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LAS VEGAS – When things are askew in his personal life, Orin Larsen leans on his family and close friends. When things are wrong in rodeo, he does the same thing. Whether it’s conversations with his mom and dad or a phone call to one of his siblings, they help him maintain a strong attitude and a belief in himself. He’s needed them a lot the last several days at the National Finals Rodeo. Lady Luck separated herself from Larsen early, and she stayed gone for awhile. He entered this year’s championship sixth in the world standings with a shot at the coveted gold buckle, then he struggled. He missed the pay window for eight straight rounds. “It’s been tough, but I’ve got a really good family and a really good support team to get me on the straight and narrow,” said Larsen, a nine-time NFR qualifier from Ingles, Manitoba. “They’ve helped me keep my head in the right spot this week. It’s definitely been a challenge for that, so they’ve helped me quite a bit.” They finally found a bit of satisfaction for all that love. Larsen rode Muddy Creek Pro Rodeo’s Hot Mocha for 85 points to finish in a tie for fifth place in Friday’s ninth round. It was worth $6,438 and a big sigh of relief. “Keenan Hayes placed on that horse earlier in the week,” he said. “I think everyone in the locker room was pretty happy that I drew one of the better ones. I felt really good. The horse came right out there, jumped in the air and gave me a chance to make sure I got my stuff together again. “We’ll just move forward from here.” Larsen first qualified for the championship in 2015 and hasn’t missed one since. He’s had great NFRs, but this one falls under a different category. He’s one of the elite bareback riders in the sport. Most ProRodeo cowboys dream of making the NFR just once; he’s done it nine times in a row. “It’s definitely a year to remember, and I’m looking at it as a view of what I want to do,” said Larsen, who now lives in Hydro, Oklahoma. “It’s not the finals I wanted, but I’ll remember it, because next year is going to be a hell of a lot better.” He will close out his 2023 season on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s New Scarlett, a horse that, like all the others Saturday night, is part of the TV pen of broncs. The 15 horses in the draw are recognized as the very best the sport has to offer. High scores happen often. Rocker Steiner and Clayton Biglow shared the fifth-round victory with matching 89.5-point rides the last time this group was bucked. With one ride on his schedule to chase the big bucks Sin City has to offer, Larsen is going to let it all hang out. “I’ve got to throw caution to the wind,” he said. “If I hit the dirt because I’m 90, then I can walk away pretty damn proud. We’re going to nod for 90 points and knock it out of them. If I limp away, I’ve got a few weeks to heal up, so I’ll be fine by then.” Ninety or nothing, Larsen plans to end his NFR going out in style.

LAS VEGAS – Several weeks ago, the top 15 bareback riders in ProRodeo convened on a conference call to decide the bucking horses to be selected to the National Finals Rodeo. It’s a tough list to crack. This is the sport’s Super Bowl and World Series wrapped into a 10-day championship, and only the very best get a chance to perform inside the Thomas & Mack Center. It’s an opportunity to showcase the top athletes, both human and equine. Tim O’Connell has ridden greatest horses in the world during his standout career, and he got on another outstanding bronc during Friday’s ninth round. He rode Hi Lo Pro Rodeo’s Square Bale for 86.5 points to finish second, earning $24,268; it was just his second check during this year’s championship. “I actually fought for this horse to get here,” said O’Connell, a 10-time NFR qualifier from Zwingle, Iowa. “I’ve seen this hrose for three or four years, and she’s always been that last horse to get cut off the list. I watched both her trips in Albuquerque (New Mexico), and I thought, ‘That horse needs to at the finals.’ “I don’t know if she’s got the round win in her, but you’re dang sure going to get a top-money check, so I stuck my neck out for her. Sure enough, I’m the guy that gets her, and she blew my expectations out of the water. I finished the ride like I wanted to, and it was, by far, the best ride I’ve made at this NFR.” It’s been a slow nine days at this championship. That’s unlike O’Connell, a three-time world champion who also has won the average title three times. He’s collected $55,564 heading into Saturday’s final go-round, pushing his season earnings to $213,891; he is sixth in the world standings. His roughest rides have come during the NFR’s eliminator pen, the rankest broncs at the field. He was 73 points in Round 3, then made an equipment change. He was 79.5 on Night 8, well off the pace to earn money in Las Vegas. “I’m always in the fight, but I took a bad shot on a horse (Thursday) night because he was leaning,” he said of how the animal was standing in the chute prior to the ride. “He stood up, and I nodded, then he went to go lean again and fell out of the box. “His butt was out in the arena, and his shoulders are back in, and I was starting to think he was going to turn out backwards. All of the sudden, he jumps out and spins himself around. I got to ride an eliminator 200 degrees around the corner into my riding hand.” It was difficult to get back into position, especially on a horse like that. “They’re eliminators for a reason,” O’Connell said. “He threw his weight around me, and there wasn’t a whole lot of timing to get me back in front. I didn’t have the ride I wanted.” But he rebounded well and hopes to carry that momentum into Saturday’s 10th round. “I’m way out of the average, so I’m just fighting to get go-round money,” he said. “If I keep getting these big round checks, I might get a little check in the average. “I’m just slinging it right now.” That’s not the style that he has formed over his career. His controlled and aggressive spurring style is why he’s had so much success, especially at ProRodeo’s grand finale. “Ten years ago, I was just a straight gunslinger,” O’Connell said. “I was either going to win first or I was going to go down, just go down swinging. As I’ve matured in my career, I learned how to be a little more conservative, then turn it loose when I wanted to if I needed. That’s how I took it the last six or seven years, and it’s worked out well. I’ve usually been in such a high position that I’m not going to take a chance out of going out of that big average check. “If you go out of the average, you go out of a world-title race, and I’ve been in world-title races, so I don’t cut it loose as much as I used to. “This old man still has some tricks up his sleeve.”

LAS VEGAS – Cody Devers dreamed of this moment from the time he was a young child. After two National Finals Rodeo qualifications and 14 go-rounds in Las Vegas, the Perryton, Texas, took the victory lap inside the Thomas & Mack Center. He wrestled his steer to the ground in 3.5 seconds to win Friday’s ninth round, earning $30,706. It was his first NFR paycheck, and it’s a moment he’ll likely never forget. “Everybody has adversity, and it’s just how life is,” said Devers, who first qualified for the finale in 2021 but was hampered by a torn pectoral, then suffered through a bad run of things over the first eight performances this year. “You can either get knocked down and stay there, or you can get back up each night and keep swinging. “I’d say they knocked us down for seven or eight rounds, but we started getting it figured out. We just keep pushing positive thoughts and prayers and kept working at it, and it’s finally come together.” He began his second NFR rough, settling for two no-times in the first three rounds. He also failed to score in Round 7 and finished out of the money in the other five performances – he missed the pay window by one spot Thursday night. His biggest adjustment came when he switched horses prior to Monday’s fourth round. “My mare started getting a little sore and wasn’t really working as well as I’d like, so I switched to Sam Dixon’s horse, Baby,” said Devers, who was the runner-up to the 2018 college champion while competing at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. “Each night she’s been feeling really good. We got the start the last two nights, and that’s made a world of difference. “Marc Joiner has been on the other side riding my hazing horse, and he’s been doing a great job just like today. He got that steer to pick his head up, and Baby put my feet on the ground really fast so all I had to do was slow down and do my job.” Making a run like that was valuable, and not just in the financial rewards. Winning an NFR round is tough; the top 15 guys in the world standings are ready to knock anyone off that perch. With the victory, he has upped his yearly earnings to $144,839 and gained a ton of confidence “I could have done a little bit better on my job on a couple of those rounds, then I missed a start on another,” he said. “It’s not my first time here, but this is a fast start, and if you get amped up and if you miss it, it’s unforgiving.” Having good horses helps, but making a run on a steer that fits is also beneficial. Devers liked what he saw in the animal that was selected to him by random draw. “I knew that if we blew the barrier out,” he said of getting a good start, “and my hazer and Baby do their jobs, he was going to pick his head up. I knew I was going to have my feet on the ground where all I have to do is slow down and make a good run. When I was missing the barrier, I was trying to go too fast on the ground and make up that time. “It’s really tough out here, and everybody’s been making good runs, so this time I could slow down and actually do my job.” Devers is one of four former Northwestern steer wrestlers in the field, and all four placed during Friday’s round. J.D. Struxness was 3.7 to finish second, Bridger Anderson was 3.9 for third and Stephen Culling was 4.0 to place sixth. “It’s been awesome,” Devers said. “We’ve been cheering for each other, helping each other out. It’s kind of having a big family up here.”

