Struxness hits big on NFR Night 2
LAS VEGAS – While he gets all the glory when things go right and takes the blame when they don’t, J.D. Struxness isn’t competing alone this week. He has a large team that supports him, but also he has a handful to help him, including Ty Erickson, who owns Crush, the horse Struxness is riding, […]
Pope gets off to quick start at NFR
LAS VEGAS – The Thomas & Mack Center can be an intimidating place. Those yellow bucking chutes hold thousands of stories that explain rodeo’s history. It’s been a lot like home for Jess Pope, the defending world champion bareback rider from Waverly, Kansas. He’s won the National Finals Rodeo average title at all three of […]
Champion returns to NFR in style
LAS VEGAS – When Richmond Champion arrived the Nevada desert to compete at his eighth National Finals Rodeo, he just wanted to keep climbing. He snuck his way into the top 15 in order to compete at the 10-round championship and wants to make a statement about his place among the elite bareback riders in […]
Program offers competitive edge
Cinch teams with Rodeo Performance Network to help NFR athletes Injuries are just part of any athletic endeavor, whether it’s football or the sport of rodeo. The Rodeo Performance Network has been built to try to stop that pain before it happens. It’s a matter of building the body in intricate ways to help athletes […]
Struxness breaks the ice at NFR
LAS VEGAS – For steer wrestlers at the National Finals Rodeo, it’s all about the start. In order to post fast times, they need to time the beginning of their runs in conjunction with the steer leaving the chute. The better the timing, the better the run. In Las Vegas, it also is important to […]
NFR to begin Friday
Canceled first-round performance will be made up next Wednesday morning While Thursday’s performance of the National Finals Rodeo was canceled because of the shooting that took place on the UNLV campus, the show will go on. The PRCA and Las Vegas Events boards met Thursday morning to hammer out the details, which are: The first […]
Champs are ready to repeat
12 Cinch contestants would love to add more gold to their resumes The National Finals Rodeo and National Finals Breakaway Roping are not just the grand championships for the sport; they also are host this year’s greatest ProRodeo stars, who will play the game at the highest level. There are a dozen Cinch-endorsed cowboys and […]
Fair signs Carr for four more years
HEMPSTEAD, Texas – When the right ingredients are packaged correctly, big things happen. That’s been the case for the Waller County Fair and Rodeo since it teamed with Dallas-based stock contractor Pete Carr to produce its annual ProRodeo. It’s a formula that will continue; the Waller County Fair Board has voted to extend its contract […]
NFR rookies are ready for Vegas
Cinch has seven newcomers eager to show off talents in Sin City The 2023 National Finals Rodeo will again have an international flavor. Rodeo isn’t just America’s game; it’s been established on a worldwide stage. This year’s grand championship will feature a hefty dose of Americans, but there are also contestants from Canada, Australia and […]
Roping cowgirls earning breaks
Cinch endorsees make up more than a third of breakaway-roping field The top dogs in any sport always wear the biggest targets. In breakaway roping, Cinch cowgirls Shelby Boisjoli and Martha Angelone have everyone else’s sights set directly at them. Both have qualified for every National Finals Breakaway Roping since the event was established in […]
Devers heading to NFR healthy
PERRYTON, Texas – During his first qualification to the National Finals Rodeo, steer wrestler Cody Devers was just trying to hold everything together. He’d suffered a partially torn pectoral ligament in his right shoulder a month before the finale in Las Vegas. He was excited to finally play on ProRodeo’s biggest stage, and he wasn’t […]
Pope to defend titles in Vegas
WAVERLY, Kan. – There are times the belt that holds a gold buckle can get tight and suffocating. It’s happened to the greatest of athletes. Jess Pope experienced it early this year. It was less like a trophy and more like a noose. The pressure that comes with being the reigning world champion can be […]
Struxness is hunting rodeo gold
