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Cole Franks rides J-Bar-J’s Fringe Jacket for 87.25 points to finish in a tie for fifth place during Monday’s fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo. (PRCA PHOTO BY KATHRYN COLEMAN)   LAS VEGAS – Six years ago, Cole Franks was 18 years old with an eye for bucking horses. Fringe Jacket was 3 and had already drawn praise as one of the rising stars of bucking horses. He comes great genetics. His sire is Lunatic Fringe, which has produced many top bucking offspring. One of the most legendary stallions is Night Jacket, which sired Big Valley, Fringe Jacket’s mom. J-Bar-J’s Fringe Jacket is now 9 years old and is recognized as one of the top bucking horses in the business. “Guy French raised him,” Franks said of the Texas man, whose son rides bareback horses in the PRCA. “I’ve seen that horse when it was a colt they bucked under a dummy. Keenan Hayes (the 2023 world champion) got on it twice one week at the Junior NFR in like 2019, and I saw it then. Every time I’ve seen that horse, I wanted to get on that horse.” He got his chance and made it work. He rode the athletic bay for 87.25 points to finish in a tie for sixth place during Monday’s fifth round of bareback riding at the National Finals Rodeo. That was worth $7,688 and added a little more to Franks’ pocketbook. He has cleared $19,660 in five nights, but half that came with the $10,000 bonus all contestants receive when they qualify for ProRodeo’s premier event. It was also the second straight night in which Franks has placed after being shut out of the pay window after the opening three rounds. “That round money is not bad,” said Franks, 24, of Clarendon, Texas. “Compared to the first three days, it’s good. Something’s better than nothing. My confidence is where it needs to be. I’m doing my job.” When the business is riding bucking horses, it’s good to be in Las Vegas. There are a lot of rodeos in which Franks competes that a $7,700 paycheck would mean winning the rodeo; at the NFR, it’s because he finished just above the pay line. This is the place he wants to be in December, and he’s missed the finale just once since he was the 2021 Rookie of the Year. That came in 2023, when he finished 17th. He’s never seen a season where he wasn’t in the top 20, and he’s finished among the top 6 in each of his four appearances to the NFR. “I’m a little worried, but that’s because at this point of the NFR, I’m used to having a lot more won, and I’m sitting a lot better,” said Franks, who is seventh in the world standings with $220,022. “At the same time, I came in a lot higher this year than I ever have. I’m sitting about the exact spot I always have about this time, but I just haven’t made much money yet this week.” The 10-round marathon has reached its halfway point. In five days, world champions will be crowned, and over that stretch, go-round winners will collect nearly $37,000 a night. The opportunities are there for the taking. “It’s a restart (Tuesday),” he said. “I’m looking at it as two five-round rodeos. This rodeo is over, and tomorrow is a new rodeo.”

With veteran Matt Reeves hazing on trusty Kirk, left, J.D. Struxness placed again with a 4.0-second run during Monday’s fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo. (PRCA PHOTO BY KATHRYN COLEMAN)   LAS VEGAS – The National Finals Rodeo arena inside the Thomas & Mack Center is tiny. It’s dimensions pale to most complexes. Think basketball court or hockey rink, then add dirt. Timed-event cowboys know they need to be fast if they want to make money at ProRodeo’s premier championship. Steer wrestler J.D. Struxness is now in Las Vegas for the seventh time in his career. The 31-year-old is a veteran, not only of the game but of playing on the sport’s biggest stage. A year ago, he took advantage of that and battled his way to a world championship. He’s well on his way again. Struxness stopped the clock in 4.0 seconds to finish fourth in Monday’s fifth round, cashing in to the tune of $15,377. Over the first half of the 10-day championship, he has a cumulative time of 30.5 seconds – with a third of that coming from a 10-second penalty in Round 4 for not allowing the steer an appropriate head start – and still sits third in the average race. “We made a change to Kirk on the hazing side,” he said of the sorrel gelding, owned by Savannah Reeves and ridden by her husband, veteran hazer Matt Reeves. “My horse, Jenny, was getting a little sore, and with it being her first time here, we didn’t want to ruin her confidence for this building, because she has a lot of years left. “He’s only 6. She had a decent experience here, and we didn’t want to let that little injury affect her. So, we switched over to Kirk, the old trusty. We had a plan to have old trusty here in case we needed him.” Kirk will likely get the call the rest of the week. Struxness has earned $62,833 in five nights, and half the rodeo remains. He is just a half-second behind second place in the aggregate, and there’s momentum on which to build. “(Sunday) night was just a little mishap,” he said. “We didn’t do anything wrong; we just got unlucky. We were right on the barrier and just on the wrong side of great. (On Monday), we blew the barrier out and were able to place again. We left just a little bit cleaner, and that was the difference between great and a broken barrier.” Jenny isn’t the only young horse in the mix at Las Vegas. Struxness’ bulldogging mount, Ice, is 7, but the athletic gray gelding has been on top of his game. “It’s fun, because it’s getting pretty easy to get that start on him now, and he has his confidence up. He’s really running through there now, so we’re looking forward to the next five rounds.” A key ingredient is taking care of the animals. All athletes need to be in top form to compete at a championship event, and that includes the equines. “We feed him Unbeetable Feeds, which is a great company based out of Minnesota,” said Struxness of Milan, Minnesota. “It’s been an awesome partnership for me, and we’ve been really happy with their feeds. They are doing things left and right to keep up their game and upgrading their feeds, putting science behind it and getting it out there. They’re getting to see real results now.” So is Struxness, who has increased his season earnings to $201,505; he is fifth in the world standings. With go-rounds paying nearly $37,000, he has plenty of opportunity left to cash in big. Placing in the aggregate would be nice, too. If he remains third, he will add another $60,000 to his coffers Saturday night; If he moves up a spot, it’s a $16,000 increase. “When you get here, we all play to just knock it out of the park, but it’s not a disappointing NFR by no means,” he said. I think we’ve got everybody’s confidence built now, and we’re going to go ahead and let it rip the second five rounds.”

Kade Sonnier – seen celebrating at the end of his Round 4 ride – was all smiles after placing again with an 87.75-point ride during Monday’s fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo. (PRCA PHOTO BY MALLORY BEINBORN)   LAS VEGAS – The smile on Kade Sonnier’s face was infectious. He’d just completed an 87.75-point ride on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Night Flight, and he was excited. He celebrated with about 17,000 fans inside the Thomas & Mack Center as he took the bareback riding lead during Monday’s fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo. “I was really happy until the last few guys went,” Sonnier said with a grin. Sonnier was the eighth man to compete in the round, and he had every reason to be happy. Night Flight is one of the best horses in the business, and taking the lead in the NFR’s elite field is a big deal. But three of the men who went after him surpassed his score, and he dropped to fourth in the round. It was still worth $15,377, a payday rarely seen during the regular rodeo season. At the NFR, it’s a far cry from the nearly $37,000 earned by Texan Rocker Steiner, who scored 89 points to win the night. “That’s just a great set of bareback horses,” said Sonnier, 26, of Carencro, Louisiana, now competing at ProRodeo’s grand finale for the second time in his three-year career. “There are a lot of guys that would love to get on the horses we all got on, and we get to do that twice.” There are five pens of horses set in bareback riding: The hoppers, which are the easiest to ride; the souped-up hoppers, which offer a little more action; the rank pen, which are more powerful and throw some tricks; the eliminators, which are the toughest to tangle with; and the TV pen, so named because they are the best horses in the game and provide a lot of action and electricity. That’s the group of broncs that are out in the fifth and 10th round, so named because there was a time when only the final round of the NFR was broadcast. Those are the horses that cowboys win on all year and post huge scores doing so. “There were a lot of great horses out tonight,” he said. “This is one of the nights at the finals we all look forward to, because those are the horses you want to get on all year.” Despite a few early struggles – he didn’t place on Nights 1 and 3 and settled for a $5,000 check in the second round – Sonnier is having a good time in Las Vegas. He realized after Saturday night that he needed a mindset adjustment, and he focused on enjoying the experience. It’s paying off in the playing field. He finished second, collecting nearly $29,000, and gathered another big payday Monday. He has ridden five broncs for a cumulative score of 422.75 points and is fifth in the aggregate race. He’s also pocketed $59,482 in Sin City. That’s bound to make anyone happy. Of course, he’s also enjoying the experience and the fellowship he has with the 14 other bareback riders in the locker room. “A lot of people talk about how tight-knit the bulldoggers are, but there’s a lot of comradery in our locker room,” Sonnier said. “We support each other a lot. It’s not really us against each other; it’s us against the horses we have that night.” After he was done with his work, Sonnier spent the next seven rides as a cheerleader, rooting for the other men behind them. He watched as others dropped him down on list. “Yes, you want to win, and there’s some frustration that you don’t win,” he said. “You want everybody to do good, too, and you don’t wish anything bad on any of them.” Competition at a world-class level brings out the best in elite athletes, and Sonnier is ready to show his best side. That’s what champions do, whether they win or not.