LAS VEGAS – The dollars and cents of rodeo are starting to add up for saddle bronc rider Wyatt Casper. Through nine rounds at the National Finals Rodeo, he has placed five times, the latest coming after an 86.5-point ride on United Pro Rodeo’s Awesome Sauce to finish in a tie for third place in Friday’s ninth round. “Getting down to these last days, making as much money as you can is what it’s all about,” said Casper, a four-time NFR qualifier from Miami, Texas. “I’ve seen Awesome Sauce a bunch. I’ve never been on it, but all my traveling partners have. I knew he was going to be a pretty tough horse but probably one of the better ones in the draw; I was pretty excited to have him.” Friday’s round featured the eliminator pen, the hardest-to-ride broncs at the NFR, but Casper was up to the task. It was his biggest payday so far. He is seventh in the aggregate race with 751 points on nine rides; if he maintains that through Saturday’s final performance of the 2023 season, he’ll add a bonus of $13,372. Heading into the 10th round, he’s pocketed $63,241 in Las Vegas and is 10th in the world standings with $205,662. “We’re nine for nine now, and I think that’s the most I’ve ridden out at the NFR since we were in Arlington (Texas in 2020),” he said. “I’m pretty pumped about that.” Cowboys arrive in the Nevada desert with rodeo’s gold on their minds. To win that coveted buckle, it takes talent, consistency and a little bit of luck. Casper has the talent and proved his consistency, but he needed a little more luck in order to walk away with the world championship. “Anytime you surround yourself with the top 15 of anything, it’s going to be pretty great,” he said of the field of bronc riders in Sin City this week. “I’m pretty lucky to be able to be around these guys in the locker room. There are guys in there like Zeke (Thurston) that were making the NFR before I thought I could even make the NFR. “It’s pretty cool to look up to them, but they’re good competition and make it a lot of fun.” That talented group of men is just one reason why Casper hasn’t made more NFR money. When he’s scored well and had a chance to take the top prize in a round, someone else has taken the luster from him. Take Friday, for example. Dawson Hay had already scored 86.5 to match Casper, but Lefty Holman was the last to go and was a point better. Thurston, the reigning and three-time world champion, won the round with an 88.5. Having the right horse matters just to get a check. “You can go through the list and pick out who you feel sorry for and who got the better end of the draw,” said Casper, the 2016 intercollegiate champion while at Clarendon (Texas) College. “I feel like I was one of the guys who got the better end of it tonight, so we just tried to capitalize on it.” Every experience can be a lesson, and he’s received that this week. “You just have to enjoy it while you’re here,” he said. “That’s probably the biggest lesson. We work all year to get here for these 10 days, so it’s best to just be patient. If it doesn’t work out, that’s OK. Just enjoy it.”

LAS VEGAS – Forgive Stephen Culling if he was hoping for more from his first National Finals Rodeo. He’s placed six times, which is an incredible feat considering only the best in ProRodeo play on this stage, but he’s finished at or near the bottom five of those nights. His only five-figure payout came Sunday night, when he finished in a tie for second place in the third round. In all, he’s earned $56,555 since he arrived in Las Vegas. All those payouts are critical. “I’d say $5,000 a night adds up if you do it every night, but I still want to win a little better check than that,” said Culling of Fort St. John, British Columbia. “We’ve got one more chance to still move up a little bit in that average money, and I moved up a spot with Dakota (Eldridge) having some bad luck. “I’m just staying consistent. With the steer I had, they broke a barrier on him and missed him once, so I knew if I drilled the barrier, he would be a chance to win something.” Steers are allowed a head start, and the barrier system allows for that. A rope is placed in front of the timed-event box, and once the steer reaches the starting line, it releases. The best runs are to have the horse at the barrier at that moment. “There were lots of good steers out tonight, and all these guys are doing their jobs, too, so I had to be sharp,” he said. He was, and he added another $4,952 to his annual salary. He is 12th in the world standings with a little more than $160,000, but he’s also fifth in the aggregate race with a cumulative time of 48.0 seconds on nine runs. Should he remain in that spot by the time the rodeo ends Saturday, he’ll add $26,744. If he moves up a spot, fourth in the average pays $37,445. “Fifth place in the average pays a lot of money, so it’s in the back of a guy’s head,” said Culling, who was one of four former Northwestern Oklahoma State University bulldoggers to place Friday. “You can’t start thinking of the average and miss the barrier on purpose, because that’s when you end up missing a steer or getting outrun. “The game plan never really changes, but the average is starting to come into factor a little bit more coming down to the final round.” Most ProRodeo cowboys ended their season two and a half months ago, so being able to still battle for big bucks in Las Vegas is a blessing. The final night of the campaign ends Saturday, and he’ll finish among the top 15 in the world standings, if not in the top 10. Culling has proven his rightful place at the NFR, and he’s looking to utilize it to build on what he’ll do in the future.

LAS VEGAS – Slowly but surely, steer wrestler Stephen Culling is making money at the National Finals Rodeo. ProRodeo’s grand finale offers a purse of $100,000 per day, and it’s paid out to the top six places in descending order: Round winners earn the most, $30,706. Culling has been among the leaders four times in seven rounds. Since he arrived in the City of Lights last week, the Fort St. John, British Columbia, cowboy has pocketed $43,678. Half of that came from his 4.3-second run Sunday, which resulted in a tie for second place, worth $21,296. In his other three rounds, he’s finished in sixth or a tie for sixth. Culling did that again in Wednesday’s seventh round, stopping the clock in 4.5 seconds. He added another $4,953 payday to his annual earnings, which are just shy of $150,000. He was raised in northeastern British Columbia and got involved in rodeo early. After receiving a little tutelage in steer wrestling, he took to it. In 2010, he won both the Canadian High School Finals Rodeo and the National High School Finals Rodeo, which catapulted him into his college career. Culling attended both Western Oklahoma State College and Northwestern Oklahoma State University on rodeo scholarships. He was the 2016 Resistol Rookie of the Year, but this is his inaugural trip to the NFR. He earned the right by finishing 10th in the world standings at the conclusion of the regular season. Through seven rounds, he’s added to his pocketbook but remains in the same spot on the money list. He has a few aces up his sleeve as he battles in Las Vegas. First and foremost, he’s riding Eddie, a bulldogging mount owned by fellow Canadian Tanner Milan that was named the PRCA Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year. He’s also sixth in the aggregate race, having knocked down seven steers in a cumulative time of 40.1 seconds. Should he hold onto that spot, he’ll add a bonus of $19,315 for placing in the average. He has three more nights to cash in before the season comes to an end. He’ll take every opportunity he can to make that happen.

