving the committee of the year award during the Miss Rodeo Oklahoma Hall of Fame Gala & Best of Oklahoma Awards on Saturday in Norman. (PHOTO PROVIDED)   GUYMON, Okla. – It’s been 10 years since the Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. The accolades haven’t stopped. In fact, the list of accomplishments for Oklahoma’s only Hall of Fame rodeo are adding up. The most recent came during Saturday’s Miss Rodeo Oklahoma Hall of Fame Gala & Best of Oklahoma Awards in Norman. The Guymon contingent was named the rodeo committee of the year. “Just to be nominated was a big honor for us as a committee,” said Ken Stonecipher, chairman of the volunteer group. “To win this award means a lot to us and to a lot of people in Guymon. We’re very proud to be associated with the Miss Rodeo Oklahoma Pageant and Miss Rodeo America.” Committee members have gone above and beyond. The Guymon rodeo hosts many visiting queens each year, drawing royalty from several states across the country. This past year, 14 were in Texas County for rodeo week. The year before, there were 18. “We consider our rodeo a cowboy’s rodeo, one that the guys can take a lot of pride in when they come to Guymon,” Stonecipher said. “We do a lot of unique things that celebrate the cowboy way of life out here in the Panhandle, but we also do a lot of things to show our cowgirl spirit. Our visiting queens program is one of those things, and we get a ton of support for it. “It’s a testament to our community the way people show up for these girls. They’re excited to see them, and in return, the girls are excited to be part of Pioneer Days Rodeo.” It’s true. The popularity of the visiting queen program has been bolstered by the recent winners of Miss Rodeo America, who have returned to the region to be part of the festivities. “It was so much fun,” said Emma Cameron, the 2024 Miss Rodeo America. “Ken and Sherry Stonecipher do such a great job of keeping us involved and taking us to community events as state queens. It’s a great experience.” The Stoneciphers have been associated with the rodeo for years and both are directors on the volunteer-based committee. They have also hosted visiting queens for the better part of two decades. “That’s the one (rodeo) that all the state queens look forward to every year,” Cameron said. The legacy of Pioneer Days Rodeo is reflected in its motto: Where Champions Come to Play the First Weekend in May; the 2026 event is set for May 1-3. Preparation has already begun, with volunteers working year-round to ensure the top event for contestants and spectators alike. “This is Guymon’s chance to shine on a national stage, so we are diligent about putting on a great event for the community,” Stonecipher said. “Being honored with this award tells us we’re doing something right on a statewide stage, too.”