Cole Franks rides Andrews Rodeo’s Fresno for 84 points to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place during Sunday’s fourth round of the National Finals Rodeo. It was the Texas cowboy’s first payday of this year’s championship. (PRCA PHOTO BY LARA ST JACQUES)   LAS VEGAS – It’s a good thing Cole Franks spoke his mind a couple months ago. The bareback riders who qualified for the National Finals Rodeo got on a conference call to discuss what 105 horses they were going to have at the premier event. There are some disagreements and some haggling to break down the horses they considered the very best. Andrews Rodeo’s Fresno was one of them. “That horses is just really fast and pretty electric, and it’s a fun horse,” said Franks, who rode Fresno for 84 points to finish in a three-way tie for sixth in Sunday’s fourth round. “I fought my tail off to get that horse here this year. I’ve always liked that horse. I got on it in Salt Lake (Days of ’47 Rodeo) and did really well.” It paid off for Franks. It wasn’t much – just shy of $2,000 – but the 2021 intercollegiate champion and rookie of the year collected his first payday of this NFR. He is eighth in the world standings with $212,333. “You just have to have to freaking full send it,” said Franks, 24, of Clarendon, Texas. “It doesn’t matter what these horses are doing; you just have to spur. With fast horses like that one, it’s a little harder to just spur and go at them instead of flashing them up. It’s just go, go, go, go” He went, and while the ride was fast, his NFR has been slow. By this time a year ago, he had pocketed $65,000; this year, he’s at $12,000. “I’m riding just as good, if not better, than I ever have here,” he said. “It just seeks like I keep drawing toward the bottom of the pen or when I think I have a pretty good chance at winning a round or at least being at the top, those horses just don’t quite show up. “It’s hard not to get down a little bit, but at the same time, I feel I’m doing about as good as I could possibly do with what I’ve had so far.” He’s ridden four horses for a cumulative score of 334.5 points and sits seventh in the aggregate race. It’s a marathon in Las Vegas, not a sprint, and he has six more chances to take money out of Sin City. “It’s been kind of a bummer, and I felt like I was on a losing streak,” Franks said. “The last three times I’ve been here, everything just flowed really easily. “I’m know I’m doing my job, so this all depends on what the horse is going to control. That’s out of my control, so I’m not going to worry myself about it. If I was screwing up, it’d be a whole different story.” He’s writing the script, and there’s are more acts to follow.

A powerful faith and a consistent routine are a big part of Jess Pope’s life. He uses them in competition, too, and it works. He rode Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Happy Hour to a third-place finish in Sunday’s fourth round. (PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)   LAS VEGAS – The only things that have changed since bareback rider Jess Pope qualified for the National Finals Rodeo are circumstances. Everything else is the same. It’s what he likes, and it’s what has allowed him to succeed in business and in sports. His warmup is the same, as his pre-ride routine. It’s why he’s earned more than $2 million in just seven years in ProRodeo. “I moved back home (from Missouri Valley College) in ’21 and got married in ’23, but other than that, my daily life working at home is the exact same as it has been since I was in high school,” said Pope, 27, the 2022 world champion from Waverly, Kansas. His routine has been put on grand display over his six appearances at the National Finals Rodeo. He’s a three-time average champion, and he placed among the top five in the aggregate the last two seasons, too. About half his professional earnings have come from the championship event. He padded those stats with an 85.25-point ride on Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Happy Hour to finish third in Sunday’s fourth round, pocketing just shy of $22,000. He has increased his Vegas earnings to $63,228 and sits third in the world standings with $267,000. “That’s a little horse,” he said of Happy Hour, acknowledging the bronc was featured in the “hopper pen,” recognized as an easier-to-ride group. “He fits in our hopper pen, but he bucks like a big horse. He wasn’t easy. He had a stutter-step here and there, an over-kick, and there’s a little bit of drop to him, so it was a little bit more work for me. That doesn’t bother me any.” Not much does. It’s a matter of confidence and faith. He attended church services Sunday morning, and the message reached him. “We just talked about praying to the Lord and asking to lead us on the path He wants us to go down,” Pope said. “I’ve been asking myself that quite a bit recently and really focused on it (Sunday). It makes it a lot easier to go in here and know this is where I’m supposed to be. “Faith is everything. There’s a purpose that I feel like I was put on this Earth to do. Itrust the process. I trust where I’m supposed to be.” Circumstances will continue to change. He and his wife, Sydney, are expecting their first child, so this is exciting time to build a family. The Popes have been building their spread in the Kansas Flint Hills, and now they’re adding to their household. “It really doesn’t change my perspective at all,” he said. “(Stock contractor) Dave Morehead told me when I first got married, ‘Don’t wait to have kids until you can afford them, just go ahead and start having them. Obviously, I’m blessed to be able to afford one, but I’m going to keep trying to grow our ranch, and then hopefully someday have something to give our kids. “If my kids wanted rodeo to be part of their lives, I’ll give them every opportunity for it. My parents did that for me, and I’ve made an amazing living out of it. I’ve made some of the best friends and family that I could ever dream of. The places I see and the people I get to meet are truly amazing.”

Bareback rider Kade Sonnier is trying to make the most out of his second trip to the National Finals Rodeo. He placed second in Sunday’s fourth round with an 86.75-point score. (PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)   LAS VEGAS – When Kade Sonnier speaks, it’s deliberate and well-intentioned. He’s mindful of his thoughts, which come from his actions. Now competing at his second National Finals Rodeo in three years, he has set a high standard for himself. His goal isn’t to place high; it’s to win the whole thing. It’s the approach he takes to every rodeo throughout the season, and it’s one he fancies at ProRodeo’s grand finale. He came close. Sonnier rode the Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics bronc Shoutin’ Shoes for 86.75 points to finish second in Sunday’s fourth round of bareback riding, collecting $28,980. It was a nice rebound after a not-so-nice performance during Saturday’s match-up with Dakota Rodeo’s Wild N Out, which is one of the hardest-to-ride horses in the field. “I don’t show up to win second,” said Sonnier, 26, of Carencro, Louisiana. “It sounds cocky, but it’s not. If you’re going to do this, if you’re going to partake in this sport of rodeo much less than even bareback riding, you’ve got to have that mindset. It’s do or die out there. I didn’t show up in Las Vegas to be the No. 3 guy in the world again. The last time I left here (in 2023), I was third in the world. “To be honest, I don’t want to be second in the world either. I showed up here to win a gold buckle, and that’s how I’ll nod my head.” That mindset led to a hiccup in Round 3. Sonnier spurred over the horse’s neck, which will often result in a deduction in points. Against an eliminator like Wild N Out, it could result in devastation. “I cost myself a chance,” he said. “I thought I had the best horse, probably one of the hardest horses in the pen. I was trying to do too much and trying to make things happen that maybe wasn’t going to happen. About the fourth or fifth jump, I set my right foot over. Tim O’Connell and Jess Pope both told me I’d done something only a handful of guys could do, and that saved my life. “I kept spurring because anybody else that would have spurred over that big sonofabitch would have hit the ground.” It was frustrating, because Sonnier prides himself on being able to ride the baddest broncs in the business, but that’s part of rodeo. “I also lost sight of the fact that I have to control what I can control, stay within myself and do what I do great,” he said. “I have to do what got me here, stay within Kade Sonnier.” He returned to form Sunday. Only Oklahoman Wacey Shalla was better, and that was by just a half point. Sonnier put together a solid spur ride, spurring Shoutin’ Shoes’ rapid-fire bucking motion through the eight-second performance. He made a mindset change just about the time the chute gate opened to begin the ride. “I’ve been super optimistic about my horses,” Sonnier said about being matched via the random draw. “Today, though I was just beat down. It was hard to be optimistic. I didn’t know I was going to have all that great of a chance to win the round. Then about that second jump when she hit and my feet came, I built my ride.” The race was on, and the results showed what a little bit of confidence can do for a competitor. Sonnier has earned $44,105 at this year’s NFR so far and pushed his season earnings to $215,612. He’s seventh in the world standings with six nights remaining on the ProRodeo season. “We’re fortunate to make a great living and win a lot of money out here, but it’s not about the money; it’s not about the glory,” Sonnier said. “It’s just about having fun riding bucking horses. “I was taking it too seriously. This is a business, and business is business, but at the end of the day, you only get to do this so many times. I know what it’s like to not be competing here, and I don’t want to ever happen again. I’m just trying to soak up all of it.”