LAS VEGAS – Like those championship bouts that have made this city famous for decades, Jess Pope doesn’t mind scrapping. This isn’t a middleweight match of Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler from two decades ago. This is the reigning world champion bareback rider vs. 1,200 pounds of bucking muscle, and it took place Thursday night during the eighth round of the National Finals Rodeo. “These are our hardest bucking and our rankest horses that we have going,” Pope said of his match-up with Championship Pro Rodeo’s The Crow. “It’s just a good, old-fashioned fist fight. I really like the eliminator pen of horses. That’s where the men stand out from the boys, and I was very thankful to be able to find success again in the eliminator round.” The two titans slugged it out for eight seconds on the Thomas & Mack Center dirt for 88.5 points, good enough for the round win and $30,706 in Pope’s pockets. He has ridden eight horses for a cumulative score of 681.5 points and leads the aggregate race by five points over the No. 2 man, Coloradoan Keenan Hayes. “I knew I had pretty good odds of having a good shot at winning,” said Pope of Waverly, Kansas. “I got on that horse in the short round at Dodge City (Kansas) and got along really well. I was pretty tickled about it.” In fact, the two danced across the western Kansas dirt in August for 87.5 points, so they were able to muster another point when it counted most. Hayes leads the world standings with $324,597, but Pope is making up ground. He has earned $108,558 in Las Vegas, $50,000 better than the Colorado cowboy. Pope is third in the standings, $90,000 behind and has two more nights on the 2023 season to make his move. “There have been years and years of preparation that comes into this round, really all 10 rounds here at the NFR,” Pope said. “I’m fully confident that I can ride any bucking horse they run underneath me, and you have to have that confidence coming in. There are 14 other guys in that locker room that have the same amount of confidence that I have, but all I can control is what I do on the animal I have drawn. “I can’t pay attention to what the other guys are doing. If they make a good ride, I want to be there cheering for them, let them find success and me be happy for them.” There is a comradery that comes with competing against one another at rodeos across North America. They travel together, and they know its them vs. the animal. They’ll help one another out when the situations arise. “The brotherhood we have as bareback riders is like no other event out there,” he said. “I want to see those guys win as bad as I want to win. I’m not competing against anybody; I’m competing against myself and the animal I have. That’s the one unique thing about bareback riding.” He doesn’t look at the numbers. Those, he said, will take care of themselves. He has a job to do, and he knows what it takes to do it. There’s a reason he’s defending his title. “Whenever they announce the average results after 10 days, whoever wins I’m going to be plumb tickled for it, but when I enter a rodeo, I plan on winning,” said Pope, who has won the NFR average in each of his previous three years competing at ProRodeo’s grand finale. “I’ve had a great week. “When I first started rodeo when I was a little kid, it wasn’t rodeo for money. It was rodeo because it’s fun. Throughout the summer, there were times where it wasn’t real fun, but it’s been fun this week. I’ve really enjoyed it. I haven’t won as much money as I wanted to win, but it dawned on me that when I started, it wasn’t for the money. It was to be a bucking-horse rider who wanted to make the memories I get to.”

LAS VEGAS – Steer wrestler Bridger Anderson picked a good time to make the fastest run of his professional career. He stopped the clock in 3.3 seconds to win Thursday’s eighth round of the National Finals Rodeo, pocketing $30,706. That catapulted his Las Vegas earnings to nearly $85,000. What’s big is it was just his fourth paycheck in eight rounds, so it’s proof of how the roller coaster of rodeo is, especially on the sport’s biggest stage. “There’s not a cooler place to do it,” said Anderson, who also won Monday’s fourth round. “We had a good steer, then we had to blow the barrier out and break down the wall to try to get the steer to frame up. Clayton (Hass) did a great job hazing on Metallica for Whiskers and I, and the steer framed up nicely. We just had to be patient, go down and get it. “When he hit, I figured we were going to be quick, but I didn’t know we were going to be that quick.” The time is just three-tenths of a second off the NFR record, which was posted by Steve Duhon in 1986 and Bryan Fields in 2001. Fellow Northwestern Oklahoma State University alumnus was 3.3 to win Tuesday’s fifth round. Anderson entered this year’s finale 14th in the world standings. He has doubled his annual salary in a little more than a week; at $170,000, he is eighth on the money list. It’s not easy, either. While many of the competitors have hired someone to help take care of horses, Anderson has taken care of Whiskers by himself with just a little bit of help from family and friends. “I’m going to hire someone the next time I come out,” said Anderson of Carrington, North Dakota, who first qualified for the NFR in 2020, when the event took place in Arlington, Texas, because of COVID retractions. “We’re signing (autographs) and running all over the place. In Texas, I had (college rodeo coach and hazer) Stockton Graves just say, ‘I’ll take care of everything; you just show up and bulldog.’ “That was awesome. I came out here by myself, and it seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day. The one thing you’re going to have to cut out is sleep, and I need sleep. I need about eight hours a night if possible, and there’s no way I’ve even come close this week.” That’s just one of the challenges he has faced in Las Vegas, but there are plenty of others. He’s just one of the top 15 bulldoggers competing on this stage, so the competition is tight. The stresses are high, but he has found a way to manage it all and try to stay healthy. “The biggest thing was the ‘Jesus Shot,’ ” he said of the medical assistance he receives from Next Level Health & Wellness, which sponsors cowboys during the NFR. “Cinch also got us Rodeo Performance Network to work on us a little bit. My chiropractor flew out and has been working on me the last few days, and that really helped to get me lined out with some neuromuscular balance and getting my spine lined back out.” It takes a healthy mind and a healthy body to compete at an elite level, and Anderson is figuring out all the aspects of his business venture in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – Just qualifying for the National Finals Rodeo is a major accomplishment for bareback rider Jacob Lees. He finished the regular season 14th in the world standings to earn his spot during the 10-day championship, which takes place at the Thomas & Mack Center. There’s a learning curve when it comes to competing at this championship, but he’s taking to it well. Lees has placed in four so far, his latest coming from an 87-point ride on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s San Angelo Sam, which earned him a second-place finish in Thursday’s eighth round, worth $24,268. “This is the third time I’ve been on that horse,” said Lees, originally from Caldwell, Idaho, but now living in Boyd, Texas. “I barely got by him the first time, and I was 83 points. The second time … he drilled me in the dirt at about three seconds (into the ride) and hurt me pretty good, so this was kind of a revenge ride. “I knew I had to get by him. It felt good to get a piece of the money.” He earned a chunk of cash for the second time; Lees also shared the sixth-round victory with Minnesotan Tanner Aus. He has deposited $81,070 with two rounds remaining on the 2023 season, two more chances to add to his bank account. He’s also eighth in the aggregate race with 667 cumulative points on eight rides. Should he remain in that spot when the rodeo ends Saturday night, the Arroyo Grande (California) High School graduate will add a $7,500 bonus. To top it off, his second-biggest check of the week came in the eliminator pen, the grouping of the hardest-to-ride bucking horses in the business. “I’m a pretty mellow guy and nothing really riles me up, but the eliminators rile me up, and I personally feel like I ride those ones better,” said Lees, who credits much of his success to his sponsors, Toste Construction, ProHats, Double-J Quarter Horses, Bet Hesa Boon; Servi Quarter Horses, Ghostwood Distilling Co., Fenoglio Boots and Gentry Custom Cowboy Shop. “I don’t feel like I get any less scared than the next guy, but I usually do better if I know a horse is harder to ride. I like the big, strong, heavy ones. I feel like they make me stay back and make me ride correctly, and I usually get a high score.” Being a newcomer to the richest rodeo in the world takes some adjusting. The famous yellow bucking chutes can be intimidating, but it’s still a competition he’s been doing professionally for five years. He’s kept that focus. “I started well before this just telling myself over and over that this is just like another rodeo,” said Lees, who also supports 17 Strong, a foundation based in Arroyo Grande that provides “victory trips” to young adults between the ages of 18 and 40 after they battled a life-threatening illness. “I’ve had so many guys tell me they don’t even remember their first round, and I wanted to remember my first round at the NFR.” Lees wasn’t raised around rodeo, but he came from a ranching family that raises livestock. He listened closely to an uncle who was competitive in team penning. He paid attention to that while dreaming of being a professional rodeo cowboy. “I always wanted to ride bulls since I was a little kid, and when I started listening to Chris LeDoux, I thought, ‘What’s this bareback riding thing,’ ” he said about the bareback riding world champion-turned-country artist. “I got into that and never looked back. I rode bulls for a long time but never really picked it up like I did bareback riding, which has brought me a long way.” Yes, it has. He finished 33rd in the world standings the last two years and was 54th in 2020. His rise toward the top is proof that hard work pays off. Riding bucking horses isn’t easy, and to score points, a cowboy must spur from the front of the animal’s shoulders back to his rigging in rhythm with the broncs bucking motion. Doing it on the biggest stage of his career is like a dream come true, and he has more than $80,000 reasons why he wants to get back. “At the beginning of the week, it seemed like it was never going to end,” said Lees, who attended West Hills (California) Community College and Western Texas College on rodeo scholarships. “Now, it’s coming to an end, and I wish there was another 10 days.”

