Driggers reaps rodeo rewards
Lifetime of lessons helped build team roper into a world champ Pressure makes a steam engine work; as the pressure builds, the engine goes in motion and creates a force that drives the machine’s purpose. Over 13 years, the pressure continued to build in team roping header Kaleb Driggers. From his first run in 2009 […]
Devers proves his toughness
A torn pectoral sidelined bulldogger, but not before he made a statement Cody Devers walked in to the Thomas & Mack Center in late November, he felt that adrenaline rush that every first-timer experiences when he arrives in Las Vegas for the National Finals Rodeo. He’d done everything he could to prepare for his moment […]
Champion ends NFR with big money
LAS VEGAS – When the 2021 ProRodeo season came to a close with the 10th round of the National Finals Rodeo on Saturday night, Richmond Champion bowed his head a bit. He realized that placing in just three rounds wasn’t what he expected at this year’s NFR, the sport’s championship event that has a purse […]
Franks hits the jackpot in Vegas
LAS VEGAS – Cole Franks is pretty reserved on a daily basis. He doesn’t have a lot to say, but even the news he learned at the National Finals Rodeo left him virtually speechless. “Wow,” he said after learning that he finished his rookie season with $227,422 in earnings. “That’s crazy.” He sat stunned after […]
Pope ends NFR with big money
LAS VEGAS – For the second straight year, Jess Pope has been crowned the average champion at the National Finals Rodeo. It’s quite a feat. He scored 873 cumulative points on 10 rides, which is a difficult task in any event, even harder in bareback riding, which takes a toll on one’s body every jump. […]
Shadbolt cashes in big in Vegas
LAS VEGAS – Garrett Shadbolt was the odd man out during the bareback riding at the National Finals Rodeo. He placed five times, all in Rounds 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. “Every other round, I’d win a check, then I’d win nothing, then win a check, then nothing,” said Shadbolt, 25, of Merriman, Nebraska. […]
Jarrett wraps up NFR with check
LAS VEGAS – If he could go back in time, tie-down roper Ryan Jarrett would love to have figured things out at the National Finals Rodeo a little sooner. He started off hot, finishing third in the opening round to collect more than $16,000. Then things went cold. He wasn’t getting a good start out […]
Proctor ends NFR with a bang
LAS VEGAS – Coleman Proctor had a message for his supporters after closing out his seventh qualification to the National Finals Rodeo. “Enjoy not being stressed on this 10th round, because it’s not going to be that way next year,” he said, pointing to his goal of being in the world-championship hunt for 2022. “This […]
Proctor, Medlin share Round 9 win
LAS VEGAS – Coleman Proctor has a way of finding the bright spots on cloudy days. His attitude toward his job as one of the elite headers in ProRodeo has served him well, and it was magnified over the first nine nights of this National Finals Rodeo. He and his heeler, New Mexican Logan Medlin, […]
Franks has come a long way in ’21
LAS VEGAS – The winter and early spring were a bit dry for bareback rider Cole Franks. As a PRCA rookie, he was trying to make a name for himself but wasn’t having much luck. He had entered the rodeo in his birth home in Guymon, Oklahoma, but he didn’t get to ride because he […]
Larsen stays on his Vegas roll
LAS VEGAS – Most Canadians celebrated their special night at the National Finals Rodeo on Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center. Bareback rider Orin Larsen, a seven-time NFR qualifier from Inglis, Manitoba, opted to wait 24 hours. He rode Calgary Stampede’s Arbitrator Joe for 85 points to finish fifth in Friday’s ninth go-round, pocketing […]
Jarrett finally in NFR comfort zone
LAS VEGAS – Ryan Jarrett is feeling a little more comfortable in the saddle. He started off this year’s National Finals Rodeo in fine fashion, placing third in the opening round. Then things went downhill after that. He failed to catch a check for six nights before returning to the pay window on Night 8. […]