Steer wrestler Tucker Allen scored his second round victory of the 2025 National Finals Rodeo, blasting a 4.0-second run to share the fourth-round title with Will Lummus. (PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)   LAS VEGAS – Tucker Allen may need the write-off anyway. After his pickup was stolen from a parking lot near the Thomas & Mack Center, Allen has been hitching rides to work, which happens to be occurring in the arena for the National Finals Rodeo. Other than his ride situation and the police report, the job has been going well. He’s been taking care of business, and the proof came again with a 4.0-second run to share the Round 4 steer wrestling victory with Mississippian Will Lummas. That was worth $32,824 to each cowboy, and it could make for a nice downpayment on a replacement vehicle. “I can pay for Ubers now,” a smiling Allen said, nodding toward the $82,449 he’s earned in four Las Vegas nights. “I still have to buy a new truck.” Most of his earnings came on the second and fourth nights, those when he took at least a share of top honors; he also snagged a smaller payday for finishing in a tie for sixth place in Round 3. “While I was trying to get out of the barrier really good (timing the start), I was still a little late,” said Allen, 26, of Ventura, California. “It shows how good Banker is, even though I was off the barrier and still split the round.” The barrier line is stretched across the steer wrestler to allow for the steer to have a head start. Should the contestant not allow for that, the barrier will break, and the cowboy will be saddled with a 10-second penalty. “That just shows Banker’s horsepower,” he said. “That steer was really good on the ground, but I knew I had to get my feet down in a good spot. It could have been a little better, but it could have been a lot worse. It worked out.” There are layers to the NFR. There are 10 go-rounds with payouts to the top six places each night. There’s also the average race, which provides a healthy bonus to the top eight finishers when the rodeo concludes. Round winners earn $36,668 in every event; the average champion will pocket a $94,036 next Saturday. Allen has wrestled four steers to the ground in 17.9 seconds and is second in the aggregate race. He’s moved from fifth to second in the world standings with $233,316 and trails Lummus, the leader, by $23,000. With six rounds remaining, it’s too early to even consider the average placing, but should he hold his place, there would be a $76,000 bonus. “I’m treating every round like a one-header,” Allen said. “I’m forgetting about what happened behind me, and I’m not worried about the average ahead of me. I’d rather lose the world by breaking a barrier than backing off and not winning it. “I’m willing to take that risk.” Allen finished fourth in the average a year ago and said nobody even remembers it. They’ll remember two go-round victories from his second appearance in Las Vegas. “Hopefully we can win a few more,” he said.

Garrett Shadbolt rides Smith Pro Rodeos’ Mr. Harry for 85.5 points to place during Saturday’s third round of the National Finals Rodeo. After being offered a reride on his first attempt, the Nebraska cowboy had to tussle with two horses in the “eliminator pen.” (PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)   LAS VEGAS – The “eliminator pen” of bareback horses at the National Finals Rodeo have an intimidating factor about them. They’re the scariest broncs in rodeo, and the men who ride them virtually lock themselves onto muscular flesh of equine dynamite. They have riggings that are strapped tightly to the bronc, then the gloves have binds on the outside of the pointer finger and pinky to secure their hands into the leather-and-rawhide handle. The power from the animal athlete is incredible. Just thinking about it can give a cowboy trepidation, but riding bucking horses is what they do. It may be silent in the locker room before the two nights of mayhem, because all focus is on the battle that is about to ensue. Over his four qualifications to the NFR, Garrett Shadbolt has had his share of tussles with the most-difficult-to-ride, so he knew what to expect. He gritted his teeth, climbed aboard Powder River Rodeo’s Juice Box and nodded his head. His back banged into the buckskin’s rump as the animal bucked, and Shadbolt’s right harm lunged forward. Torque pressed on his hand, elbow, shoulder and spine. It can be brutal; it looks brutal. Alas, Juice Box didn’t have the day needed. The judges noticed that and offered Shadbolt a reride, a chance to get on another horse for an opportunity to cash in during Saturday’s third round. It was a two-for-one special for Shadbolt, a 29-year-old bronc buster from Merriman, Nebraska. Maybe it was a two-for-one beating, but he made it work, spurring Smith Pro Rodeos’ Mr. Harry for 85.5 points to finish sixth in the round, worth $5,914. The big, powerful sorrel gelding provided the stuff Shadbolt needed to reach the pay window for the second straight night. He has increased his NFR earnings to $35,544 and sits eighth in the world standings with $202,805. Riding bareback horses can be difficult on the easiest of horses. The pressure provided by the circumstances – the rigging, the glove and the muscle-bound athlete underneath – sends jolts through a man’s body. Getting on two broncs a day will leave a cowboy spent. It’s just magnified greatly when that animal is of the stature reflected by Juice Box and Mr. Harry. Shadbolt was spent by the time Saturday’s performance came to a close. He’d earned every dollar he collected, and then some. He earned a few hours of rest and recovery, but it doesn’t last long in Las Vegas. He’s got seven more broncs to ride before his 2025 season comes to a close.

Steer wrestler Tucker Allen slides his steer en route to a 4.4-second run to finish in the money during Saturday’s third round of the National Finals Rodeo. (PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)   LAS VEGAS – When Tucker Allen enters the timed-event box, he turns around on a powerful bay gelding and backs Banker into the corner. As he sits and watches the steer in the chute, Allen can feel the tingles that run through his body as he prepares to compete. Those shivers are intensified when the panels and chute are the distinguishable color of yellow, reflecting on the magnitude of the National Finals Rodeo. But there’s also a calm that comes with confidence. As he sits astride the 2025 PRCA/AQHA Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year, Allen’s confidence brews. It’s creating a stew based on all the exponential factors of his own ability, the greatness of the bay that’s about to burst out into the Thomas & Mack Center dirt and the man on his right, friend and traveling partner Justin Shaffer, who owns Banker and serves as Allen’s hazer to keep the steers in line. It’s a winning combination. After winning Friday’s round, Allen returned to the pay window with a 4.4-second run to finish in a tie for sixth place in Saturday’s third round. It was worth just shy of $3,000, but it was another step that contributes to success in the overall scheme of things. “Now, we know all the pens of steers,” said Allen, 26, of Ventura, California. “Starting tomorrow, we’ll see Jace Honey’s pen that went in the first round. I think it will get a lot wolfier. The guys know the cattle, know the starts to take, and I’m excited for that part.” Like all major professional athletes, cowboys do as much homework as possible. Allen and the other 14 bulldoggers know the three sets of steers that will be used during the NFR, and having seen the animals perform in Las Vegas gives them an idea of what it will be like when the random draw is released. “The biggest thing is you’ve got to know what start to take,” he said, referring to allowing the animal the appropriate head start to ensure a quality run necessary to cash in; only the top six placings earn money each of the 10 rounds. It’s going to be fast at the Thomas & Mack, so Allen wants Banker to take off right when the steer leaves the chute. “You’ve got to know the steer’s pattern on the field, and then, obviously, once you get ahold of them how they feel,” said Allen, who has accumulated just shy of $50,000 in three days and is third in the world standings with $200,493. “I make sure how they start, and then I just see what they do once you get them. I try not to overthink it a lot.” It’s working.