LAS VEGAS – Sometimes in rodeo, it only takes one ride to make a change. That came for saddle bronc rider Wyatt Casper after Wednesday’s seventh round of the National Finals Rodeo. He was just 74 points on King Rodeo & Wentz Bucking Bulls’ Popeye, and he knew things needed to turn around. Fast forward to Thursday, where Casper spurred Mosbrucker Rodeo Freckles for 87 points to finish fourth in the eighth round, pocketing $12,877. “I crewed up on that Popeye horse and had to redeem myself,” said Casper, a four-time NFR qualifier from Miami, Texas. “I really thought I’d have the round win tonight, but I was a half point off.” Three cowboys shared the round victory with scores of 87.5, so that dropped the Oklahoma Panhandle-raised cowboy down, but he’ll take what he can get. It was his highest placing so far at ProRodeo’s grand championship, where he’s collected $47,640. He has ridden eight horses for a cumulative score of 664.5 points and sits eighth in the aggregate race. “That half point decides a lot about money,” he said. “I feel really good, and we’ll just carry that into the eliminator round (Friday) and into the TV pen Saturday and just try to make all of the money we can.” This is the world’s richest rodeo, with nearly $100,000 up for grabs every go-round. The three men who scored higher than Casper each collected $24,433. Still, any check at the NFR is huge; only the top 15 in the world standings at the conclusion of the regular season play on this stage, a showcase of the sport’s elite. Casper beat 11 other cowboys, so he has some things to carry him through the final two nights of the 2023 campaign. He is 10th in the world standings with $190,061. “I’ve got mixed feelings about this NFR,” he said. “My week hasn’t really gone how I wanted it to go, and there’s part of me that wants 10 more. There’s also part of me that is ready to pack it up and go home. I’m going to make the best out of these next two horses and go into the new year and push forward to be a world champ.” No matter what happens in the arena, he knows his heart is with his wife, Lesley, and their two children, Cooper and Cheyenne. They have rented an Airbnb for their time in Las Vegas, so the kids have room to run around. Spending quality time with them offers the respite he needs when he’s not handling his business on the best bucking horses in rodeo. “We’ve enjoyed it,” said Casper, the 2016 intercollegiate champion while attending Clarendon (Texas) College. “Chey’s birthday is Dec. 6, so she has a birthday out here every year. We don’t do anything crazy, but we get to hang out with our family. “I’ve had a lot of family out here. We’ve been pretty lucky to be able to get everybody out here and enjoy it. I’m pretty lucky to be able to get some family out here; we really enjoy it.” He has two more chances to add to his annual income, so he’ll focus on the tasks at hand. It is, after all, the biggest business venture of his season.

LAS VEGAS – Every athlete knows that performing well doesn’t always translate into wins. Richmond Champion has that figured out after he picked up just his third paycheck of this year’s National Finals Rodeo. He matched moves with Three Hills Rodeo’s Tarnished Silver for 85.5 points and finished fourth during Thursday’s eighth round. “I feel like I’m having the best NFR I’ve ever had riding-wise,” said Champion, an eight-time qualifier from Stevensville, Montana. “(Wednesday) night, I just got beat, but it brought up a good change for my equipment – it was nothing big, but some little adjustment to my rigging.” He placed on the opening two nights, then was blanked among the top spots for five straight rounds before collecting $12,877 Thursday. He’s made just $40,000 since arriving in Sin City, but he’s seeing the positives when he can. “This is the first time ever that I won money right off the bat and didn’t keep winning,” he said. “I’m used to not winning money early and just building into it, and then I just don’t stop winning. This year it’s, ‘I’m here,’ and then nothing. That makes you want to play mind games and start thinking about stuff you need to do.” Fellow bareback rider Caleb Bennett offered the idea of rigging adjustments, and it paid off. Tarnished Silver was part of the eliminator pen, the hardest-to-ride horses at the NFR. By scoring a nice payday, Champion increased his yearly earnings to $151,404. “The E pens have always been my jam, whether I like it or not,” said Champion, who attended Tarleton State University on a rodeo scholarship. “It’s my kind of pen, and there’s always confidence when we come to that. “You’re not worried about what anyone else is going to do. You’ve got to do your job, and you’ve got to do it right.” There are just two nights remaining on the 2023 season. The bareback riders get a reprieve in Friday’s round with the hopper pen of horses, the group of broncs that allow the cowboys to show off. They will conclude this edition of ProRodeo’s Super Bowl with the TV pen, the most electric and showy horses in rodeo.   “We’ve got two more good ones left,” Champion said. “I’m just going to let them roll. I have nothing to lose. “I feel like every year you get toward the end of the week, and everybody’s in their grove in the locker room, and you realize it’s bittersweet because it’s coming to an end. You’re not going to see these guys in that setting for a while and possibly not see them there ever again. Rarely do you ever have the same locker room. It’s been super fun. We build each other up, and we break each other down when we need it. It’s just a special experience in there.”

