BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN | PHOTO BY JAMES PHIFER | PRCA PRORODEO
At his first Wrangler NFR in 2019, Stetson Jorgensen burst onto the scene by winning $107,000 and finishing third in the world.
In 2020, he picked up right where he left off.
Just a few months removed from his sixth place finish at the National Finals, Jorgensen won the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, and more than $6,000, at the year’s first major rodeo.
“Confidence is everything,” he said. “Once you have that win, you have that confidence under you, people are backing you, you have a good horse and you’re bulldogging good....Your momentum carries you from rodeo to rodeo.”
STETSON JORGENSEN WINNING RUN IN DENVER
Following his success in Denver, the checks were few and far between for Jorgensen until July.
After a poor performance over the Fourth of July run, the 27-year-old said he wanted to stay out of his horse Mabel’s way and get back to having fun bulldogging. It worked.
The Idaho cowboy won more than $12,000 in a three-week stretch to end the month, including wins at Nebraska’s Big Rodeo in Burwell and the Deadwood Days of ’76 Rodeo in South Dakota.
“Fourth of July was a headache for sure,” Jorgensen said. “I had to go back to what I was doing when I first started riding Mabel.”
Jorgensen is quick to credit Mabel, the 2019 Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year, for his success in 2020.
“When I made that horse change it made a whole lot of difference,” he said. “Me and her shined all year and it showed. It showed right on paper, it showed on video.”
Jorgensen makes a point to always look ahead in the standings and never behind, so as he sits No. 8 in the world with $46,042, he has his eyes in one place - on world No. 1 Matt Reeves.
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