J.D. Struxness, the reigning world champion steer wrestler, continues to grind at the National Finals Rodeo. He finished fourth during Saturday’s third round. (PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)   LAS VEGAS – Just like a snake in hiding, reigning world champion steer wrestler J.D. Struxness is waiting to strike. “I feel like we ran some runners,” Struxness said about the animals he has drawn through the opening three rounds of the National Finals Rodeo. “(Saturday) we ran one that was just OK.” He made the cow better, dropping it to the ground in 4.2 seconds to finish fourth on Night 3 of ProRodeo’s championship event. It was worth $15,377 and increased his NFR earnings to $47,457. He collected cash during Thursday’s first go-round, then just missed the pay window by a smidge Friday. “It feels good to collect another check,” said Struxness, 31, of Milan, Minnesota. “I think things are good. The horses are holding in there. We’re getting little things worked out here and there, and they’ll get stronger as the week goes on.” Progression and consistency are key ingredients in sports, especially at an event like the NFR, a true Western battle over 10 December nights. The Super Bowl is four quarters, and Major League Baseball, the NBA and the NHL have a seven-game series to crown their champions. Rodeo is a 10-day stretch in the Nevada desert. The main difference the players in the other professional leagues have guaranteed salaries and receive a bonus in the playoffs; rodeo contestants only collect what they earn, and they have to beat most of the field to garner a dime. In Las Vegas, if a cowboy doesn’t finish among the top six on any night, then he’s shut out. That’s why playing the game in the long run can pay off. Struxness knows all about that, now in his seventh qualification. He placed in eight rounds a year ago and left town with rodeo gold. “We’ll get on the better end of the steers eventually,” Struxness said of the random draw that happens an hour and a half before the rodeo begins at 7 p.m. Central. “We’ll just keep working this first half of the week and see where things are shaking out, and we’ll bet ready to put the hammer down in the second half.” There are plenty of factors that play into a bulldogger’s success. Not only does Struxness have to perform well, and it helps to be matched with one of the better steers in the pen of 15 used. It’s also vital to have quality horses – both his and that used by his hazer – to get him in position. In his case, Struxness is riding Ice, a 7-year-old gray, while veteran hazer Matt Reeves rides Jenny, a 6-year-old sorrel mare. “Ice is working good,” said Struxness, who is fifth in the world standings with $186,129. “We’re getting our feet on the ground. I feel like we’ve had some steers that tried, but we’re doing alright. If we get some better steers and get them some confidence, they’ll really get going then.”

The “eliminator pen” of bareback horses were perfect for Jess Pope, who finished fifth during Saturday’s third round of the National Finals Rodeo. The money from that helped the 2022 world champion cross the $1 million mark in NFR earnings. (PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)   LAS VEGAS – Over 53 nights, Jess Pope has won more than $1 million at the National Finals Rodeo. Now competing on ProRodeo’s premier stage for the sixth time, he surpassed the mark Saturday night with a fifth-place finish in the championship’s third go-round, riding Rosser Rodeo’s Right On Q for 85.75 points. The $9,463 he pocketed pushed him over the threshold. It’s been a rapid ascent. He’s earned that kind of money over 53 rounds. A big chunk of that cash has come through his consistency. Being a three-time average champion – he won it consecutively from 2020-2022 – offers a hefty prize at the end of the 10-day run for having the highest cumulative score. He finished second in the aggregate race in 2023 and placed fifth a year ago. If he were to win a fourth this December, it would pay better than $94,000. The truth about his steady style came Saturday night during the “eliminator pen” of bareback horses. “(Saturday) was our true eliminators,” said Pope, 27, of Waverly, Kansas. “(Friday) night was our semi-eliminators, and the horse I had last night has always been in our ‘eliminator pen.’ ” His Round 2 horse was Smith Pro Rodeo’s Girl Crush, which he rode for 83.25 points. The horse threw plenty of tricks at the six-time NFR qualifier, but it was just a tip of the iceberg leading up to Round 3. “That horse I had (Saturday), I was a few points higher just because it matches everything else,” he said. “I thought I got along pretty good. I feel good. The judges that are out there, I can’t write their scores down for them, so I feel really good. “I feel confident, and I’m just happy to be here and pulling checks.” Pope is fourth in the average race, but it’s too early to put anything definitive toward that. A lot can happen over the next seven nights. Still, he’s ridden three horses for a cumulative score of 255.5 points and is less than four points behind the leader, Louisianan Waylon Bourgeois. So far, Pope has collected $41,345. He is third in the world standings with $244,974. As a veteran of the game, he understands the nature of riding bucking horses during ProRodeo’s grand championship. He’s felt the emotions, and he’s ridden all styles of bucking horses in his career. It’s just magnified on a greater scale in Las Vegas. He took note of that when he walked into the locker room. Facing the toughest-to-ride horses in the business can be intimidating. “It was a little quiet when I got in there to the locker room,” he said. “We’ve got three speakers in there, and I told them boys, ‘We need to link these speakers together and get some freaking music in here; let’s change the mood a little bit.’ “It seemed like all the young guys were pretty excited about that afterwards.” Pope keeps his emotions in check most of the time, but he has a million reasons to be excited about this NFR.

Bridger Anderson turned in a time of 3.9 seconds to finish in a tie for second place during Saturday’s third go-round of the National Finals Rodeo. (PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)   LAS VEGAS – Adjustments are the name of the game in professional sports. After an opening-night no-time to kick off his third National Finals Rodeo, steer wrestler Bridger Anderson made some changes. Namely, he’s taken a better start, and the result is $54,061 earned over the last two nights. His most recent payday came with a 3.9-second run to finish in a tie for second place in Saturday’s third round. “On that first run, I just got an OK start, and that steer ran pretty good, a lot harder than we thought he was going to,” said Anderson, 27, of Carrington, North Dakota. “I stayed in my lane and thought that steer was going to go straight. That steer just faded to the right a little bit. “You need to ride to the cattle on every run, because this is the hardest place in the world to haze, and there’s no fault at all to my hazer. I needed to ride one to maybe two more strides to that steer, and I could have caught.” That’s exactly what has to happen to post a sub-4-second run. For doing that, Anderson earned $25,431 Saturday night, extending his season earnings to $163,388. “We got off to a rough start there,” said Anderson, who moved to ninth in the world standings. “I thought I cleaned it up tonight and got all of that start and had a good steer. We’ll just keep trying to make the best runs we can. “So far, every time we’ve nailed the barrier or got close to the barrier, we’ve gotten a pretty good check out of it.” That’s true. Steers are given a head start, and bulldoggers must stay behind a barrier line in front of the timed-event box long enough to provide the animal with a big enough lead. Breaking the barrier leads to a 10-second penalty; being too far off it results in being out of the money. Anderson is on a roll now, but he’s also taking the time to do important things while in Las Vegas. Part of his business is giving back, so he spent some of his Saturday with the Golden Circle of Champions, which benefits pediatric cancer. He and other NFR contestants spent time with the children and their families and honored them during Gold Night at the rodeo. “That Golden Circle of Champions is a pretty awesome deal,” Anderson said. “The pediatric cancer champions that come in that are battling for their lives puts into perspective what we have going on. It’s pretty minuscule in the grand scheme of things. It’s kind of a reality check, and it really makes you appreciate being healthy, your family being healthy and getting to live out your dreams.” World champions will be crowned in a week, but life’s champions were celebrated Saturday in Las Vegas.