LAS VEGAS – When Stephen Culling backs into the timed-event box to make his runs at the National Finals Rodeo, he has all the confidence necessary to win at an elite level. That’s why he’s here. He was one of the top 15 steer wrestlers in ProRodeo when the season closed Sept. 30, and he’s proving why he is in this field. He has placed in five rounds and has slowly been adding to his pocketbook. His latest came with a 3.9-second run during Thursday’s eighth round. That’s fast, and it will likely win a lot of rodeos. At the NFR, he finished fifth and earned $7,924. “Yeah, it’s better than sixth,” said Culling, who has finished in that spot three times since arriving in Las Vegas. “I’m not going to complain about money. A check is a check.” It adds up. He’s earned $51,602 in Sin City with two rounds remaining on this year’s championship. It was his second-biggest payday of the week – Culling finished in a tie for second place in Sunday’s third round, worth more than $21,000. “It’s been good, and we’ve been consistent,” said Culling, who has an eight-run cumulative time of 44.0 seconds for sixth in the aggregate race. “The horses are working awesome, and Tanner (Milan) is doing a great job over there hazing. Everything’s coming together. We were on the stronger end of the steers on that run, so I knew I’d have to drill the barrier to have a chance to win something.” Steers are allowed a head start, and the barrier system provides the starting blocks. The best starts happen when the bulldogger’s horse arrives at the barrier as it is released once the steer reaches the starting line. It’s vital to make a good run, especially at the Thomas & Mack Center, which has an arena roughly the size of a basketball court. “They were longer on that steer in the first two rounds he was run,” he said, pointing out that the pen of steers had been run in both the second and fifth rounds. “I knew if I drilled the barrier and did my job that the steer had a lot of action, and a guy could win something on him. “We pretty well have a solid idea of what these steers are going to do and know the steers you have a good chance of winning on and the ones that you just have to get by on and try to win something. I knew that one ran a little too hard to be a short 3 (seconds), but I’m riding a fast horse. I hit that barrier and let the horse do his job.” That’s Eddie, the Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year owned by Milan; the hazer is riding Kirk, a horse owned by fellow bulldogger Matt Reeves. Riding a Canadian bulldogging horse and placing on Canada Night at the NFR was something special for the Fort St. John, British Columbia, cowboy, who is 10th in the world standings with $155,628. “It’s awesome,” Culling said. “It’s pretty cool to have as much representation from Canada as we have. There are 10 of us, and every day before the grand entry, we visit and talk about the bulls and the broncs and the steers and the calves that we all have drawn. We’re a pretty tight group of guys all from Canada, so it’s pretty fun to represent Canada with that bunch of guys.”

LAS VEGAS – It’s been six years since Mason Clements made his National Finals Rodeo debut, and his first year was his best year. Until now. Through Wednesday morning’s sixth round, Clements has placed four times and earned more than $85,000 in the process. He won Sunday’s first round, then nabbed paydays the next three, including an 86-point ride on Stace Smith’s Risky Business to finish in a three-way tie for third place in the special performance. That was worth $13,042. “It’s been really fun, really awesome,” said Clements, a four-time NFR qualifier from Spanish Fork, Utah. “It’s cool to see it all come together, and you’re trusting exactly what you’ve been hard the last few months, then to see it start shaping up and paying off. That’s what I worked my butt off for the last few months is to feel this good in the middle of the NFR.”   How well? He has ridden six horses for a cumulative score of 513.5 points and is first in the aggregate race. Should he still be there by the time the championship ends Saturday night, he’ll add a $78,747 bonus for winning the average title. All that helps him as he battles for rodeo gold, the buckle presented to world champions. “I had written down that I wanted at least three round wins, and with being at the top of the average now, I’ve got a good foot on that going into the next four rounds,” he said. “My goal is to stay on top. It’s going to pay the winner no matter what. A gold buckle is what I’m chasing and, what the numbers are right now, it obviously feels good to see it and gives me that confidence. “I’m still nodding my head every night to win the round. That’s my goal … keep winning the round. If it helps me get the average win, that’s even better. An NFR average win is pretty badass, too.” Clements has earned $211,281 this season and has more chances to cash in. With go-round winners pocketing nearly $31,000 per night, he has a big chance to continue to cash in. If he gets on big-time buckers like Risky Business more often, he’ll put himself in position in a hurry. “It’s always exciting to get on a horse you’ve seen before but never rode,” Clements said. “You watch how guys ride him and how he reacts to the caliber of guy that gets on him. You want to make it how you ride, but you’re still taking bits and pieces of it, collaborating and making it your own when you get a chance. “It’s always back to the basics every time, whether its something I’ve been on or one that I know but haven’t.” His mindset is helping Clements make big money in Las Vegas. He’s been through all sorts of experiences at the National Finals Rodeo, and his mental approach is what is helping him find success in 2023. “I really enjoy hunting, and one of the things I do to stay in shape is hunt,” he said. “You’re doing a lot of walking, and in Utah, the Wasatch Front gets pretty steep in some spots and makes it interesting, and you get a pretty good workout. It’s also what helps keep me sane.”

LAS VEGAS – Saddle bronc rider Wyatt Casper has been looking for his opportunity to show off. He got it during a special Wednesday morning performance of the National Finals Rodeo, riding Legacy Pro Rodeo’s Jitter Bug for 85 points, good enough for fifth in the sixth go-round, worth just shy of $8,000. “That horse gives you every opportunity to spur every jump and doesn’t have a trick to her,” said Casper of Miami, Texas. “It’s one of those rounds where you just get to let loose and have some fun.” He’s having a good time, but placing higher would give the Oklahoma Panhandle-raised cowboy a little better feeling. Through six rounds, he’s placed three times and earned $34,763 – $10,000 of that came as a bonus for being an NFR qualifier. Meanwhile, go-round winners are earning nearly $31,000 per night. The difference between his ride and the four men who earned more money in the morning session? While his horse was straight down the arena, the other four had mounts that offered a few more tricks. Scores are based on a 100-point scale, with half coming from how well the horse bucks and half from how well the cowboy rides in rhythm the bucking motion. “You can dang sure separate those horses that are a little more showy than the ones that don’t have anything to them,” Casper said. “I knew I’d be pretty close to getting a check. You can do that in most of these pens. You can pick out who’s got the strongest horse and who’s got the bottom of the pen. Even though it’s the NFR, there’s still a top and bottom to those pens.” The morning performance came because the opening night of the NFR was canceled after the deadly shooting last week on the UNLV campus. Contestants competed twice. There were two performances Wednesday to allow for the cowboys and cowgirls to still be part of all 10 rounds. It seems like a lot to get on two broncs in one day, but it’s just a different feel because of the magnitude of the NFR. During the summer run, contestants will make multiple rides or runs in the same day. “Usually over the Fourth of July, we try to enter Red Lodge, Montana; Cody, Wyoming; and Livingston, Montana, in the same day,” he said. “You’re also driving pretty fast to get to all those rodeos, and that’s three in a day. That’s a full day, so it’s nice to have a break between the two rounds here.”

LAS VEGAS – The times are fast at the National Finals Rodeo every year. Even though he’s never played on this stage, Stephen Culling knew what to expect. He wanted to be one of the fastest steer wrestlers in the field, and earning a spot among the top 15 is a major accomplishment. He has pride in the work he did through the regular season to get to Las Vegas, and now he’s hoping to build off a modicum of success he’s had inside the Thomas & Mack Center so far. He was fast during Wednesday’s special, stopping the clock in 4.1 seconds to finish sixth in the sixth round, earning another $4,953. It was his the third time he’s placed in Las Vegas, pocketing $38,725 for it. He is seventh in the aggregate race with four rounds remaining. “It’s a learning curve right now,” said Culling of Fort St. John, British Columbia. “I broke the barrier one night and then missed the barrier the next night, so I kept bouncing back and forth. I need to get back to the game plan and just try to blow the barrier out every night and not worry about that broken barrier the other day and just go after these go-rounds the next four nights.” The special performance came about after last Thursday’s opening night was canceled because of the shooting on the UNLV campus. It was a way to have all 10 rounds without disrupting the rest of the schedule. The seventh round is scheduled for Wednesday evening. “We’re used to running in slack,” he said. “It’s a little different feeling being in a slack in Vegas and a quarter-full Thomas & Mack, but I know we’re fortunate that we were able to make up that lost performance, so we’ll take what we can get.” The bulldogging steers the cowboys ran in the morning session were known as the “strong pen,” and times showed. “This pen of steers is a little trickier,” said Culling, who has pushed his season earnings to $142,751. “They’re all over the map, so getting a check out of here is another step in the right direction.” As he plans for the remaining four rounds, he’s looking to build to his NFR resume. “My NFR has been all right,” he said. “I’ve been picking a way and placing in three rounds. Obviously I would have liked to be placing a little higher in these rounds than the bottom half, but there’s still a lot of rodeo left.”