O’Connell remains positive at NFR
LAS VEGAS – With one night remaining in the 2021 ProRodeo season, Tim O’Connell has a realistic look at his run through the first nine nights of the National Finals Rodeo. “It hasn’t been that tough, but it hasn’t been that good,” said O’Connell, a three-time world champion from Zwingle, Iowa. “At my first NFR […]
Biglow finds fun in Round 9 ride
LAS VEGAS – The pressure to win at the National Finals Rodeo is intense, and a field of the 15 best bareback riders doesn’t make it easy on any bronc buster, even if he owns a world championship. Clayton Biglow can testify to that. He’s struggled at his sixth straight NFR, and he’s not afraid […]
Smith hired to coach at Clarendon
CLARENDON, Texas – Wyatt Smith has always been an athlete and a winner, and he’s taking that characteristic with him to his new post as the women’s rodeo coach at Clarendon College, where he also will be an assistant for the men’s program. Smith won national titles at the high school and college levels, and […]
Larsen proves to be late bloomer
LAS VEGAS – Orin Larsen virtually blanked in the opening half of the National Finals Rodeo, earning only the $10,000 bonus for qualifying that every contestant gets. He’s made up for it in the two nights since the second half has started. He’s collected $31,351, most of which came with his win in Round 6. […]
Biglow rides for money on Night 7
LAS VEGAS – Clayton Biglow doesn’t have to worry about his place in ProRodeo history. At just 25 years old, he’s a six-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier. He’s not had the run in Las Vegas that he’d like, but he keeps plugging along. That, in an essence, might be the definition of a cowboy. Sometimes […]
Toddler gives Jarrett NFR relief
LAS VEGAS – In a couple of months Jurnee Jarrett will turn 3 years old, but she wants everyone to know she can do big-girl stuff. The biggest thing she’s doing in Sin City this week is keep her daddy, tie-down roper Ryan Jarrett, content through each day as he prepares to compete at his […]
Shadbolt barely makes 8 to cash
LAS VEGAS – For eight seconds of Garrett Shadbolt’s bareback ride on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s San Angelo Sam, everything went great. At 8.1 seconds, all hell broke loose. He spurred over the paint horse’s neck, got tossed away from his riding hand, which oftentimes results in a nasty hang-up, and crashed to the ground. […]
Franks scores another big ride
LAS VEGAS – With every ride he makes, Cole Franks is becoming more of a bareback riding veteran. He takes the good with the bad, which is what happens in rodeo. He found a lot of good with an 87-point ride on Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Anything Goes to finish a close second in Thursday’s […]
Larsen takes pride in rank rides
LAS VEGAS – In his 12 years riding bareback horses in the PRCA, Orin Larsen is known for riding rank broncs. He proved it Thursday with an 84.5-point ride on Stace Smith Pro Rodeo’s Mr. Harry to finish fourth in the eighth go-round. That was worth $11,321 and proved that when the Canadian cowboy gains […]
Casper earns 4th NFR payday
LAS VEGAS – Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Cimarron Jack has been a winner over the years. The big bay has helped cowboys win rounds at the National Finals Rodeo before. That didn’t happen with Wyatt Casper during Thursday’s eighth round, but it worked well enough for the Texas cowboy. He and Cimarron Jack matched moves […]
Pope scores his 7th NFR check
LAS VEGAS – Jess Pope had to get on two of the hardest-to-ride horses in the PRCA during Thursday’s eighth round. His first, C5 Rodeo’s Black Eye, didn’t perform up to its typical style, so Pope was awarded a re-ride on Five Star Rodeo’s Deep Springs. The big gray also didn’t have a great trip, […]
Pope collects his 3rd round title
LAS VEGAS – Not everyone clocks in to work the way Jess Pope does. Most blue-collar workers punch a time clock, labor for eight hours and collect a paycheck at the end of the week. Pope rides bucking horses, and he takes his job seriously. He’s competing this week at the National Finals Rodeo as […]