Waylon Bourgeois rides Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Dusty Roads for 88.75 points to win Saturday’s third round of the National Finals Rodeo. Bourgeois has placed in all rounds so far. (PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)   LAS VEGAS – Being brave isn’t about having no fear. Bravery is about being scared and overcoming it. That’s what Waylon Bourgeois faced in the “eliminator pen” of bareback horses, where he matched moves with Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Dusty Roads for 88.75 points to win Saturday’s third round of the National Finals Rodeo. “She’s a big, scary eliminator, but it’s bucking-horse riding,” said Bourgeois, 26, of Church Point, Louisiana. “You’ve just got to cowboy up and get it done.” No, that’s not just a phrase from the movie “8 Seconds.” It’s a mentality that was necessary on the hardest-to-ride bucking horses in the business. Dusty Roads is a 13-year-old buckskin mare that bucked at the NFR for the first time a year ago. She guided eventual world champion Dean Thompson to a round-winning 88-point ride in the eighth round. She was ridden just one time during the regular season, and she proved her power inside the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday night. “I’ve seen that horse a bunch down south,” said Bourgeois, who leads the aggregate race with 259.25 points on three rides; the $36,668 increased his NFR earnings to $81,000 so far. “It’s a super strong horse. You’ve just got to keep your chin tucked and keep setting your feet, and the rest will take care of itself.” It was one of the most exciting nights of his rodeo career. An NFR go-round win is special. They can be rare. It now holds second fiddle to the day the regular season came to a close and Bourgeois realized a lifetime dream. “I’ll always remember that last day,” he said. “A weight lifted off my shoulders, but coming in here, one of my goals was to get a round win. Haven gotten that, I have another weight lifted off my shoulders.” It’s been an exceptional start to his 10-day campaign. He’s placed in three straight rounds and leads the race to the average championship. Alas, there are seven rounds remaining, and the aggregate title goes to the man with the best cumulative score on three rides. He owns just a quarter-of-a-point lead on Wacey Schalla, who is second in the race. The good news is that Bourgeois has increased his season earnings to $218,637 and sits fifth in the world standings. He’s seen the bright lights of Las Vegas and hasn’t squinted yet. He made his first trip to the South Point for the go-round buckle presentation Friday, tagging along with traveling partner and Round 2 winner Rocker Steiner. This time, though, Bourgeois will stand at the front of the stage and receive his trinkets. “I’m still hungry, and I’m coming for some more,” he said. “I rode over to the South Point with Rocker and seen it, and I told myself that I was going to be there.” He is now.

Kade Sonnier secured his first payday of the National Finals Rodeo after an 83.75-point ride on Penthouse Pro Rodeo’s Minnesota Joe during Friday’s second round. (PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)   LAS VEGAS – True competitors know how to rise to the occasion. Take bareback rider Kade Sonnier. His opening night of the National Finals Rodeo didn’t go as he had planned. He finished toward the bottom of the round after an 81.5-point ride on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Night Delta. He wanted better. He expected better He got it during Friday’s second round with an 83.75-point ride on Penthouse Pro Rodeo’s Minnesota Joe to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place to collect $5,126. With go-round winners pocketing nearly $37,000 a night, Sonnier is pushing for more, but he’ll take any dollars he can get out of Las Vegas. Two seasons ago, Sonnier – a 26-year-old, second-generation NFR cowboy from Carencro, Louisiana – earned his first trip to the bright lights in the City of Entertainment. He shined among them all, placing in seven rounds and finishing in a tie for third in the all-important average. He left town with $112,000 in his Ariat jeans and was building a solid resume during his rookie season in ProRodeo. He finished the year third in the world standings with more than $270,000 in earnings. His sophomore campaign wasn’t quite as luxurious, though. Injuries blasted his momentum, and even though he earned nearly $100,000 in 2024, he did not finish among the top 15 at the end of the regular season, which is what it takes to play on the sport’s biggest stage. He rallied this year. He has pushed his earnings to $186,633 and sits 10th on the money list. The best part for the southern Louisiana bronc buster is that there are eight nights of big bucks remaining. The next run-in will be with Dakota Rodeo’s Wild N Out in Saturday’s “eliminator pen” of bucking horses, the hardest-to-ride of the 105 animals selected to buck at the NFR. The big, powerful horse has been part of some key rides this season. In January, judges marked Wild N Out 48 out of a possible 50 points. That’s an opportunity and a challenge, which is what the elite bareback riders face on a regular basis. Over the course of the season, Sonnier secured victories at 13 rodeos. He’s at the biggest one of the year, home of a $13.5 million purse. This is where he wants to get on a roll and return home with boatload of Las Vegas cash.

Steer wrestler Bridger Anderson didn’t let a first-round hiccup slow him down. He made a 4.0-second run to finish in the money during Tuesday’s second round of the National Finals Rodeo. (PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)   LAS VEGAS – Rodeo is a bit of a roller coaster, with highs and lows throughout any season. The National Finals Rodeo is the same, just on a grander scale. A night after being saddled with a no-time, steer wrestler Bridger Anderson cleaned the dirt off his Cinch jeans and went back to work. He powered his steer to the ground in 4.0 seconds to finish in a tie for third place in Friday’s second go-round, earning $18,630. It was an important step for a cowboy competing at his third NFR. Originally from Carrington, North Dakota, Anderson secured his first trip to the finale in 2020, when a worldwide pandemic forced the championship out of Sin City and into a Texas baseball stadium He cleared $77,000 that December. Anderson returned to the NFR in 2023 and rode the hills and valleys of intense competition. He never let a bad run slow him, though, and left Las Vegas with $121,000. He understands that the thrill of the ride comes with every acceleration and dissention that comes with the game. While it was Anderson’s first payday of the week, he has eight more nights remaining to cash in during the world’s richest rodeo, where go-round winners pocket nearly $37,000 per night in each event. Now living near Millsap, Texas, the North Dakota cowboy has felt the rush that comes with nightly victories. The first time that happened was at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, when he shared the Round 2 victory. He earned two round wins during the 2023 NFR and placed on three other nights. Friday’s run was just the start. Riding Whiskers, a 16-year-old bay gelding he owns, Anderson has all the confidence necessary to compete at a night level. He’s also enlisted the hazing help of Tyler Pearson, a six-time NFR qualifier who won the 2017 bulldogging world championship. Pearson is considered one of the top cowboys when it comes to hazing, which serves as an assistant to keep the steers lined out for the contestant. In addition to being an elite competitor in his prime, Pearson has also ridden some of the best hazing horses in the business, and this year is no different. He is handling his duties on Metallica, a gray horse that has been a stalwart in the business for a long time. When it all comes together, Anderson shines. He’s looking to be one of the brightest lights in the City of Entertainment for eight more nights.

Bareback rider Waylon Bourgeois was tested by Diamond G Rodeo’s Raelynn For The Win, but the Louisiana cowboy passed with an 83.75-point score to finish in a three-way tie for fifth during Friday’s second round of the National Finals Rodeo. (PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)   LAS VEGAS – The exam for Saturday night’s “eliminator pen” of bareback horses, and Waylon Bourgeois passed the test. He rode Diamond G Rodeo’s Reaelynn For The Win for 83.75 points and finished in a three-way tie for fifth place during Friday’s second round of the National Finals Rodeo, pocketing $5,126 in the process. He has earned $44,000 in two nights of work inside the Thomas & Mack Center on the University of Nevada-Las Vegas campus. “That was more of a difficult horse to ride in bareback riding,” said Bourgeois, 26, of Church Point, Louisiana. “It just boils down to getting your job done and doing the best you can. It’s good that we got another check.” The 105 bareback horses in Las Vegas were selected by the men who are here to ride them. They are separated into five pens: souped-up hoppers, which are considered easier to ride; rank; eliminators, the most difficult; hoppers, the easiest; and the TV pen, which is described as the most electric and stylish broncs going. Friday’s grouping set the 15 cowboys up for what they’ll experience Saturday before getting a bit of a break Sunday. Bourgeois will be matched with Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Dusty Roads, a 13-year-old buckskin that has overpowered most of his opponents over the last three years. The highest-marked ride came during the eighth round of last year’s NFR, when reigning world champion scored 88 points to win the night. The match-ups are just part of the game, and Bourgeois is riding high this season. He knows there will be highs and lows that come with the roller coaster that is rodeo. “Every day is a new day, and I’m super thankful for each day I wake up,” he said. “Being a professional athlete, you’ve just got to take it one day at a time. What happened yesterday … that was yesterday. What happened tonight was tonight, and what’s going to happen tomorrow is in God’s hands. “Those (eliminator pen) horses are going to be a little harder than they were tonight. It just boils down to doing your job the best you can, and however the chips fall is where they lay. You’ve just got to move on.” It’s the right mindset for the biggest stage in the game. Bourgeois has increased his season earnings to $182,000 during his first bid to the NFR. “That’s the cool thing about rodeo: you get to move on, so we have eight more nights of this,” he said.