LAS VEGAS – Three-time world champion bareback rider Tim O’Connell scored a little redemption during the seventh round of the National Finals Rodeo. “That’s the horse that actually threw me off in 2021, which was the first time I’d been thrown off a horse in about 88 rounds here at the National Finals Rodeo,” O’Connell said of Big Stone Rodeo’s Mayhem, a horse on which he scored 87 points Wednesday night to finish in a tie for second place with his traveling partner, Louisianan Kade Sonnier. “I knew I had my hands full, and I knew that I made an error to trust my rigging for three rounds. I even knew after Night 1 I should have scrapped it. “But I waited until things got really bad after the eliminator pen (Sunday) to actually move forward and make a rigging swap.” Adjusting equipment proved to be beneficial, and it finally paid off. He earned $21,296. Most importantly, his he gained needed confidence as he heads into the final three nights of the ProRodeo season. “I’m just thankful to finally get on board in a round,” said O’Connell of Zwingle, Iowa. “I have never been shut out that long to get a paycheck, but I stayed with the same mindset that it was going to come and was able to not go off the deep end.” Oh, there were frustrations. This is the richest rodeo in the world, with go-rounds paying nearly $100,000 for 10 straight rounds. When a competitor battles six times without placing among the leaders, emotions can boil. “I feel like how I’ve prepared mentally and physically has shined through Rounds 4 through 7, and it finally came together,” he said. “The National Finals is tough if you don’t get hot out here right off the get-go. All I can do is just keep doing what I’ve been doing since Round 4, and that’s nod my head, be aggressive and do the right things I prepared myself to do. I’m doing everything I can do, and it finally paid off.” The paycheck was the perfect reminder of how things can go in Las Vegas, and it helped him celebrate the birthday of his wife, Sami. “I really tried to get her to the South Point,” he said of the casino on the south side of Las Vegas Boulevard that hosts the nightly go-round buckle presentation. In fact, that’s the person he leans on most when things aren’t going right. During the regular season, it’s a phone call or a quick trip home. At the NFR, the two communicate about everything that happens in the arena – the joys and the frustrations. “My wife is just the strongest person I know,” O’Connell said. “I know she’s just as frustrated; I think she’s been more frustrated than me. The most important things to me are my faith and my family. Rodeo is starting to fall down the list of importance. I love rodeo. It’s what I do, but it’s not who I am anymore. I lost my identity in that at one point, and I actually despised what I was doing for a career. “I really love doing this, and that mindset helped me find the love I had for it again. To have the opportunity to just be out here for 10 straight years and feel like I’m still one of the most dangerous bareback riders in the world is amazing.

LAS VEGAS – Not many people in rodeo are more consistent at the National Finals Rodeo than bareback rider Jess Pope. He’s won the last three NFR average titles and is the reigning world champion, and he’s done it with a steady run of success since he first qualified in 2020. There’s more proof, though: In his fourth trip to ProRodeo’s grand finale, Pope has ridden seven broncs for a cumulative score of 593 points and shares the aggregate lead with Coloradoan Keenan Hayes with three nights remaining on the season. He continued his dominance inside the Thomas & Mack Center with an 84.5-point ride on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Wilson Sanchez to finish fifth in Wednesday’s seventh go-round. That was worth nearly $8,000 and pushed his Las Vegas earnings to $77,851. He is eighth in the world standings with $204,899. “This is the third time I’ve been on that horse at the NFR,” said Pope of Waverly, Kansas. “I got on it my first year in 2020 and again in the second round last year. I’ve pulled a check every time. It’s a pretty solid horse to have in this pen. No, it’s not a go-round win, but it keeps a guy solid in the average.” There are 100 bareback horses at the NFR, all selected by the cowboys that ride them in Las Vegas. They are separated into five groups, and each one has a few horses that stand out. Pope knew his match-up probably wouldn’t earn him the round title, but maintaining a solid performance is key; earning money at the finale is always nice no matter the size of the payment. “It seems like I’ve drawn a lot of horses that are middle of the pen all year,” he said. “It got me here, and it’s still winning me money. I would sure love to get some horses that you can win a round on, but my time will come. Everything happens for a reason. God’s plan is what it is, and He is preparing me for something bigger than what I’m thinking there’s going to be.” Seeing the bigger picture is important, though it’s difficult at times. A week ago, an armed man invaded one of the buildings on the UNLV campus and shot four people; three died. It was just a few buildings away from the Thomas & Mack Center. Officials opted to delay the start of the NFR and add a special morning performance that took place Wednesday. That meant the contestants competed twice on the same day. While their hearts go out to the families that lost loved ones, the contestants were appreciative of the opportunity to still compete for 10 rounds. “The locker room is good,” Pope said Wednesday. “We had our ‘slack’ for the first time ever at the NFR this morning, and it was a lot of fun. This is probably the funnest day in the locker room that I’ve ever had with two performances in one day. “I’m feeling really good. I’m sure there are some guys that are sore right now, but I do my preparation for a reason coming in here, and I’m ready for 10 more bucking horses.” He’ll settle for three and await the close of this year’s championship while hoping to continue his hot streak in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – It’s not often that a cowboy can say they got on three elite bucking horses in one day. Tanner Aus can. His first came Wednesday morning during the sixth round of the National Finals Rodeo. His initial mount didn’t have a good day, so he was offered a re-ride so he had a chance to win money at the world’s richest rodeo. He did that and more, riding Flying U Rodeo’s Little Red Hawk, becoming the last cowboy to spur the legendary horse before she was retired. He shared the go-round win with an 87-point ride, matching the score with Idahoan Jacob Lees. His third was Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Uncapped, which helped him to a fourth-place finish in the seventh round during the nightcap. He was 86.5 points, worth $12,877. All told, he collected more than $40,000. That’s a significant day’s work. “I had some awesome draws; you can’t say very often that you get on three NFR horses in a day,” said Aus of Granite Falls, Minnesota. “What a blessing, but at the end of the day, that’s what we need to keep making this life work. I’m just thankful to have success and stand out here.” He’s placed in three rounds and has earned more than $60,000 during a week in the Nevada desert. He has pushed his season earnings to $180,661 and is 11th in the world standings. Having a chance to test his skills on the powerful Pickett horse was just a bonus. “That horse is awesome,” he said. “It’s been a few years since I got on him, but he’s big in stature, so your rigging fits on him just perfect. He’s just muscle, but he’s also long and lanky at the same time. He’s flashy. You don’t have to do very much to look impressive. “He’s not easy. He’s a strong horse but good to have, especially when you look at this pen of bucking horses. These guys are so good that it’s hard to differentiate between the scores.” Because of his round win in the morning, he was able to celebrate with his family during the Montana Silversmiths Go-Round Buckle Presentation at the South Point. “There’s nothing better than having them out here with me,” Aus said. “The support and focus they bring me while I’m here … I can’t imagine trying to do this with them.” The NFR features only the best contestants from the regular season. Only the top 15 on the money list in each event advance to ProRodeo’s grand finale, so the competition inside the Thomas & Mack Center is loaded in talent.   “It was all stacked here with really impressive rides,” he said. “You can’t tell me these guys aren’t prepared or belong here, because it’s just so tough here. He has three more nights to cash in on this business trip to Sin City. The first step is Thursday’s eliminator pen, the hardest-to-ride group of horses at the NFR. He’ll be matched with Rosser Rodeo’s South Point Kate, a mare that has had just a handful of qualified rides the last two years. No matter the horse he has, Aus expects to take care of business. “The game plan doesn’t change,” Aus said. “You want to look down the pipe (the horse’s mane and neck), set your feet and give it all you can.” It’s working in Las Vegas.  