MILAN, Minn. – Some folks just get by with a little help from their friends. Professional rodeo cowboys thrive in those situations. Steer wrestler J.D. Struxness is a prime example. He had a goal of making it back to the National Finals Rodeo on his horse, Izzy, an 11-year-old sorrel mare. Things were going well, […]
Anderson ready to run in Vegas
CARRINGTON, N.D. – It’s crazy how things work out. Take Bridger Anderson as an example. He had competed all year and was inching closer to a second National Finals Rodeo qualification. In order to secure that bid, he had hoped to compete at the Cinch Playoff Series Championship, which featured the top 12 contestants from […]
Another busy NFR awaits Proctor
PRYOR, Okla. – Trying to find one word to describe Coleman Proctor is a bit perplexing. He’s a husband, a father, a cowboy, a partner, a broadcaster and a podcaster. He’s also one of the greatest team roping headers of his generation, proven through multiple qualifications to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and his six […]
O’Connell is riding high into NFR
ZWINGLE, Iowa – In the fall of 2014, Tim O’Connell was a 23-year-old cowboy about to embark on the trip of a lifetime. He had qualified for the National Finals Rodeo for the first time and had a limited idea of what to expect when he arrived in Las Vegas that December. He’d never felt […]
Larsen in world-title contention
INGLIS, Manitoba. – Winning a world championship is never easy. In rodeo, it takes amazing athletic feats and a little bit of luck. Orin Larsen has been close to claiming that Montana Silversmiths gold buckle. In 2019, he finished just behind titlist Clayton Biglow. Three years prior to that, he was third in the final […]
Family helps Aus to another NFR
GRANITE FALLS, Minn. – Some veteran athletes utilize tricks of the trade to excel. Tanner Aus has that in his back pocket should he ever need it. Now 33 years old, he’s the oldest bareback rider heading to this year’s National Finals Rodeo. It’s the eighth time in nine years that he’s finished the regular […]
Winnsboro to host free riding school
WINNSBORO, La. – Some of the greatest bronc busters in Louisiana history are giving back to the next generation of superstars. Led by brothers Cody and Heith DeMoss of Heflin, a free bareback riding and saddle bronc riding school will take place Dec. 27-29 at the Franklin Parish Activity Center in Winnsboro. The clinic has […]
Thompson ready for NFR fight
ALTAMONT, Utah – Dean Thompson isn’t an ordinary first-year rodeo cowboy. He entered 2023 with a boatload of confidence, a swagger he carried through the season while also building upon it. Now, he’s heading to ProRodeo’s grand championship, the National Finals Rodeo, which takes place Dec. 7-16 in Las Vegas. “After having such a great […]
Culling in search of rodeo gold
FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – Growing up in northern British Columbia, Stephen Culling didn’t have the typical childhood of a rodeo cowboy. “My parents are both wildlife biologists,” said Culling, 29, a professional steer wrestler for Fort St. John who has qualified for the National Finals Rodeo for the first time. “We had some pretty […]
Champion takes baby steps to NFR
STEVENSVILLE, Mont. – In the last 10 years, bareback rider Richmond Champion has missed the National Finals Rodeo just twice; ailments had kept him out of action both times. Coming off an injury that forced him to the sidelines in 2022, he rebounded strong. He returned to the game in late-December, then battled through this […]
Casper battles back to Las Vegas
MIAMI, Texas – Always confident in competition, Wyatt Casper doesn’t deny the shimmers of doubts that crossed his mind a few months ago. A nagging injury – a torn right hamstring – haunted him again July 4. He’d just gone through the same pain a year earlier but tried to come back too soon and […]
Berry building on a family legacy
WEATHERFORD, Texas – In some ways, Leighton Berry was destined to be one of the world’s greatest bareback riders. He is a second-generation bronc buster. Twenty years ago, his father, Kirby, was wrapping up a pretty steady career. Now, Kirby Berry is busy watching both Leighton and younger brother Kade spur bucking horses across the […]