Garrett Shadbolt had to wait out some tense moments but secured a big-money payday after his 84-point ride on Championship Pro Rodeo’s Big Show to finish in a tie for third place in Friday’s second round of the National Finals Rodeo. (PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)   LAS VEGAS – Garrett Shadbolt had reserved himself to his fate. Scoring 84 points just doesn’t win much at the National Finals Rodeo, and he knows that from experience. This is his fourth qualification to the sport’s Super Bowl, and he’s seen it before. “I was thinking, ‘There’s no freaking way I’m going to win a check out of this round,” said Shadbolt, 29, a bareback rider from Merriman, Nebraska. “I was proud of my ride. “That’s a good horse, but I didn’t know if he was usually good enough here. I was keeping my head up, and then the next guy was 83.75. then it was 81.5 and another 83.75. I had not won a check in 12 rounds and in a couple of years. Last year’s NFR was so brutal.” It had been since the ninth round of the 2022 championship since Shadbolt had cashed in, but he made things work with Championship Pro Rodeo’s Big Show, finishing in a tie for third place on the second night of this year’s festival, pocketing $18,630. With that, he pushed his season earnings to $196,891 and sits seventh in the world standings with eight nights remaining in the 2025 season. “I celebrated (Thursday’s first round ride) just like I’d won money, because I was so proud of that ride,” he said of another 84, which resulted in an 11th-place finish. “My spirits are high. I knew I was riding good, but I’ve also been here where you just never know what’s going to happen. “I was on the back of the bucking chutes, and more and more guys were underneath me. I think I started hyperventilating a little bit, because I was like, ‘I might win a check out of this thing.’ ” He did, and a big sigh of relief followed. It comes from a man on a mission, a man who has had a sour taste in his mouth for 12 months after a disappointing 2024 championship in which he failed to reach the pay window in any of the 10 rounds. “You’ve got to build yourself all the way back up again,” said Shadbolt, who first qualified for the NFR in 2021. “You get knocked down in this game, and you’ve got to get yourself back up and go back out there and do it again.” That meant getting on the biggest and baddest bucking horses in rodeo for Saturday night. The NFR roughstock competition is broken down into five styles of bucking horses, and the third round features the “eliminator pen,” the toughest-to-ride broncs in the business. “I’m ready for it,” he said. “I’m not scared of anything in that pen.” Shadbolt will be matched with Powder River Rodeo’s Juice Box, a horse that’s generated high stock scores this year. With judges marking the animal 1-50, officials have marked the bronc 45 points are better on multiple occasions during the 2025 season. For now, though, he’ll cherish another NFR payday. “It’s even more special, because George and Mavis, my two oldest (children), were at the rodeo and got to watch,” Shadbolt said. “I’m excited to head back up with them and celebrate a big check. “After two good rides and a big check, my spirits are high, and I’m ready to have a big week.”

Tucker Allen competed in his 12th National Finals Rodeo go-round Friday and won the night with a 3.6-second steer wrestling run, earning a trip to the South Point for the buckle presentation. (PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)   LAS VEGAS – It’s eight miles from the Thomas & Mack Center to the South Point, but the resort is the place every cowboy wants to be after each go-round at the National Finals Rodeo. The South Point hosts the nightly Montana Silversmiths Go-Round Buckle Presentation, and nightly winners are presented trinkets to go along with their prize money. Steer wrestler Tucker Allen made his first trip to the southern side of Las Vegas Boulevard, stopping the clock in 3.6 seconds to win Friday’s second round and pocketing $36,668 for the feat. As part of the celebration, winners sometimes splurge on a limousine or a party bus to enjoy the venture. “I might have to do that,” said Allen, 26, a two-time NFR qualifier from Ventura, California. “I have a right blinker out on my truck, so we probably should take a limo.” He was certainly enjoying his moment in the bright lights in the City of Entertainment. In his second straight trip to ProRodeo’s grand finale, Allen earned his first nightly title through 12 rounds of competition. “I knew he was a round-win chance,” Allen said, referring to the steer with which he had been matched. “I knew I could place within the top three for sure on that steer, because I knew I could catch up in a good spot. I told myself to try to blow the barrier out and risk breaking it.” The start is vital, especially in that building. The arena is built on top of the basketball court, so the dimensions are small. Fast times need quick break off the starting line. The steers are provided a head start with a barrier line placed in front of the contestant. If the cowboy doesn’t give the cow enough of a lead, a broken barrier will result in a 10-second penalty. If there is a delay and the steer gets too big a lead, then the time will likely be too slow to collect cash. Allen time the start just right. Riding Banker, the 2025 PRCA/AQHA Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year owned by traveling partner Justin Shaffer, Allen got to the steer quickly, then turned the animal on its side in a hurry. It’s just what the doctor ordered for the California bulldogger, who earned $92,000 a year ago at the NFR but was hoping for a better showing – a good portion of his earnings came from finishing fourth in the average, finishing with one of the fastest cumulative times on 10 runs. “Nobody really remembers fourth, so I told myself, ‘Be more aggressive, take more risk and just get greedier,” Allen said. “Don’t worry about the average and treat each run like a one-header. I was lucky to get out, and Banker worked great. Justin hazed outstanding, and I was happy to do my job.” In addition to owning the horse and being an NFR qualifier himself, Shaffer served as the hazer for Allen and Jesse Brown, helping keep the steers lined out for both cowboys. “Banker is the horse of the year, and he’s just a freak of nature,” Allen said. “He’s so sharp off the line, yet he runs such a good pattern, is broke and has a good mind. It makes it so simple where you hit the cory and not worry if he’s going to flinch. You can take your start and just put your hand down, and he’s going to run in the perfect spot and let you do your job. “Justin is one of the greatest hazers there’s ever been; he’s just so cowboy. His ability to haze from all the colts he’s started, the day-work and just being a cowboy. I think a lot of the hazers are good cowboys. That’s why guys trust them in hairy situations.” Making the NFR is a huge accomplishment in rodeo. There were dozens of cowboys within range of advancing, but only the top 15 on the money list at the end of the regular season earn the right to play for the biggest pay in the game. Winning a round takes everything up a notch. “It’s pretty surreal,” he said. “I know this is something you dream of as soon as you start learning how to bulldog and rope and do anything in rodeo. I don’t get emotional, but I almost got a little emotional in the (television) interview. My stepdad, Teddy Robinson, is the reason I’m here today. I just had to give him a shout-out, and it kind of choked me up aa little. “He’s coming out to rope (next) week, but I just wanted him to know when he was at home watching on TV that I appreciate everything he did for me.” Allen is also doing a lot for himself.