Fundraising event to give portion to Montero Foundation LAS VEGAS – Rodeo is not only wildly fascinating and action-packed; it’s driven by passion. Cowboys play the game because of the rush they get and the people they meet. Bareback riders are the warriors, the men who wedge their specially designed gloves into a rigging that is strapped tightly to a bucking horse that issues pain on every jump and kick. The men band together like a fraternity of sorts. They share a kindred spirit and a dream of winning rodeo’s most cherished trophy, a Montana Silversmiths gold buckle. Whether they’re from California or Quebec, they have a bond, one they enjoy together at rodeos across North America. They’re not just old friends; they’re part of a unique family of athletes. Trenten Montero was a big part of that mix and shared that spirit with many others since he first set out in ProRodeo 11 seasons ago. Well-liked and gifted by God to do something he loved, Montero’s “goofy” nature was infectious. He died in August from injuries he suffered when a horse fell after a bareback ride, then rolled onto the cowboy. He was 31. Fellow bareback rider Mason Clements and others came up with the idea of the Trenten Montero Foundation, which was founded to assist cowboys and their families that are affected by career-ending injuries or death. Money raised will be put toward families’ necessities at a time when they may be devastated with the situations that can come up. The Cowboy Entrepreneur Foundation is conducting a fundraising at 7 p.m. Friday at the Westgate in Las Vegas in conjunction with the National Finals Rodeo. Money raised during its “Straight From The Horse’s Mouth” singer/songwriter showcase will be divided among three charities: Trenten Montero Foundation, Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund and the Working Ranch Cowboy Association Crisis Fund. “This is going to be a great event to help with funding for these groups, and we are thankful to be part of it,” said Clements, a four-time NFR qualifier from Spanish Fork, Utah. “All three of these foundations are pretty awesome. “There are some pretty cool auction items that will be part of it. NFR average champions and world champions will be putting their chaps, their boots, their vests. Wyatt and Reagan Bloom have donated trips to Hawaii. Those shirts that all the bareback riders wore on Memorial Night to honor Trenten are going to get cleaned, and everyone’s going to sign them, and they’re going to up there. There are a handful of steer wrestlers that will sign their blue shirts and have them in the auction.” The Trenten Montero Foundation has also enlisted in a QR code to help direct potential donors to its portal. All funds will be put toward the families that need them. “I’ve got people asking me all the time where they can donate,” Clements said. “It’s their NFR chaps. It’s their NFR riggings. (Fellow bareback rider) Caleb Bennett is going to give one of his jackets, and we’re all going to sign that. “That’s what rodeo is about, and how much we support each other. It’s going to great causes, and it’s going to be a heck of an event.”

LAS VEGAS – It doesn’t take long to turn everything around when things go right at the National Finals Rodeo. Tanner Aus has been in this situation before. He’d placed only once heading into Wednesday morning’s special performance, but he changed his perception on his week with an 87-point ride on Flying U Rodeo’s Little Red Hawk to share the sixth-round victory. To top it off, Little Red Hawk was his second of the morning; his first didn’t have a good day, so he made the most of his re-ride. “That first horse (Four Star Rodeo’s Rand The Man) is a great horse, but it didn’t have the trip it usually does for whatever reason,” said Aus of Granite Falls, Minnesota. “I was very thankful for the opportunity for another one, and I was going to take it no matter what it was. When I saw it was Little Red Hawk, I was pretty excited. “That’s a horse I’ve been on a few times, and I’ve been anywhere from 85 to 90 points on it. I knew it was a shot, and luckily I’ve got good friends. I went to strap on my rigging, and by the time I had my glove on, Tim O’Connell had my rigging pulled, so that was awesome. It was an awesome morning.” For sharing the round win, Aus collected $27.487 and pushed his NFR earnings to nearly $50,000. He is 12th in the world standings with $167,785. He’d hoped to cash in more than twice so far, but he’ll take all he can get. He doesn’t allow missed opportunities affect how he handles his business. “For me, it’s just getting back to the room with the family and recharging,” Aus said. “It’s easy to get discouraged here because the go-rounds happen to be back to back, but if you get stressed or if you get down on your luck and get in your head about it, it’s not going to help you at all. “You’ve got to always think about that 10th round no matter how the nine days before that goes. It’s a $100,000-added rodeo every day, and you’ve got a chance at $30,000 if you show up and do your job.” The morning performance is unprecedented a the NFR; the opening show was cancelled after the shooting on the UNLV campus last week, so in order to still conduct 10 rounds, organizers made plans for the special edition that featured only a few thousand fans – mostly friends and family members of the contestants – and was not open to the public. “I’m thankful the NFR continues to be at 10 rounds even with the tragedy that took place and the first round being canceled,” he said. “I think it’s the best-case scenario for the contestants, and I’m thankful to be part of something that’s never happened before, but the atmosphere this morning was unreal. It’s maybe a little bit less lights, a little less pyro, but it seems like the focus is so much more on what happens on the dirt.” He will get on his seventh horse Wednesday night and battle for the big bucks again. There are four more chances to earn more Las Vegas money. “Winning at the finals is what it’s all about,” Aus said. “Standing out in a pen that has guys that are here, that’s makes me feel rank, and that just has to do with my peers showing up ready to ride and having it be as tough as it’s ever been.”

LAS VEGAS – When the official secretary posted the draw for Tuesday’s fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo, J.D. Struxness knew he had a big opportunity. He capitalized on it, posting the fastest steer wrestling run of this year’s championship by stopping the clock in 3.3 seconds to win $30,706 and earn another Montana Silversmiths go-round buckle. “We saw these steers in the second round, so we knew that the steer was pretty good,” Struxness said, noting that he visited with his hazer, NFR veteran Matt Reeves, about the draw. “We really liked him, and we talked about our game plan, then we executed it about perfect tonight.” It has to be that way to be just three-tenths of a second off the arena record, which was posted by Steve Duhon in 1986 and Bryan Fields in 2001. “That’s the best run I’ve made this week,” he said. “We knew we had a good steer, and we needed to hit the barrier and just rock down and get the nose hard. It seems so simple, but it’s hard sometimes. We got it done tonight.” He has executed well through the first five rounds. He’s placed four rounds, and in the one round he didn’t, a broken barrier for not giving the steer its appropriate head start negated a round-winning run. He has earned $88,747 since arriving in the Nevada desert and is now second in the world standings with $211,144. Struxness attended Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri, then transferred to Northwestern Oklahoma State University, where he won the intercollegiate championship in 2016. A month later, he won the prestigious Cheyenne (Wyoming) Frontier Days title, and that helped catapult him to his first NFR While in Las Vegas that December, he won at least a share of four go-rounds and finished fourth in the world standings. He returned the next year, then came back in 2019 and 2022. His last buckle was from the fourth round in 2017. “It’s been a while since I won a go-round here,” said Struxness, a five-time NFR qualifier from Milan, Minnesota. “My mindset has changed a little bit. With having my girls, it became about making sure we make money out here, so you can’t cut loose as much as those first two years. “That was a little different for a while. That’s how life goes; you work through it all. We got back and got with the people we need to be with this year and got ourselves ready and prepared. We’re back firing and back ready to go again.”