National Finals Rodeo first-timer Waylon Bourgeois didn’t let any rookie jitters get in the way during Thursday’s opening performance. He finished second in the first go-round and earned nearly $29,000. (PRCA PHOTO BY MALLORY BEINBORN)   LAS VEGAS – Waylon Bourgeois isn’t going to lie. The emotions surrounding his first qualification to the National Finals Rodeo have been incredible. After just missing the mark a year ago, the bareback rider made the transition to the biggest stage of rodeo. He entered this year’s competition as the 12th-ranked cowboy in the world standings, earning the right to be part of this exclusive field, which features only the top 15 on the money list at the conclusion of the regular season. But this is a big step to the big time, with a payout of more than $17 million. “The nerves have been outrageous,” said Bourgois, 26, of Church Point, Louisiana. “You’ve got to be able to control yourself. You’ve got to be able to handle yourself and know that you belong here. That’s what I had to keep telling myself all week. “We drove over that hill and just saw Vegas, and it’s huge. My hands started sweating, and I had to keep telling myself, ‘You belong with all the bareback riders.’ Even at the back-number ceremony (two days before the NFR began), all the bareback riders went out to eat dinner, and that’s what everybody was preaching. “We didn’t make this by accident. We deserve to be here, and we belong here. You just have to take control of yourself and own it.” He did, riding Korkow Rodeo’s Rubber Match for 86.75 points to finish second during Thursday’s opening round. That was worth $28,980 “Yeah, that’s my biggest paycheck ever,” said Bourgeois, who pushed his season earnings to $176,843. He moved up two spots to 10th on the money list. “I don’t mind looking at those numbers.” A smile flashed across his face, because those childhood dreams are becoming reality. “Once you crawl in them yellow bucking chutes, you forget about everything, and all you know is the one thing,” he said. “That’s just do your job.” Based on a 100-point scale, half the score is on how well the animal bucks. The other is based on how well a bareback rider will spur from above the points of the shoulders and back to his rigging while setting his feet above the shoulders before the bronc’s front feet hit the ground again. That is the rhythm that leads to big scores and bigger payouts. It can be a blur, especially with the emotions that come with the NFR. It’s like traveling back in time. “The first time you get on your first bareback horse, everything goes blank,” Bourgeois said. “That’s kind of how it can be here, but for me, I actually remember it all.” Bourgeois is making memories and pocketing Las Vegas cash at the same time. That’s what the NFR is about.

Weston Patterson made his first ride at his first National Finals Rodeo count, scoring 88.5 points on Cervi’s Womanizer to finish second during Thursday’s opening round. (PRCA PHOTO BY MALLORY BEINBORN)   LAS VEGAS – A few minutes after his opening-round ride at the National Finals Rodeo, saddle bronc rider Weston Patterson was looking for video. “I literally blacked out and don’t remember my ride until the whistle blew,” said Patterson, a first-time NFR qualifier from Waverly, Kansas. “I got off on the pickup man, got down and just heard the crowd. That was pretty cool.” Yes, it was. It was just as exciting to watch the replay on Snapchat. He matched moves with Cervi Brothers’ Womanizer for 88.5 points to finish as the runner-up on Night 1 of ProRodeo’s grand championship. For that, Patterson pocketed $28,280 and moved from 11th to eighth in the world standings. “That’s just a really good horse,” Patterson said of the 2020 PRCA Saddle Bronc of the Year. “That’s really the one you want. I knew it was going to be a good chance to do something if he had his day.” The powerful paint did, and so did Patterson, a College National Finals Rodeo qualifier while competing at Clarendon (Texas) College. It was a big move on the first night of his first NFR. “I wasn’t really nervous tonight,” he said. “I was just excited to get this started.” There’s a lot of new when it comes to competing on the sport’s biggest stage. This is where every young cowboy dreams of being, which offers a purse of $17.5 million. By the time the 10-day championship comes to a close Dec. 13, the world champions will be crowned. Patterson has increased his season earnings to $212,715, with nearly $40,000 coming during the opening week in Las Vegas. In addition to the money earned Thursday, each qualifier earns $10,000 for advancing to the championship. “Probably the coolest thing I’ve gotten to experience is just hearing that crowd when I got off that horse,” said Patterson, who finished the 2021 intercollegiate campaign as the reserve champion and was part of men’s team title at Clarendon. The last time he was in competition was the Sept. 30, and he won the bronc-riding in Roggen, Colorado. He decided to knock the rust off his riding skills a couple weeks ago. “It went OK, but I got bucked off two of the three horses I got on,” he said with a laugh. “It didn’t really affect my confidence, though. I just thought, ‘You rode well enough to get there, so just go out there and have fun.’ ” It’s working so far.

Jess Pope, the 2022 world champion bareback rider, returned to his home turf at the National Finals Rodeo, scoring a third-place finish during Thursday’s opening round of the National Finals Rodeo. (PRCA PHOTO BY MALLORY BEINBORN)   LAS VEGAS – Home for Jess Pope is a nice place in the Kansas Flint Hills that he shares with his wife, but he’s made quite a second residence in Sin City. He proved it again during Thursday’s first go-round of the National Finals Rodeo, riding the Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics bronc Land of Fancy for 86.5 points to finish in third place, collecting $21,882. He moved from fourth to second in the bareback riding world standings with $235,512. “That’s one I’ve really been wanting to get on,” said Pope, the 2022 world champion from Waverly, Kansas. “I got on her in the short round of Pendleton (Oregon). She kind of dragged her nose on the ground when I got on her the first time, and I ended up third on her. When I saw that draw out for today, I was pretty damned tickled.” He proved why. The bay mare allowed Pope to show off his spur stroke, which is why the two matched for a high finish and big bucks. “She’s one of the younger horses, and last year was the first year we brought her to the finals,” he said, pointing out that the bareback riders select the top 105 horses from throughout the season to be part of the 10-day championship. “When you go to one of the (Sankey) rodeos, she’s definitely one of the ones you want.” It also helps that Pope is riding a wave of confidence. This marks the sixth straight NFR qualification for the cowboy who competed in intercollegiate rodeo at Missouri Valley College. He is a three-time NFR average champion; he had the best 10-ride cumulative score in 2020, ’21 and ’22. He’s comfortable competing on ProRodeo’s biggest stage. The NFR features only the top 15 contestants in each event from the given regular season. The men and women who compete in Las Vegas have earned the right to battle for rodeo’s gold. “Everybody’s got a different way of looking in our locker room,” Pope said, referring to the 14 other bareback riders. “The only thing that everybody has the same thing for is the respect, because it takes a hell of a lot of work to get there. Everybody respects everybody that’s sitting in there. Everybody just handles everything different. “The young guys are wound tighter than a clock, and then you’ve got me and Tilden (Hooper) that are just cracking dad jokes and hanging out just laughing and having fun. But we all love riding bucking horses and have mad respect for how you get to that room.” Make no mistake, this event has a level of magnitude that is unmatched in rodeo. There can be a lot of emotions involved with playing in the sport’s World Series. “It all just seems surreal,” he said. “Just showing up, I think, ‘Wow, I’m actually here.’ It’s weird, because the last couple of years, I’ve gotten calmer and calmer coming into Round 1, but tonight, I was about freaking myself out thinking, ‘Golly, should I be a little bit more wound up than this?’ I’m back there yawning and singing the national anthem and just kind of hanging out, but I think it’s good. “When I crawl in that bucking chute, it’s time to go.” It’s the NFR, so it’s always go-time for Pope.

Defending steer wrestling world champion J.D. Struxness kicked off his 2025 National Finals Rodeo by finishing in a three-way tie for second place in Thursday’s first round. (PRCA PHOTO BY MALLORY BEINBORN)   LAS VEGAS – The money in ProRodeo has changed considerably since J.D. Struxness first started his career. Nine years ago, he earned $26,000 for winning a round at the National Finals Rodeo. On Thursday night, he collected $22,080 for finishing in a three-way tie for second place in the opening night of ProRodeo’s Super Bowl. It’s a good time to be competing in the grand championship, and it’s an important start to his NFR. He grappled his steer to the ground in 4.2 seconds, sharing that runner-up spot in the round with fellow bulldoggers Ty Erickson and Kyle Irwin. “This is definitely how we want to start it,” said Struxness of Milan, Minnesota. “We’ll take a big win tonight. These two horses have been doing a really good job this year, but it’s their first year rodeoing and their first year out here. “I thought the horses were good. They handled the pressure very well, so we’re going to be very excited moving forward.” Ice and Jenny are new to the team this year. Ice is a 7-year-old gray gelding that moved from backup to the first squad after Struxness’ good horse, Izzy, suffered an injury earlier this year. Jenny is a 6-year-old hazing horse ridden by veteran hazer Matt Reeves to help keep the steers lined out and to allow for faster times. Speed is the name of the game. Struxness knows that as well as anyone. He is the reigning world champion steer wrestler who is playing on the grandest stage in rodeo for the seventh time. He understands the magnitude of playing the game at this level, but he had to just trust the nerves of his equine partners. Fortunately, he used both at the Canadian Finals Rodeo in October and the Hondo Rodeo last month. “They locked in right away, and they worked great,” said Struxness, the 2016 intercollegiate champion while competing at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. “For them to be able to do that the first night is great. It’s a loud, small building, bright lights. You have nerves on the first night, but you have to remind yourself of how many big rodeos we’ve won on them this year. It is a relief to get them out here and get that first run out of the way and know they work. We’re excited about that, and now we’ll just keep building confidence on top of that.” With his winnings, the Minnesota cowboy now living in Perrin, Texas, increased his season hearings to $170,752 and moved up one spot to fourth in the world standings. He trails the leader, Mississippi cowboy Will Lummus, by $34,000 with nine nights remaining in the world’s richest rodeo. Struxness has been down this road. He knew how to prepare himself, but he’s taken the last few weeks to make sure Ice and Jenny were ready. “We made sure we took the start you need out here right away, because that’s the most important thing, and made sure they would go fast,” he said. “They’ve been handling everything with stride and have stepped up in a big way this year.” So has Struxness.

Bradlee Miller rides Championship Pro Rodeo’s Sweet Tequila for 86 points to finish fifth during Thursday’s first round of the National Finals Rodeo at Las Vegas. (PRCA PHOTO BY MALLORY BEINBORN)   LAS VEGAS – The National Finals Rodeo offers tremendous challenges that cowboys and cowgirls must overcome. Bradlee Miller experienced a new one on Thursday’s opening night when he arrived at the Thomas & Mack Center for his rematch with Championship Pro Rodeo’s Sweet Tequila. “I was the last person to get on Sweet Tequila,” Miller said of that September ride in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he posted an 86.75 marking on the Oklahoma horse. “The funny thing was I’ve been on that horse, but I had never been on a horse in any of the gear other than my spurs today.” Bareback riders are decked out, some of it in the style necessary to ride bucking horses, and some of it out of necessity. The riggin’ is important, made specifically for each man. So is the neck roll, which protects the spine as much as possible during the intense action of a ride. Miller didn’t arrive at the arena with everything. “I have brand new chaps, a brand new glove, a new rigging, and then I happened to forget my arm brace (which is attached on his right riding arm), which is possibly the second most important thing I have,” he said. “Thankfully, (fellow bareback rider) Mason Clements had one that was close to fit, so I guess it worked.” It did. Miller and Sweet Tequila danced across the arena dirt for 86 points, which was good enough for fifth place in the first round, worth $9,463. The cowboy increased his season earnings to $226,937 and is fourth in the world standings. “That horse is awesome,” said Miller, 22, of Huntsville, Texas. “If you look at the stats, a lot of people had trouble this year, but that horse has had a different trip with me the last two times than it has with anybody else. It was nearly identical to Sioux Falls. “I knew if I could get ahold of her (with his spurring motion) right out of the chute that we could get her to stay closer to the bucking chutes than he wants to. He wants to be picked up like that, but you just have to ask.” Cowboys have always used various techniques to get horses to perform, whether it’s vocal calls or coaxing the animal with the heels of their boots. When it comes to bucking horses, the men that ride them utilize those foot skills to make things happen. With half the score coming from how well the bronc performs, it’s a vital piece of any ride. The ride also set a tone Miller wants to take for the remainder of the 10-day championship. “The money at this rodeo is unreal to anywhere else we go,” he said. “To win fifth and almost win a $10,000 check, that’s a huge win at a huge rodeo during the regular season.” There is a lot riding on every go-round performance. Nightly winners will pocket nearly $37,000 in each event. With dollars equaling championship points, every nickel counts, which just adds to the pressure of competing at ProRodeo’s biggest event. “I was more nervous this year than I was last year,” said Miller, competing in Las Vegas for the second straight season. “Last year when I showed up, I had nothing to lose and everything to prove. After a good performance last year, I feel like I have to do better to achieve my personal goals.” He’s off on the right foot toward that at this NFR, and he has nine nights to exceed it.

Cinch tie-down roper Shane Hanchey snuck into the field of 15 to make his 16th straight appearance at the National Finals Rodeo. He is the 2013 world champion and a two-time NFR average titlist. (PRCA PHOTO BY HAILEY RAE)   Cinch tie-down roper secures 16th straight trip to grand finale Shane Hanchey utilizes a simple approach to his job. As one of the elite tie-down ropers in professional rodeo, the Cinch cowboy has thrived in the spotlight over the years. The 2013 world champion, Hanchey will make his 16th straight appearance at the National Finals Rodeo, set for Dec. 4-13 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. “I literally treat each year as my first one and try to make the finals each year,” said Hanchey, 36, of Sulphur, Louisiana. “This year was a little more difficult than years past. “I’ve only been on the bubble (to make the NFR) a handful of times, thankfully. I’ve always told myself it’s a lot funner watching the bubble than participating in it.” With only 15 spots open for the NFR, Hanchey snuck into the final position with $127,000 earned through the regular season. The $4,000 he earned on the final weekend at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, shot him into the finale by just $1,600 over the No. 16 man, Texan Quade Hiatt. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to make it, because it would’ve been foreign to me had I not made it,” he said, noting that he would still be in Nevada next week because he is the tie-down roping director for the PRCA. “I think this one is more rewarding; 16 in a row is a major accomplishment, but I try not to think about it. “When people ask about it, it’s hard not to go back all those years. There were a lot of all-night drives and a lot of sleepless nights getting to the next rodeo to make the NFR 16 years in a row.” Of the field, 11 calf ropers are part of the Cinch team, including two-time reigning world champion Riley Webb of Denton, Texas; Kincade Henry of Mt. Pleasant, Texas; John Douch of Huntsville, Texas; Riley Pruitt of Gering, Nebraska; Marty Yates of Stephenville, Texas; Brushton Minton of Witter Springs, California; Joel Harris and Ty Harris of San Angelo, Texas; Zach Jongbloed of Iowa, Louisiana; and 2019 titlist Haven Meged of Miles City, Montana. “Cinch is the only way to go,” said Hanchey, the 2009 Tie-Down Roping Rookie of the Year. “That company’s backed me since my rookie year, and I haven’t looked back. That company is all about values and all about the top competitors. “Now, we’ve got all these young up-and-comers that are wearing Cinch on their sleeves just goes to show what kind of company we represent. They look out for the right guys. It’s sort of like Derek Jeter being with the Yankees his whole playing career; I plan on being with Cinch my whole career, too.” This field of tie-down ropers features four world champions: Hanchey, Meged, Webb and New Mexican Shad Mayfield, who has one in tie-down roping and one in the all-around. The foursome accounts for six Montana Silversmiths gold buckles, and the Cinch men own three-fourths of them. They’ll battle for the top prize in 2025 over the 10-day championship, which features a purse of $13.5 million with go-round winners securing nearly $37,000 per night. When Hanchey won the world title in 2013, he also won the NFR aggregate title, which paid just shy of $48,000. This year’s average winner will walk away with a bonus of $94,036, almost double. It’s a big-time opportunity for Sin City cash, but it’s also where champions will be crowned the final Saturday night. In rodeo, money not only covers expenses that come with the job, but also dollars equal championship points. The contestants in each event with the most money won during the campaign will win rodeo’s gold. Webb leads the charge, just as he did the past two seasons. He’s earned more than $305,000 through the regular season, which concluded Sept. 30. He owns a lead of nearly $50,000 over the field. “I’m looking forward to just letting loose,” said Hanchey, who lives near Carmine, Texas, with his wife, Taylor (a two-time NFR qualifier in barrel racing and a two-time qualifier to the National Finals Breakaway Roping), and their 18-month-old son, Stran; the couple is expecting a little girl in June. “I’ve had the mindset of preparing, working out and practicing, but I have nothing to lose going in 15th. “I wouldn’t even say I have a long shot to win the world title. I don’t think it’s possible for the 14 guys besides Riley Webb, because he’s on a different planet right now. There’s so much money to be won that I want to let loose and win some of those $37,000 rounds, have some fun and show them that I’ve still got it.”