LAS VEGAS – When the best broncs in the world are featured at the National Finals Rodeo, everyone expects big moments and even bigger scores. Saddle bronc rider Wyatt Casper was in the mix, riding Calgary Stampede’s Xena Warrior for 87.5 points to finish in a tie for fourth place in Tuesday’s fifth round. That was worth $10,401 and provided the kind of boost he needed. “Honestly, I was surprised for that score to even get a check,” said Casper of Miami, Texas. “These TV pens that we put together are always pretty jam up. It was a lot of fun.” Reigning world champion Zeke Thurston won the round with a 91-point ride; there also were rides of 89.5 and 88.5 to better Casper. Still, it’s a solid score for a cowboy who is hoping to keep scratching toward the pay window. “It’s always nice whenever you can draw a Calgary horse in any round,” he said. “I know quite a bit about Xena. I got on him in Arlington (Texas) and won a round on him, so I’ve had a little bit of good history with him. I was pretty excited.” His previous ride on the Canadian horse came in the ninth round of the 2020 NFR, when the event took place at Globe Life Field because of COVID restrictions. They were 88 points three years ago, so the tandem remains consistent in how well they perform together. So far, he’s placed just one other time, finishing sixth in Sunday’s third round. “This week’s been good, but it’s been tough,” Casper said. “I’ve been having to learn a little patience. I’ve been trying to make something happen, and it doesn’t always work out. You just try not to let it go to your head and just keep doing your job.” His job is riding bucking horses, and he’s pretty good at it. The 2016 intercollegiate champion while at Clarendon (Texas) College has qualified for four straight NFRs. “My mental game is pretty good,” he said. “I lack it sometimes; I was getting pretty irritated the first four rounds, and I’ve just had to keep reminding myself that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. I just need to be patient, and one will run under me that’s going to buck and give me a chance. “I feel like I’m riding good. In fact. I feel like I’m riding better this year than I probably have at the last two finals. I’m still happy. I feel like I’m still in a good place. It just hasn’t happened, and some stuff you can’t make happen, especially in bronc riding. “There’s been two horses that I’ve had to bear down on, the second round and the fourth round. I felt really good on the other two. It’s just finding rhythm and drawing the right horses. That’s a big part of it.”

LAS VEGAS – When a bolt of lightning fires, it can send shockwaves. Reigning world champion bareback rider Jess Pope got to experience that with Macza Pro Rodeo’s Stevie Knicks. The dark sorrel mare provided enough electricity to help produce an 88.5-point ride and push Pope to a third-place finish in Tuesday’s fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo. “She’s been around forever, and I’ve wanted to get on her so many times,” said Pope, 25, of Waverly, Kansas. “You can be the most amount of points on Stevie Knicks. I’ve been next to her name – (one spot from being matched via random draw) – four times, and it finally landed on mine this time. It was everything that I dreamed it would be.” The fifth and 10th rounds feature the top bucking horses and the bulls in the game. Each grouping is called the TV pen, which dates back to a time when only the final round was aired on national broadcasts. “It was a really tough bareback riding,” said Pope, who was bested by Oklahoman Jayco Roper and Californian Clayton Biglow, who shared the top spot with 89.5-point scores. “That’s our TV pen, and there are the best horses in the world in that pen. We put 20 of those together, and they are the highest-marked horses all year. “Stevie Knicks feels like a stick of dynamite going off underneath you. I’ve been on maybe one other horse my whole life that felt like her. She’s small and compact with the way she hits the ground and gets up in the air and uses her whole body. She extends her feet to kick and to move. It’s just a different feeling. She’s an amazing athlete. She’s a small horse that bucks like a big one.” He has placed in four of five rounds so far and has earned just shy of $70,000 since arriving in Las Vegas. It was the third time he’s placed third, which is worth $18,325. He has moved up four spots to sixth in the world standings with $196,975. The only round in which Pope hasn’t place came Monday. He was 81 points on Championship Rodeo’s Vegas Confused, and the bottom spot in the payout was 2.5 points higher. “They were second on that horse in the ninth round last year,” he said. “Just like people, everyone can have an off day, and she had an off day. There’s still a lot of money to be won out here. I’m very confident in my riding. I feel really good, and I feel strong. “I’ve got a new trainer, (fellow bareback rider) Caleb Bennett. He’s been training me for just under a year. I had asked him for a lot of advice throughout the last year, and I decided I was going to put my faith into him to be able to make sure I was in tip-top shape; he’s done an excellent job.” It’s paying off. The three-time NFR average champion is in position to repeat. He is fourth in the aggregate standings, just five points behind leader Mason Clements of Utah. Making rides like he did Tuesday can be beneficial by the time the curtain falls Saturday night. “That horse is very steep,” Pope said. “There were three or four jumps in the middle of the arena that I was tucking my chin, looking down at the ground rather than getting to see her head because she was breaking over her front end so hard that it really wants to throw you over the front. I was able to bear down and get through it.”

LAS VEGAS – On his way to Las Vegas a week ago, Leighton Berry started showing flu-like symptoms. By the time he arrived, his fever was high. Body aches and other nastiness came. He still wasn’t feeling well when the first round began Friday night. He wasn’t much better Saturday, Still, he placed in both rounds. He started feeling like himself Sunday, just in time for the eliminator pen of bareback horses. “We got about six or seven hours into our 18-hour drive – I can usually drive all day and all night, and when you’re driving to the bright lights of Las Vegas, you’re just wanting to get there,” said Berry, 24, a four-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Weatherford, Texas. “It’s just me and my lady, and I usually don’t have her drive too much. “I ended up noticing I was running a fever, so she drove more than normal. We got out to Vegas, and I instantly just started trying to pump medicine in me.” His health and his mentality are even better after posting an 87.5-point ride on Frontier Rodeo’s Painted Smoke to win Monday’s fourth go-round. That was worth $30,706. All told, he’s earned just shy of $50,000 during the first four nights in Las Vegas. That’s pushed his season earnings to $206,751, and he sits third in the world standings. “It’s awesome to get a go-round win here,” Berry said. “It really boosts your confidence moving onto the next round, especially when you’ve got the ones you dream about coming up the next day. We’re fixing to get on a lot of horses in the next five days.” That’s true. Because the opening round was delayed a day after the shooting on the UNLV campus last week, the sixth go-round will take place Wednesday morning; the seventh round will occur at its normal time that night. That means all contestants in the field will compete twice that day. “We’ve got our hands full, so to get some momentum rolling before all that and before the TV pen (Tuesday) helps me feel like I’m on top of the world. I’ve finally got some strength in my body and a clear mind and a full heart,” Berry said. “In the E pen, I finally had some strength, but I didn’t quite have the dancing partner I wanted. “Tonight, I was feeling normal, feeling like I had the dancing partner that I would pick a million times over.”    Painted Smoke is a powerful palomino paint from Frontier, the Oklahoma-based firm that is the eight-time and reigning PRCA Stock Contractor of the Year. “That horse gave me everything I expected and more,” he said. “Just watching that horse, I know he leaves the box hard, and I know he kicks hard for 10 seconds. You don’t have to worry about that horse weakening. When you come to the NFR and you get the One-Pen horses (the easiest-to-ride broncs at the NFR), you’re looking for that horse that’s going to start and finish strong. “When I had my name next to the paint horse, I just knew I was damn sure going to have a chance, and I knew I just needed to keep my chin down and set my feet and do my job. When things are on your side, they’re on your side, so we’re just going to keep that momentum rolling.”